Former Naval Fighter Pilot, Matthew Whitfield flew the Royal Navy’s Sea Harrier fighter jet across the world as a member of the navy elite team, Top Guns and is now a distinguished pilot sharing stories of his drive, trust, and resilience. As Founder of the coaching company 7 Miles a Minute, Matthew is a qualified professional in coaching providing his expertise on endurance, peak performance, and perseverance.
Upon receiving his Naval Gliding Scholarship, Matthew qualified as junior leader of the warship bridge team and graduated in 1977 at the top of his class. Matthew entered his career with high qualifications and was deployed to the volcanic island of Montserrat, followed by the Falkland Islands. He then went on to fly operationally in the formidable Sea Harrier FA2, a single-seat, all-weather, fighter jet and gained extensive experience manning the deck of all three of Her Majesty’s aircrafts.
Later in his career, Matthew was selected by No.1 Flying Training School as Senior Naval Flying Instructor, winning the top award as best new flying instructor in his year for both RAF and RN in 2004. Matthew was in an unprecedented role responsible for leading the team who were training operational pilots to become flying instructors. Using his 25+ years of experience in the Royal Navy, Matthew is now coaching teams from private and public organisations. In his role, Matthew is helping individuals adapt their mentality and optimise their performance.
Matthew has previously worked with some impressive corporations, brands and businesses, including The Prince’s Trust, TEDx, and the NHS as well as a variety of other senior leaders in the public and private sectors. Respected for his personal anecdotes of both victories and defeats, Matthew is a captivating speaker with a passion for helping others overcome difficulties and reach their highest potential. Available to hire for all events, Matthew speaks on determination, peak performance, and drive.
How to hire Matthew Whitfield
Contact the Champions Speakers agency to provisionally enquire about Matthew Whitfield for your event today. Simply call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Matthew's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Leadership
- Culture & Climate
- Time Pressured Interactive Tasks
- Aviation
- Drive & Determination
- Peak Performance
- Trust
- Military
See what people had to say about Matthew, when he appeared at their corporate events:
"Matt has a track record of making a significant impact on other people’s performance. In the military, he used to teach, coach and mentor future fighter pilots helping them to improve their operational and leadership performance.” - Roderick, Professional Certified Coach
“Matt has a fascinating and exciting career story to tell that is full of key learnings hugely relevant to business leaders. He’s able to deliver this in a simple yet highly engaging way whereby his audience can readily identify the learnings and how to use these in their own typically less life-threatening worlds.” - Academy of Chief Executives Chair
“Matt routinely devoted his time and effort into normalising high-stress situations thus highlighting his passion for helping others to get the best from themselves.” – Training Captain, 2Excell Aviation, ex-AAC Special Forces Pilot.
