Matthew Syed

Matthew Syed was born to a Pakistani father and Welsh mother in Reading, southeast England, in 1970. After attending his local state school, he graduated from Oxford University in 1995 with a prize-winning first-class degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. His first book "Bounce", published in April 2010, has been described as "one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking books about sport ever written."

Syed is currently a columnist and feature writer for The Times, where he writes a Wednesday column on sport in addition to penning reviews, opinion pieces, and interviews. He has won numerous accolades for his journalism, including Sports Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. He is also a multi-award-winning journalist for The Times and The Sunday Times.

Before becoming a journalist, Syed was England's table tennis number one for almost a decade, a three-times Commonwealth Champion, and twice competed for Great Britain in the Olympic Games (in Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000). His style was unusually defensive, playing strokes from the back of the court described by his Times colleague Simon Barnes as “spectacular roof-threatening parabolas”.

In addition to his journalistic endeavors, Syed is an accomplished author with six best-selling books including "Bounce", "Black Box Thinking", "Rebel Ideas", "The Greatest", "You Are Awesome", and "The You Are Awesome Journal". He is renowned for his insights into high performance and growth mindset, subjects on which he is often invited to speak globally. Syed is also the presenter of the popular BBC Radio 4 programme, "Sideways", and has released the "Sideways" podcast exploring ideas that shape our lives with stories of seeing the world differently.

Syed co-founded Matthew Syed Consulting, which assists organizations in building growth mindset cultures to drive higher performance. He is an active founding member of the charity Greenhouse Sports, which aims to empower youngsters through sport and supports thousands of young people in full-time school programs. His involvement extends to being an ambassador for the PiXL Educational Foundation, further showcasing his commitment to educational and social development.