Performance Lessons from a Professional Rugby Star: Richard Thorpe, Family Office, Performance Coach & Professional Rugby Player – with Jonathan Bowman-Perks

149. Richard Thorpe – Ex London Irish Rugby Consultant – Family Office. Richard Thorpe is Director of Rugby of a National 1 Rugby Club, and Performance Coach to professional athletes, executives, entrepreneurs & family office Next-Gen. Richard began his career in rugby when he joined the London Irish Academy at the age of 18. His subsequent professional career boasted over 150 Premiership rugby games for London Irish, Leicester Tigers and London Welsh. He played in the 2009 Premiership Final for London Irish, and was a part of the Leicester team that won the Premiership in 2013. A near career ending injury saw Richard leave Leicester after winning the Premiership and join London Welsh whom had just been relegated. He went on to win the Championship with London Welsh the next season, gaining promotion back into the Premiership. 

Richard was also a Canadian International Rugby Player, and represented Rugby Canada at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. Following his retirement from professional rugby in 2016, Richard moved into business. Having invested in property throughout his rugby career, he initially transitioned into Operations Director at RDT Invest (a principal real estate lender). Alongside this role he also became a Director of SBL Capital, his family’s private office. But it was his ongoing work with professional athletes that first moved him into coaching. Early on after his retirement, Richard began coaching professional   athletes struggling with their transition into the ‘real world’. He joined Harley Street Institute, Cognacity in 2017 as an Executive Coach, and in 2018, he wound down his other business interests and established his own Performance Consultancy. He now coaches across sectors but focusses mainly on professional athletes, executives and Next-Gen. 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Richard stepped back into rugby as Director of Rugby at National 1 Rugby Club Chinnor RFC Thame. Whilst a semi-professional club, Chinnor have some big ambitions, and Richard’s leadership framework is influenced by his experiences in professional rugby, business, Executive and Performance Coaching. Richard combines this role with his Performance Consultancy, and his young family in Buckinghamshire. Richard has also been a Player Representative for the Rugby Players Association, and is currently Ambassador for the Global Next-Gen Community (the successors to the Global Family Office Community). 

Leadership tip – Ask yourself everyday: “how can I get the best out of my people?”