Natalee Johnston

Navy’s first female pilot, passionate about safety, the impact of human factors (soft skills) and culture

Natalee Johnston always tested the boundaries and stood her ground against those who believed she was unable to succeed.

As the first and only female helicopter pilot in the RAN for eight years, Natalee had to prove her worth to herself and silence her critics.

As she successfully navigated her Naval career, Natalee’s interest in risk, culture and human factors (soft skills) grew as she led her team in challenging environments and experienced the loss of friends and colleagues due to aircraft accidents.

Natalee is a trained accident investigator and leader, who is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience to eliminate preventable accidents. She has worked with organisations in developing safety management systems, safety officer training and improving understanding of risk and culture.

Natalee will take you on a journey of discovery, understanding and education, provoking innovative thinking about enhancing your safety culture.

Natalee Johnston Book as a speaker/entertainer for your next event

Key Points for Natalee Johnston

Natalee Johnston has had many firsts, Navy’s first female pilot, instructor, flight commander and executive officer.
Natalee is passionate about how organisational culture can impact on employee behaviours.
Natalee Johnston is an expert in Human Factors (soft skills) and Safety culture.
Natalee captivates audiences with her lived experiences of the lessons in safety, culture and decision making.

Topics for Natalee Johnston

Importance of safety and organisational culture
Safety and organisational culture are intertwined as they have such a significant influence on each other. Understanding how they are linked and having the ability to identify when they are failing can not only, save businesses but also lives.
Resilience and perseverance
With opinions and attitudes against her, Natalee’s perseverance and resilience enabled her to become the first female pilot in the RAN. Overcoming the hardest critic, herself, along the way.
Soft skills and decision making
Soft skills are the skills that enable us to effectively interact with our environment and each other. Understanding how they influence our decisions and behaviours significantly contribute to improved leadership, communication and safety. It can be the difference between success and failure.

Testimonials for Natalee Johnston

We've worked with Natalee previously but never had the chance to hear her story. My goodness it’s an amazing one. Natalee delivered her tale to a group of 100+ women working in collision and by the end of it, people were lined up like groupies just to have the chance to speak with her. She was definitely the highlight of the event.
Two de Force

Natalee Johnston was great to work with, she really went above and beyond by reviewing our Awards script pre event and flagging any pronunciation questions. She also researched the finalists so arrived at the studio SUPER prepared. Very impressive!
Two de Force

Natalee Johnston was relaxed and well prepared and had a very interesting story to tell.
HRIA

Lieutenant Commander (RAN Rtd.) Natalee Johnston presented a series of safety culture workshops to more than 100 Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance personnel in support of Defence Safety Week 2018. Natalee focused on the tragic loss of a Royal Australian Navy Sea King helicopter and the resulting loss of all on board, providing an in-depth overview which clearly conveyed the importance of organisational safety culture and the broader values, attitudes, leadership commitment and community expectations beyond work, which collectively drive and influence safety culture. Natalee highlighted the need for ongoing organisational vigilance; in particular the need for leaders to understand their business risks and an inherent need to resource and support measures which manage monitor and evaluate those risks in order to prevent harm to all workers. Additionally, the criticality of ensuring that managers understand motivational pressures placed on their workers to succeed operationally, must be weighed up against worker perception and understanding that safety must not be compromised under any circumstances, against achieving operational outcomes. Natalee’s presentation inspired and motivated all attendees, making a strong impression in developing effective leadership in work health and safety, which features engagement and consultation, allowing managers to make better decisions relating to WHS matters, and striving to reduce work-related death, injury and disease.
WHS&E Manager
Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance
Osborne Naval Shipyard

Professional Conference Organiser

The team at ICMI offer a fantastic and professional service that allows us (event organisers) to focus on the delivery of our events

Corporate Client

I was very happy with the whole process from initial call through to performance, every question or detail was explained in a professional friendly manner. I will definitely be in touch with ICMI again.

Insurance Client

All ICMI staff I dealt with were exceptionally efficient, collaborative and responsive to ensuring our talent was informed.

Government Client

ICMI were flexible and accommodating, this year finding a speaker for your event that would work in a virtual setting was a challenge, but we ended up with a very successful event and the perfect speaker! Always patient and responsive to my calls or emails.

Corporate Client

Association Client

We were impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia that threatened to de-rail our Northern Territory based event, but the ICMI logistics team made it happen when the window of opportunity arose.

NFP Client

ICMI listened to our needs and were very supportive with the change of plans with dealing with the pandemic. They gave great advice and helped us secure the right talent for our event.

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