RAF fighter pilot turned keynote speaker, Mandy Hickson empowers teams to lead decisively, perform under pressure, and communicate with trust.
5.00 of 5
Top rated!5 of 5
She was an excellent presenter: humorous and engaging, with a fascinating real-life and high altitude story to tell to students of all ages. The queue of students who stayed behind at the end to speak to Mandy was testament to the overwhelmingly positive response to her talk.
Val Burnett
Taunton School
As one of the RAF’s first female fast jet pilots, Mandy Hickson brings unique, high-stakes experience to the stage. Her impactful keynotes explore leadership, resilience, and decision-making under pressure—equipping teams to perform with confidence, clarity, and control. With engaging stories and practical tools, she helps organizations strengthen communication, build trust, and thrive in today’s demanding business environment.
In the fast-paced world of aviation, trust and collaboration aren’t optional—they’re vital. Without them, the team fractures, frustration builds, and outcomes suffer. I’ve seen this play out in the skies and on the ground.
Diverse thinking is often present within organisations, but it’s rendered useless without an environment of trust to bind it together. The result? Conflict, misalignment, and missed opportunities.
So, how do leaders bridge this gap? It starts with curiosity—choosing to explore instead of assigning blame. Leaders must focus on shared goals rather than individual wins and create spaces where robust, respectful debate is encouraged. These were the principles that kept my crew united under pressure and are equally applicable in any organisation.
In this session, we’ll break down what it takes to foster trust, build collaboration, and lay the foundations for exceptional performance.
Flying fighter jets required every ounce of my training and instinct, but it was the diverse perspectives of my team that kept us ahead of the game.
Teams with varied backgrounds and viewpoints can tackle complex challenges with creativity, fill in blind spots, and make better decisions. Yet, diversity of thought doesn’t happen by accident—it must be nurtured.
As leaders, we need to actively design environments where diverse thinking thrives. This means managing meetings to encourage input, avoiding groupthink, and embracing differences as strengths. When we do, we unlock the true power of collective intelligence, driving innovation and elevating performance.
The most effective teams I’ve been a part of weren’t afraid to speak up. Whether it was challenging an idea, sharing a mistake, or asking a simple question, psychological safety gave us the freedom to operate at our best. Without it, teams withhold critical information, avoid conflict, and collaborate poorly.
Leaders play a crucial role in creating psychological safety. It’s about building a culture where openness isn’t just accepted—it’s expected. When teams feel safe, they share more, trust grows, and performance skyrockets. It’s a simple principle, but one that transforms the way we work together.
When people picture a fighter pilot, they often think of sharp minds and quick reflexes. But success in the cockpit goes far beyond IQ—it’s about EQ, emotional intelligence. The ability to read the room, resolve conflicts, and build relationships is what sets great leaders apart.
Emotional intelligence isn’t just innate—it’s a skill that can be developed. With practice, anyone can improve their ability to connect with others, manage emotions, and navigate challenging situations.
These aren’t just nice-to-have qualities; they’re essential to leading high-performing teams and driving success.
In aviation, we live by one rule: never leave a mission without a debrief. Why? Because that’s where the learning happens. Too often in business, we rush to the next task without reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and why.
The debrief method is a game-changer. It’s not about assigning blame—it’s about analysing outcomes, identifying root causes, and embedding lessons for the future. This reflective process drives continuous improvement, ensuring teams learn from every success and mistake.
As a fighter pilot, decision-making wasn’t a luxury—it was a necessity. Every choice had to be swift and precise, often with limited information.
In business, leaders face similar pressures. Slow or poor decision-making can cripple performance, yet many organisations struggle with both.
The good news? Decision-making is a skill that can be developed. Understanding the type of decision, knowing who to involve, and leveraging the right tools can drastically improve outcomes.
By combating biases and adopting a structured approach, leaders can make decisions that drive progress and enhance team performance.
5 of 5
She was an excellent presenter: humorous and engaging, with a fascinating real-life and high altitude story to tell to students of all ages. The queue of students who stayed behind at the end to speak to Mandy was testament to the overwhelmingly positive response to her talk.
Val Burnett Taunton School
5 of 5
Mandy is a fantastic public speaker. She is both inspirational and extremely well prepared. Her ability to relate her own experience working under extreme pressure and in highly performing teams to everyday situations is most impressive. She tops it all with a wonderful sense of humour and great modesty. Listening to her talking about the many challenges that she has successfully overcome should be compulsory for all girls!
Miriam Gonzalez, Partner Dechert LLP International Law Firm
5 of 5
Mandy was absolute brilliant, I would highly recommend Mandy for any event We hung on ever word and still wanted more after two & half hours. I personally came out on a massive high.
Sarah Pasco, Sales & Marketing Director Taylor Wimpey
5 of 5
I have worked with Mandy on a number of occasions and can thoroughly recommend her as an excellent speaker and presenter. All the clients that we have put Mandy in front of have rated her highly in terms of meeting their expectations, often commenting on her enthusiasm and professionalism. On a personal note it is wonderful working with a speaker who has such a great sense of humour and a 'can do' attitude - such a pleasure.
Alice Bufton Consultant at Harvey Thorneycroft
5 of 5
Mandy spoke recently at an all Wales HFMA event, taking the last slot at a full days conference. Not an ideal time to talk. The motivational presentation was excellent, absorbing, amusing and refreshing. It was measured to suit delegates and Mandy had done her homework on the audience.
Chris Tidwell Head of CIPFA Wales
5 of 5
I would wholeheartedly recommend Mandy as an amazing, motivational and deeply inspiring speaker. Mandy’s true ability was to capture the essence of team working, resilience and the importance of leadership within a context of energy, enthusiasm, commitment and humour. This was not only by using her own experiences, which in themselves were exceptional but she had also researched our organisation and weaved our own Trust values and mission statement into her presentation. Mandy’s messages cross any and all boundaries and I would suggest apply in any setting. It was a real pleasure for us to spend time with her.
Alison Moon, Chief Nurse University Hospitals Bristol NHS foundation Trust
5 of 5
As Dechert LLP London Managing Partner elect, I wanted to thank you personally for delivering a truly inspiring presentation at our London Office Briefing earlier this week. You managed to keep an audience of mainly lawyers hanging expectantly on your every word. Not an easy feat with a profession programmed to be cynical. Despite the enormous differences between your experiences and our daily lives, your messages resonated with everyone in the room.
Jason Butwick, Managing Partner elect Dechert LLP
5 of 5
Having listened to many speeches in the past, your unique story into another world stood out in many ways. Talking to an audience full of risk takers and recounting the mission into Iraq and the pressures you and your team were under was incredible. That takes risk taking to another level! The decisions you made under such intense pressure, yet the need to focus on the teams end goal, not the individual was inspirational. Your delivery was thoroughly professional and very entertaining. Thank you!
Andrew Megson, Managing Director UK Insurance company
5 of 5
We had a sales conference with a newly acquired company where we had 2 sales teams meeting for the first time. The focus was on teamwork, leadership and communication. Mandy’s after dinner speech successfully covered these points in a way that showed her experiences in a war zone required all these skills yet she made it relevant to the sales team before her. She re-emphasised the messages that we were trying to get across succinctly and with humour. I would not hesitate to use her again.
Brian Mulholland, Sales and Marketing Director Tradebe, Hazardous Waste Management
5 of 5
We hired Mandy as the keynote motivational speaker for our first annual dinner and she has set the bar at a challenging height for future events. She expanded on the briefing brilliantly and her mixture of anecdotal humour and encouragement to positively change was lapped up by our audience.
James Talman Chairman SPRA
5 of 5
Mandy has great presence and a wonderful presentation style that is both inspiring and endearing. She engaged wonderfully with the audience facilitating them as well as giving them insight and new knowledge of her specialist field. She was very able to make the connection between her experience and the audience and her interactive session and case study was very well received. The audience were inspired and impressed with Mandy and I know from the client feedback that she was a great talking point that will enable the messages of the day to stay alive longer.
Lesley Roberts LR Consultancy
5 of 5
Mandy – many thanks! You gave an excellent boost, and tailored the presentation to make it very relevant for us.
Ken Lynes Managing Partner Fixfast
5 of 5
I would like to thank you for your Motivational Keynote session at our annual conference at the ICC in Birmingham. Being the first session of the day after a Gala Dinner is not the easiest session to deliver, however, I was confident you would attract a large audience and was proved right. You delivered an excellent session with many of our delegates choosing you as their favorite speaker of the whole three day event.
Craig Dale, Chief Executive SAP User Group
5 of 5
Many thanks for your wonderful talk at our Annual Federation Meeting last Wednesday. Feedback from the members indicates that many of them thought that you were one of the best speakers the Federation has ever had. You were informative, interesting, amusing and definitely inspiring.
Jeryl Stone Chairman Warwickshire Federation
5 of 5
Mandy, I was very impressed with the way you had linked your presentation completely with our ‘Above and beyond’ campaign which made the whole thing so worthwhile – it proved you did a good amount of background work to make it all fit together – a very big thanks for this!
Mike Napthine Marketing manager
Mandy Hickson is an inspiring former RAF pilot, bestselling author, and acclaimed speaker on leadership, resilience, and high-performance teamwork. She draws on her experience operating in high-pressure environments where leadership, trust, and clear communication were critical to success.
As one of the first women to fly on the front line of the Royal Air Force, Mandy broke through significant barriers and led teams in some of the most demanding and unpredictable situations. Her ability to make split-second decisions under pressure, manage risk, and bring people together under a shared mission forms the foundation of her powerful keynotes.
Mandy delivers practical strategies for leading under pressure, building resilient teams, and making confident decisions. Her powerful storytelling and real-world insights leave a lasting impact on corporate audiences.
As the author of An Officer, Not a Gentleman, she shares compelling stories that inspire mindset shifts and equip teams with real-world strategies for improvement.
Whether your team is navigating change, facing leadership challenges, or seeking renewed clarity, her message is timely and transformational.
Book Mandy Hickson for your event to inspire courage, shift mindsets, and empower your team to lead with confidence in high-pressure environments.
