Mandy Hickson was one of the first female pilots on a front-line Tornado GR4 squadron. Flying fast jets for the Royal Air Force, she worked in constantly challenging and hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq, carrying the latest weaponry, her unit was ready to drop ordnance on any target in support of operations.

As a qualified CRM (Crew Resource Management) instructor with the Civil Aviation Authority, Mandy Hickson now uses her in-depth knowledge of aviation, calculated risk taking, decision making under pressure and the critical role of the human in the system to transfer these lessons from the cockpit to the corporate boardroom.

Mandy Hickson is a regular speaker on Safety, Human Factors and Culture Change at conferences across a range of industries including Financial Services, Nuclear Power and Healthcare.

Working within an elite team of fast jet operators, she conveys how the same values apply within any environment. She is able to share from personal experience how to remain calm under pressure and leading, quite literally, from the front, in order to get the best from yourself and your team.

She recently founded Inspiring Women for Work, tailor made events designed to help women realise their full potential and regain confidence to return to work.