Margaret Heffernan

Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, five-time CEO and acclaimed author who specialises in leadership, uncertainty and institutional responsibility. She has led businesses across the UK and US, written seven books including the Financial Times Business Book of the Decade 'Willful Blindness', and delivered TED Talks viewed over 16 million times. As Professor of Practice at the University of Bath and mentor to global executives through Merryck & Co, she challenges leaders to confront uncomfortable truths and rethink outdated structures. Margaret equips audiences with the courage and clarity to build accountable, resilient organisations capable of navigating complexity and leading with genuine integrity.

After leading five technology companies through periods of rapid change and disruption, Margaret Heffernan turned her attention to a more uncomfortable question: why do intelligent, capable leaders so often fail to see what is right in front of them? That inquiry became the foundation for her third book, 'Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril', named by the Financial Times as one of the most important business books of the decade. Her career as an entrepreneur and CEO in both the UK and US, including leadership roles at InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation, and iCast Corporation, earned her recognition among the "Top 100 Media Executives" by The Hollywood Reporter and cemented her reputation as someone who understands how organisations truly function under pressure. Today, Margaret is Professor of Practice at the University of Bath, mentors senior executives globally through Merryck & Co, and has delivered TED Talks viewed over 16 million times, challenging audiences to rethink leadership, accountability, and institutional purpose.

Margaret's credibility rests on a rare combination of lived experience and rigorous intellectual inquiry. As a five-time CEO, she navigated the complexities of scaling internet software companies during periods of technological upheaval, gaining firsthand insight into the tensions between ambition, ethics, and sustainable growth. Her seven books, including A Bigger Prize: Why Competition Isn't Everything and How We Do Better, winner of the Transmission Prize in 2015, and Uncharted: How to Map the Future, published in 2020, explore the systemic forces that shape decision-making in uncertain environments. She serves as Lead Faculty for the Forward Institute's Responsible Leadership Programme and contributes regularly to the Financial Times, Substack, and Huffington Post, where her writing challenges convenient narratives and exposes the uncomfortable realities of modern leadership. Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Strategy Thinking Award in 2021, Margaret continues to provoke essential conversations about how institutions can be held accountable and how leaders can act with genuine integrity.

Margaret equips audiences with the tools to confront difficult truths and build organisations capable of navigating complexity with resilience and purpose. Her approach is grounded in practical wisdom drawn from real leadership challenges, not abstract theory. Whether speaking at industry conferences, teaching responsible leadership, or mentoring global executives, she helps leaders move beyond performative statements of purpose and focus on the mechanisms that genuinely drive better behaviour. Her work challenges outdated structures, unlocks untapped potential, and empowers organisations to lead with courage in an unpredictable world. For events seeking a speaker who combines intellectual rigour with hard-won insight, Margaret delivers lasting impact that resonates long after the final session concludes.