Mentor
Margaret Heffernan
Overview
Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, chief executive and author with a career spanning more than three decades across media, technology and academia. She led IPPA and Marlin Consulting in the UK and, in the US, ran software businesses InfoMation Corp., ZineZone Corp. and iCast Corp. The author of seven books and one of the most-viewed TED speakers, her talks have been watched over 17 million times.
Throughout her career, Margaret has exemplified clear-sighted leadership in complex, fast-changing environments. She currently serves as the Chair of the Designers’ and Artists’ Collecting Society (DACS), as a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath School of Management, and in board roles with several private companies.
In her executive career, she produced award-winning programmes for the BBC before leading IPPA; in the US, she developed multimedia products with Tom Peters, Peter Lynch, Intuit and Standard & Poor’s and, as CEO of successive software companies, was named one of the top 25 media executives by The Hollywood Reporter.
Margaret advises and writes about issues of growth, strategy, decision-making and how companies can confront an unpredictable future. She is acutely aware that leaders need external input in order to understand what is happening inside their organisations, outside in the marketplace and the strategic fit (or conflict) between the two.
Margaret brings deep cross-sector expertise in:
• Entrepreneurship & technology – building and leading software and media companies across the UK and US
• Strategy & uncertainty – advising on growth, strategy and how organisations confront an unpredictable future
• Organisational culture & leadership – cultivating peripheral vision and aligning internal realities with market dynamics
• Public discourse & education – broadcasting, journalism and executive education that inform responsible leadership
As a leading voice on management and leadership, Margaret has shaped international discourse through bestselling books and public engagement. Wilful Blindness was named by the Financial Times as “one of the most important business books of the decade”; A Bigger Prize won the Transmission Prize (2015); and Uncharted was described by the Financial Times as “timely, wise and appealingly human.” In 2024, Margaret was also inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame for her enduring contribution to leadership thinking. She is widely recognised for balancing strategic foresight with pragmatic stewardship, particularly in times of uncertainty, scrutiny and complexity.
PDF Profile
Download PDFMajor Career Roles
Designers’ and Artists’ Collecting Society (DACS)
Chair
Marlin Consulting
Chief Executive
iCast Corp.
CEO
InfoMation Corp.
CEO
ZineZone Corp.
CEO
Other Career Highlights
University of Bath School of Management
Professor of Practice
PACT
Managing Director
BBC TV
Executive Producer
Radio 4 Feature, BBC Radio
Editor
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