Keynote SpeakersMatt Lindley is an airline pilot and former RAF Royal Squadron Pilot. A popular keynote speaker on Diversity, Inclusion and Leadership.
Matt was one of the first openly gay pilots in the RAF.
In 1995, Matt was selected to be a pilot in the Royal Air Force. He flew many types of aircraft, including the Hawk fighter jet.
He flew missions in the Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Furthermore, Lindley served in the Royal Squadron. He flew HM The Queen, members of the Royal Family, and government officials worldwide.
While serving, he became a qualified flying instructor and VIP qualified Captain.
In 2007, Matt left the Service to join a well-known British commercial airline. He initially flew the Airbus on their short-haul network and now operates the Boeing 747 on long-haul routes.
Matt Lindley – Diversity and Inclusion Speaker:
As a diversity and inclusion speaker, Matt Lindley talks candidly about being one of the first openly gay pilots in the Armed Forces.
Listen to his journey of having a childhood dream to fly, almost crushed by a ban on gay serving personnel in the Forces.
Matt describes how he consciously suppressed his sexuality and joined an organisation, knowing that being ‘out’ would have resulted in a possible prison sentence.
Watch clips from Matt’s Diversity and Inclusion presentation:
His story is one of self-motivation and drive, which led to him fulfilling his dream.
Furthermore, Matt describes how the RAF adapted its culture from one of open hostility towards gay personnel to acceptance and support.
But this is not just another ‘coming out story’. Instead, Matt uses his experience, to highlight the benefits of positive culture change and transformational leadership to the well-being of employees and the productivity of an organisation.
Speaking topics covered by Matt include:
- Emotional Intelligence and Empathy
- Personal and Business Resilience
- Equality
- Bullying in the Workplace
- Stress Management
- Mental Health
- Teamwork
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Resilience
- Decision Making
- Leadership
- Mental Strength
Matt Lindley Virtual Presentations:
Matt is also available for virtual keynote presentations. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, Matt has adapted his inspirational speech to motivate remotely.
As a result, popular virtual keynote topics include:
- Goal Setting
- Resilience in Difficult Times
- Company Culture
- Speak Up Culture
- Trust
- Psychological Safety
“What’s It Doing Now?”
What’s It Doing Now? is a grim cockpit phrase sometimes heard in the moments before an accident. It’s also a strategic question at the heart of generative AI adoption: as technology takes on more of the work, how do organisations preserve the human judgement, expertise and oversight needed when it matters most?
Drawing on aviation’s decades of experience with increasingly capable automation, Matt explores how human behaviour changes when people move from doing to supervising, exposing the risks of skills fade, degraded situational awareness and our surprising weakness at passive monitoring.
Through Air France 447 and a live audience experiment, the keynote gives leaders a practical framework for deciding which human capabilities to strengthen, how to keep them practised, and how people can remain meaningfully engaged as AI accelerates.
