Mandy Hickson, Speaker | Ex-RAF Tornado Fast Jet Pilot & Performance

Mandy Hickson

Master the art of decision-making under extreme conditions with Mandy Hickson, former RAF Fast-Jet Pilot and performance coach.

Mandy Hickson | Speaker Biography

First Female Pilot to Command a Front Line Tornado Squadron

Renowned Human Performance Coach and Cultural Change Expert

Founder of Inspiring Women for Work Organisation

A former fighter pilot, Mandy Hickson defied stereotypes to excel in the Royal Air Force. From a young age, she dreamed of flying a jet and pursued it with unwavering determination. Despite facing significant challenges, her exceptional skills and resilience led her to command a Front Line Tornado Squadron, a role traditionally dominated by men. Mandy now applies her experience as a human performance coach, focusing on cultural change and debriefing, and is ready to invigorate any team. Her remarkable story began when she dreamed of being a fast jet pilot at 13.

This dream led her to lead a male-dominated Front Line Tornado Squadron on operations. However, her journey was far from easy, as she encountered seemingly insurmountable setbacks and immense pressures in a highly demanding environment. Mandy shares her strategies and approaches to overcoming these challenges, delivering her message with high energy and humour that engages her audience.

In addition to her expertise as a fighter pilot, Mandy is also a trained Human Factors Facilitator, making her an expert on human interactions. This gives her a detailed understanding of the role of human beings in complex systems. She applies this expertise and her personal experiences of calculating risk and making decisions under pressure to businesses.

Recently, Mandy founded Inspiring Women for Work, an organization that hosts tailor-made events designed to help women realize their full potential and regain the confidence to return to work. Mandy's talks have several outcomes, including building and empowering effective teams, inspiring goal setting and ultimate focus, decision-making under extreme pressure, maintaining momentum despite losing top talent, and nurturing a culture of self-confidence and aspiration.

Why you should book Mandy Hickson for a PepTalk

As a speaker, Mandy offers your team insights into overcoming adversity, mastering decision-making under pressure, and fostering a culture of confidence and aspiration. Her unique blend of humour, real-world experience, and expertise in human dynamics will empower and invigorate your team, driving them towards excellence.

Pilot

International Women's Day

Inspirational Female

Author

Military

’s Featured Sessions

Inspired Goal Setting And Ultimate Focus

We all want to achieve our goals, whether individually or collectively. It gives a sense of achievement and delivers personal and business success. Get yourself on track with how to set, measure, and achieve your goals.

Empowering And Inspiring Women In Your Organisation

Challenging times require an exceptional corporate response. So how do you motivate and inspire your staff to demonstrate outstanding leadership and teamwork under pressure; to stride confidently towards purposeful goals and maintain focus despite great risks? These Critical success factors are clearly demonstrated by Mandy Hickson’s unique experiences of flying in a Front Line Tornado Squadron within hostile environments. Mandy's motivational keynote will give you the tools to inspire and empower women in your organisation.

The Building And Empowerment Of Effective Teams

Challenging times require an exceptional corporate response. So how do you motivate and inspire your staff to demonstrate outstanding leadership and teamwork under pressure, to stride confidently towards purposeful goals, and maintain focus despite great risks? These Critical success factors are clearly demonstrated by Mandy Hickson’s unique experiences of flying in a Front Line Tornado Squadron within hostile environments. Mandy's motivational keynote will arm you with the tools to ensure your team feels empowered to succeed.

Maintaining Momentum Despite Losing Top Talent

Challenging times require an exceptional corporate response. So how do you motivate and inspire your staff to demonstrate outstanding leadership and teamwork under pressure; to stride confidently towards purposeful goals and maintain focus despite great risks? These Critical success factors are clearly demonstrated by Mandy Hickson’s unique experiences of flying in a Front Line Tornado Squadron within hostile environments. Mandy's motivational keynote will arm you with the tools to ensure your team maintains momentum no matter what.

Decision Making Under Extreme Pressure

When the pressure is on and the chips are on the table, we are called upon to make some of our toughest choices and decisions. Our experts share valuable insight on how to make important decisions when they matter most.

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Session Feedback

"Your story is very inspirational and I recognised many of the challenges you have faced as a woman in a predominantly male world as these issues are industry agnostic. I am sure we could spend hours sharing our war stories (literal and metaphorical !). I do all I can to help the next generation navigate these challenges and not experience the same difficulties as those who have gone before. You are clearly doing the same." — Sue Fox, CEO, M&S Bank

"700 women in a standing ovation. I've been to this event for 30 years and have never witnessed that before. It was truly deserved!" — Elaine, Derbyshire Federation Women's Institute

"Mandy has great presence and a wonderful presentation style that is both inspiring and endearing." — Wimpey Taylor

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