Forbes: If You Think It's Impossible, Talk To This Former F-16 Flight Instructor

Ilana Golan is a remarkable breaker of gender barriers, having been the first woman F-16 flight instructor in the Israeli Air Force, a top notch engineer, entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Stiya, a storytelling platform for businesses that utilizes automation to facilitate their sharing of relevant and personalized content with their clients in a click. As you will see, Golan never says never!

Pivotal Moment of Reinvention

I was an F-16 flight instructor in the Israeli Air Force. I knew that only men became commanders in my unit. I couldn’t accept this glass ceiling and was super motivated to prove to everyone that I can do this just as good as men. I worked really hard to prove myself and eventually it paid off. I became the first woman to become a commander and in charge of training of all F-16 pilots. With a lot of work from my amazing team I completely changed the training and education program for pilots in Israel and received the prestigious ‘Best Commander Award’. I knew that after such a success more women will become commanders and will get the trust we deserve. I also proved to myself that barriers are meant to be broken and with the right mind set and hard work – you can make the impossible happen.

Mentors or Sponsors

In my first year of engineering school I got a job as an engineer at Intel. My direct manager was Johny Srouji (He is now SVP of Hardware Technologies reporting to Tim Cook at Apple). Johny let me own a big project and helped me do it right. He saw me not as a student, not as a woman, but as a great engineer who is making things happen for the group and he provided the support to make me successful. This taught me many important management and leadership lessons, which I apply ever since.

Click Here to Read the Full Article →