Paul Tolley is an elite performance and mental health keynote speaker, a former RAF Fast Jet Pilot and Big 4 Management Consultant, now recognised for helping organisations and elite athletes perform under sustained pressure. His standout achievement is translating the principles of military aviation into practical performance and wellbeing strategies that work in real environments. Paul speaks with authority earned through experience, combining operational credibility with openness about mental health, leadership and personal resilience in high-stakes settings.
Paul’s early career began in the Royal Air Force, where he trained and served as a fast jet pilot, operating in environments where clarity, discipline and trust were essential. Flying fast jets required Paul to make risk-based decisions under extreme time pressure while remaining accountable to his team and mission. Beyond flying, he demonstrated a commitment to elite standards across multiple disciplines, becoming Captain of the RAF Combat Shooting Team and qualifying as a Scuba Diving Instructor. These formative experiences shaped his understanding of preparation, marginal gains and teamwork, and gave him first-hand insight into how individuals perform when mistakes carry serious consequences.
Following a significant physical illness that ended his flying career, Paul transitioned into management consultancy with Deloitte, one of the Big 4. He built a strong reputation for rescuing strategically critical programmes and leading teams through complex operational change. As a Qualified Deloitte Coach, Paul delivered the firm’s Operational Excellence Programme, supporting leaders to build resilient, accountable teams in demanding environments. He later moved into industry as a Senior Operations Delivery Specialist, where he successfully transformed a struggling £35m software managed service into a high-performing operation. Alongside his corporate career, Paul developed his work as an Elite Performance Coach, applying his experience to professional sport and working closely with professional cricket teams.
Paul’s speaking is shaped by personal experience as much as professional success. His RAF career was cut short by illness, and later his marriage ended during a period of serious health uncertainty, leaving him to navigate recovery and single parenthood. These challenges had a profound impact on his mental health, and his recovery led him to qualify as a Mental Health First Aider and support organisations in designing effective mental health and wellbeing strategies. Paul is hired because he connects performance with humanity. His talks cover elite performance, leadership, resilience, mental health, teamwork and continuous improvement, all delivered with honesty, practical insight and gentle humour. Audiences leave with tools they can apply immediately, and a clearer understanding that sustainable high performance depends on both psychological safety and personal accountability.
Paul Tolley's official speaker topics are listed below:
- Building High-Performance Teams
- Continuous Improvement and Marginal Gains
- Effective Communication and Teamwork
- Fulfilling Personal and Team Potential
- Leadership Under Pressure
- Mental Health, Wellbeing and Resilience
- Peak Performance and Growth Mindset
- Psychological Safety and Culture
- Risk-Based Decision-Making
- Stress and Pressure Management
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events:
"The health and wellbeing of staff should be an important consideration for all businesses today, but many organisations struggle with what that practically means. After seeing a growing number of individual mental health challenges within my team and recognising we needed to take action, I asked Paul to bring his experiences to our organisation. We invested the time and asked Paul to be the opening speaker for a day dedicated to this topic.
We asked Paul to speak to all of our staff about mental health and wellbeing; to share his story and learnings and leave them with practical tips. Paul’s presentation left our staff and our leaders with key messages and practical tips to take into every single working day. "It’s OK not to be OK" remains my number one takeaway from Paul’s presentation. Hearing Paul speaking about mental health through his own story and normalising it, making it clear that it needn’t be a barrier or the end of anything, has been a valuable lesson in how to approach this often perceived to be difficult topic.
The day after Paul’s presentation, I heard reports from right across our business of people sharing their own stories with each other, kicking off an openness on this topic that we recognise the importance of, and work hard to maintain. The day was a first in the business, but amid scepticism beforehand, delivered a positive impact across our staff base, and was repeated a year later, with Paul again on the agenda." - Mark, Director, Global Defence Company
"Paul was very knowledgeable and calm and I liked his style. He delivered a great presentation and showed us the importance of using logic, emotional intelligence and managing our emotions when making important decisions and actioning things. Paul’s talk gave me real perspective on my role and challenges I have in my job." - Paul Shaw. Former England Women's Cricket Head Coach
"Paul's diverse experience through his fast jet career, his work with Deloitte, and with elite athletes ensured that we couldn't keep up with the questions from the pupils. They liked the diversity of experience as well as the elite level of performance he has had to manage and succeeded in across a whole range of very different, but stressful environments. A truly unique and inspiring session." - Mark, Director of Sport, Abingdon School
- 2025 - Speaker at the Leadership Conference at Royal Albert Hall, London
- 2025 - Featured as a keynote speaker at the Agency Club Townhouse leadership event
- 2025 - Participated in Better London leadership series
- 2023 - Transformed a £35m software managed service into a high-performing operation as Senior Operations Delivery Specialist
- 2021 - Became an Elite Performance Coach working with professional cricket teams
- 2019 - Qualified as a Mental Health First Aider and began advising organisations on wellbeing strategy
- 2016 - Delivered Deloitte’s Operational Excellence Programme as a Qualified Deloitte Coach
- 2012 - Established reputation for rescuing strategically critical programmes at Deloitte
- 2008 - Appointed Captain of the RAF Combat Shooting Team
- 2005 - Served as an operational RAF Fast Jet Pilot
How to hire Paul Tolley
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Paul Tolley for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official 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.
