E47 - Guests: Ralph Arundell, former Army Officer & Henry Arundell, professional rugby player

This week's episode is a double first.  It is the first time I have interviewed two guests at the same time, and those two guests happen to be father and son with two amazing life stories to share.

Ralph Arundell is a former British Army officer with a distinguished career in the infantry, and who is now the Director of Operations at Harrow School.

Henry Arundell is an elite level rugby player coming to the end of his third year as a professional, and who has already made an amazing start to his rugby career both at club and international level.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and it will give you a lot of fascinating insights into the world of professional sport, as well as a wide range of leadership perspectives and experiences.  I really hope you enjoy what I thought was a terrific conversation and, as ever, I would love your feedback when you have a chance.

You can find Ralph here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-arundell-a0952819/
Twitter / X: https://x.com/RalphArundell

You can find Henry here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-arundell-879775237/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henry_arundell/?hl=en
Twitter / X: https://x.com/henry_arundell

In this episode we cover the following topics (starting time in brackets):

• Ralph's career journey (00.02.31)
• Henry's career journey so far! (00.03.39)
• Ralph's early motivations (00.04.45)
• Henry's early motivations and how he got started in professional rugby (00.09.07)
• Life in professional sport (00.12.59)
• Military comparisons with elite sport (00.20.59)
• Club vs Country! (00.23.34)
• The physicality of the game (00.26.57)
• Role models (00.30.29)
• Good and bad leadership examples (00.40.43)
• Debriefing, data and self-criticism (00.46.15)
• Advice to a younger self! (00.54.08)
• What would you have done differently? (00.56.20)
• Ralph's most significant achievement (00.58.18)
• Ralph's career low point (00.59.38)
• Leading by example! (01.02.55)
• Henry's early international matches, highlights and next steps (01.04.42)
• Values for life! (01.10.28)
• Henry's low point (01.14.39)
• When are we going to see Henry back in an England shirt? (01.18.38)
• De-stressing and relaxing (01.19.27)
• Linkages between top level sport and the commercial world (01.23.50)
• Ralph's transition from the military to the civilian world (01.29.20)

Chapters

• 2:31 Ralph's career journey
• 3:39 Henry's career journey so far!
• 4:45 Ralph's early motivations
• 9:07 Henry's early motivations and how he got started in professional rugby
• 12:59 Life in professional sport
• 20:59 Military comparisons with elite sport
• 23:34 Club vs country!
• 26:57 The physicality of the game!
• 30:29 Role models
• 40:43 Good and bad leadership examples!
• 46:15 Debriefing, data and self-criticism
• 54:08 Advice to a younger self!
• 56:20 What would you have done differently?
• 58:18 Ralph's most significant achievement
• 59:38 Ralph's career low point
• 1:02:55 Leading by example!
• 1:04:42 Henry's early international matches, highlights and next steps
• 1:10:28 Values for life!
• 1:14:39 Henry's low point
• 1:18:38 When are we going to see Henry back in an England shirt?
• 1:19:27 De-stressing and relaxing
• 1:23:50 Linkages between top level sport and the commercial world?
• 1:29:20 Ralph's transition from the military to the civilian world
• 1:34:06 The importance of family support
• 1:35:50 Most memorable moments
• 1:40:40 Most difficult questions!