His belief that personal fitness contributes to better business decisions is what motivates Chris Richards.
What’s your story?
I started my career by building my own personal training business while studying at the University of Edinburgh. I taught myself web design and SEO, ranked number one on Google for Personal Training Edinburgh, built a waiting list and eventually grew a small team before joining Ultimate Performance.
More than a decade later, I have helped scale the business across APAC and the Middle East, leading commercial performance, operations and growth across multiple international markets. Alongside my executive role, I now advise founders and leadership teams on strategy, execution and building businesses that scale sustainably.
What excites you most about your industry?
What excites me is not fitness itself. It is performance.
Health has shifted from being viewed as a personal lifestyle choice to becoming a competitive advantage. The best leaders increasingly understand that better energy, better recovery and greater resilience lead to better decisions and stronger business performance.
At Ultimate Performance, we see this every day with executives, entrepreneurs and senior leaders. Helping people improve their health is rewarding, but seeing the impact it has on how they lead their businesses is even more interesting.
What drives you in your career to push beyond what other people consider normal?
Curiosity and a desire to learn.
I have always wanted to know what happens when you consistently raise your own standards rather than comparing yourself to everyone else. That mindset has taken me from starting a business as a student, to relocating across the world, to leading regional operations for a global company.
I do not think exceptional performance comes from one defining moment. It comes from making slightly better decisions, more consistently, over a long period of time.
What have been the most useful skills you have learnt and applied in your journey?
Learning how to execute.
Ideas are rarely the limiting factor. Most businesses already know what they should be doing. The challenge is consistently executing at a high standard.
I have also learned that leadership is less about having all the answers and more about building capable people, creating clarity and removing obstacles so great teams can perform. Those principles have been just as valuable in scaling businesses as they have been in coaching individuals.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Do not wish it was easier. Wish you were better.
That idea has stayed with me throughout my career. Every new role, every larger market and every greater responsibility has required me to become a better leader rather than hoping the challenge became smaller.
Growth usually comes from increasing your own capability, not waiting for circumstances to improve. It is a mindset that has helped me take greater ownership of outcomes and continue developing as the scale and complexity of my responsibilities have increased.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by people who combine ambition with substance. Founders who turn an idea into a durable business, operators who improve performance without seeking the spotlight, and leaders who maintain high standards while bringing people with them.
I am particularly interested in those who keep evolving as their responsibilities grow. Building something successful is difficult. Continuing to learn, adapt and remain grounded as it scales is even more impressive. Those are the qualities I try to bring to my own leadership and advisory work.
What have you learnt recently that blew you away?
How transferable the principles of performance really are.
Whether you are coaching an executive to improve their health, scaling an international business or advising a founder, the fundamentals are remarkably similar: clear goals, honest feedback, disciplined execution and consistency over time.
The environment changes, but the principles behind human performance do not change as much as we like to think. The businesses and individuals that perform best usually create clarity, measure what matters and build systems that make good decisions easier to repeat.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
I would seek broader perspectives earlier.
Much of my early career was focused on working hard, mastering my role and delivering results. That foundation was valuable, but I would have invested sooner in mentors and exposure to leaders from different industries.
The more businesses, markets and leadership styles you encounter, the more rounded your judgement becomes. Learning from people with different experiences challenges your assumptions, broadens how you approach problems and can help you make better decisions sooner.
How do you unwind?
Strength training has always been my anchor because it clears my mind as much as it improves my health.
Outside work, I enjoy walking around Singapore’s extensive park network with my wife and our two young children. It is a simple way to slow down, spend time together and gain perspective after a busy week.
I have found that the best ways to unwind are usually uncomplicated. Training, time outdoors and being present with family help me reset and return to work with more energy and clarity.
What is a major mindset change, belief shift or ‘ah ha’ moment that you’ve experienced in relation to your career?
Realising that my job is not to have all the answers.
Earlier in my career, I thought strong leaders solved every problem themselves. Today, I believe leadership is about asking better questions, developing capable people and creating an environment where excellent decisions happen without you being in every room.
That shift changed how I lead teams and how I think about building organisations. The goal is not to make yourself indispensable. It is to build people, systems and standards that allow performance to scale beyond you.
Everyone in business should read this book:
Good to Great by Jim Collins.
It fundamentally changed how I think about leadership, disciplined execution and building organisations that outperform over the long term. Its focus on disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action remains highly relevant.
It is one of those books I find myself returning to because the principles apply across industries and stages of growth. Strong businesses are rarely built through one breakthrough idea. They are built through clear choices, capable people and consistent execution over many years.
Shameless plug for your business or career:
Ultimate Performance is for people serious about transforming their health and who want more than a conventional gym experience.
We combine expert personal training, tailored nutrition and accountability in a structured, data-driven system designed to deliver measurable results. Our clients are executives, entrepreneurs and professionals who need an approach that respects their time and removes guesswork.
Since 2009 Ultimate Performance has been refining a model that helps people achieve exceptional transformations while building the knowledge and habits to maintain them. If you want a proven system, direction and a coach invested in your outcome, that is what Ultimate Performance delivers.
How can people connect with you?
LinkedIn is the best place to connect. I share practical insights on leadership, business performance, health and the lessons I have learned from scaling teams across international markets.
For anyone looking to transform their health, energy or performance, either personally or across their leadership team, I am also happy to explain how Ultimate Performance can help.
Social Media Links?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrichardspt
Ultimate Performance: https://ultimateperformance.com/
This interview is part of the CallumConnects series.