Meet Nicola Pearson, Our Top Flight 2024 Alumna
Nicola Pearson has been with British Airways since 2011 and has served as Director of Communications since 2022. Before joining BA, she spent around 12 years at the BBC, where she began as a graduate news trainee and built a career in journalism and news reporting. Her work spanned regional, national, and international news across radio, TV, and digital platforms.
Since joining BA, Nicola has held a range of senior communications roles, leading various teams. Her move into corporate communications marked a shift from journalism to a more strategic focus.
Nicola was the first senior leader at British Airways to take part in the Top Flight programme, sponsored by her boss, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Lisa Tremble, who had previously completed the programme with her former organisation. She believes Lisa saw potential in her that she did not fully recognise in herself at the time and knew that this would give her some real personal insight that would help shape the rest of her career.
What Was Your Programme Experience?
A Life-Changing Experience
It was a life-changing experience for me. I feel like I operate at 100mph all day every day, juggling so many balls, that having the time and space to invest in myself, to take the time to think about my leadership journey, the person I want to be for my team, and to focus on my personal development to get to that place was incredible. I was encouraged to question so many things about myself and how I operate, and how I was often, inadvertently, holding myself back. Ultimately the programme has been transformative and has helped shift my mindset to understand my value and ability.
The Power of Peer Connection
What really stood out to me about Top Flight was the group experience, specifically being in a women-only space with other senior leaders and peers, who I’m now proud to call my friends. I would not have had the opportunity to meet so many brilliant people from different backgrounds and industries.
What is really amazing about The Pipeline is how women support one another. We still come together now to problem solve and lift each other up. Women often face very similar issues and challenges, and that really connects you. The peer reflection was powerful and helped me unlock so many things. People saw things in me that I did not necessarily see in myself and it was amazing to be able to help others in the group recognise their unique value.
Learning from Remarkable Women
The speakers were also a highlight. Hearing from women during the sessions, lunch and dinners, women who had interesting careers in senior leadership, and listening to their personal journeys, the career highs and lows and the mistakes they made along the way, was unlike anything I had heard before. You don’t often get access to hear so honestly women performing at that level. That was really, really special.
What Impact Did the Programme Have?
A Real Leadership Shift: Learning to Lead, Not Just Do
It definitely taught me a lot about leadership and my own version of this. Previously, I would try to do everyone’s job, not because they weren’t capable but because I wanted to prove my own capability and that I expected more from myself than I did from them. I ended up exhausted, overworking and not giving myself or my team space to develop and grow. Top Flight helped me focus on coaching rather than doing, which has further empowered my team, unlocked some amazing work and helped them thrive and given me the space to think about more deeply and strategically about the big and fundamental issues and how to manage those.
Growing Confidence in My Own Capability
Top Flight also had a huge impact on my self-belief. Being able to speak to my peers and realise we’re all dealing with multiple complex issues and understanding how everyone was operating to manage all of this was eye-opening. Spending time reflecting on the intensity and pressure of your role and realising you’re actually delivering beyond expectations, despite the pressures, really helps build confidence. I now trust my judgement and ability implicitly - something which has absolutely grown as part of this journey.
Would you Recommend Top Flight?
An Opportunity Like No Other
Yes, I would recommend Top Flight - we actually have two more senior leaders from BA on the course this year.
It’s a unique experience and such a gift. It's something that very few of us are given the opportunity to take part in and for me it came at the right time and really did feel transformative. I've learnt so much about myself and I now think ‘if not me, who?’ which helps me drive forward every day. It helped increase my confidence and self-belief - I now have complete faith in my abilities and don’t do anything to limit myself!
“It was a life-changing experience for me…Ultimately the programme has been transformative and has helped shift my mindset to understand my value and ability.”
Nicola Pearson, Director of Communications at British Airways since 2022, joined the company in 2011 after a 12-year journalism career at the BBC, and has since held senior roles leading communications with a strategic focus. Her journey with The Pipeline began with Top Flight in 2024.
