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Executive coach and Paralympian Matt Formston AM GAICD has never let anything hold him back. He shares rules every director can use to exceed their own expectations.
“I grew up in a house where we weren’t allowed to use the word ‘can’t’. Dad would say, instead of ‘can’t’, say ‘why not?’ And as you’re explaining why you can’t, you’re building the solution.”
To say Matt Formston AM has an impressive CV is a lesson in understatement. The director and executive coach is also a Paralympian, a four-time world champion surfer, multiple world champion cyclist and holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever ridden by a para surfer — 15.48m at Nazaré, Portugal, in November 2022. He’s an author, motivational speaker and the star of a Netflix documentary.
He’s also legally blind. Formston was diagnosed with macular dystrophy when he was five and now has around three per cent vision.
“My biggest challenge has never been my blindness,” he says. “Growing up, I was told to add value and contribute. I got bullied a lot, but in sport, I was always valued on my contribution rather than being treated as a person who was different. That’s the lens I apply to all my different roles.”
Hard standards
Formston gives shape to this lens in his new book, Why Not? Breaking Limits in Sport, Business and Life. He outlines eight “hard standards” that guide him in life – and how others can apply them to their own success. “They’re the things that I don’t negotiate on,” he says. “They’re my value proposition to the world. Every standard, if you do them properly, will exponentially move needles.”
They are as challenging as one would expect from a hard-hitting company director and world champion athlete. Each standard asks the reader to come face-to-face with an obstacle – and then obliterate it. To build the capability to perform. To raise the benchmark. To stop hiding behind excuses. To move when the fear says wait. Together, they form a philosophy that applies as much to Formston’s board roles as to his sporting career.
Risk drives reward
“Directors are looking at things through a risk lens,” he says. “That can be tricky, because you default to not doing things. It’s understanding the difference between your perceived risk and your real risk.” Too many directors, he says, are worried about risks that are unlikely to eventuate, instead of relying on data to make good choices.
Formston knows better than most that calculated risk can drive the greatest rewards, whether it’s in finding new ways to delight customers or chasing ocean swells. Even in his dark moments, he has always been driven by holding himself to his own high expectations.
“As a blind person, everyone tells me I can’t do things,” he says. “The risks I take, if we get them wrong, someone dies. We’re doing something inherently high-risk. But because we have the right process and the right capability, we can manage that risk.”
In a life of demanding waves, cycling routes and boardroom questions, Formston’s standards mean he’s always striving for his next great success. And he shows no signs of slowing down. “Some people think doing their best means leaving everyone behind,” he says. “My best is always: how do I leave the world in a better place?”
This article first appeared as 'Beyond the limit' in the Aug/Sep 2026 Issue of Company Director Magazine.
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