About
Richard
I'm Richard Medcalf, the founder of Xquadrant. Let's get acquainted. We'll start with the "official" bio....
Richard Medcalf
Founder
Richard Medcalf describes himself as "what you’d get if you put a McKinsey consultant, a slightly unorthodox pastor, and Freddie Mercury into a blender."
As the founder of Xquadrant, Richard is the trusted advisor to elite CEOs and entrepreneurs facing The 10X Reckoning—the moment they realise they’re stuck in their current success, playing too small, or moving too slow on their vision.
His 1:1 clients include billion-dollar CEOs, tech unicorn founders, an Entrepreneur of the Year, and an Olympic medallist—leaders determined to break out of incremental progress and create their life’s greatest work.
Richard has spent 25 years advising the C-Suite. He was the youngest-ever Partner at a top strategy consultancy, before spending 11 years at Cisco in an elite team reporting to the CEO. He holds a Masters from Oxford University, where he graduated top of his year.
He is the author of Making TIME for Strategy and the upcoming The 10X Reckoning, and the creator of The Crucible, a private ecosystem where visionary entrepreneurs and execs redefine their leadership, multiply their impact, and transform their industries.
Bi-national English/French, he lives near Paris with his wife and two children. He’s a licensed lay minister, a lover of spicy food, and a die-hard electric guitar enthusiast.
And here's the 'real' bio...
Here's the messy stuff, where I break open the eggshell and let the yolk run out...
My sister was severely mentally and physically disabled and needed 24-hour care. I learned to be the strong, capable brother who didn’t need support, and I can still struggle with asking for help. She passed away in 2022 and remains a huge inspiration to me by her affection, joy and determination despite the odds. The difference between my life and hers convinced me that if we’re lucky enough to have opportunities, we should fully use them to make the world a better place.
My mother died at age 59. She left an incredible legacy because she supported thousands of families with handicapped kids at a deep, significant level. So: life is short and the time for making a difference is now.
“And bad mistakes, I’ve made them too.” I’ve known stagnation and played too small. At times, I've been in my comfort zone, relying on what had made me successful in the past; delivering good work, but not the impact I was capable of.
“I’m a loser.” This was the soundtrack in my head for months when I was made redundant as part of a companywide layoff at Cisco. I’m going to resist the temptation to explain, justify it, or even tell you why I was secretly relieved.
I get in my head. I’ve been a thinker and a strategist all my life. It’s a source of power for me, but it’s also held me back. I can lose connection with what my heart or body are telling me; I can put myself on a treadmill chasing goal after goal; I can focus so much on being clever that I can miss a deeper connection. The journey over the last few years to integrate head, heart and body has been the source of a greater impact that I’m still exploring.
I’m ridiculous. Yes, really. I’m dedicated to my mission and can be intense… but give me a stage and I’ll strut about it like Freddie Mercury. Hand me an air guitar and I’ll go nuts. If we can’t have fun, why bother? Put me in a room where everyone is serious and I’ll throw a humour bomb into the mix. I love disrupting the status quo, not doing quite what’s expected, and LOGANBERRY!
Despite my impressive CV, inside I’m still hungry. My inner secret is that I still feel I’m playing small and in my comfort zone, far from my potential. I’m hungry for more impact, to make more of a difference. And I find that my clients often experience exactly the same thing.
I’m all in. I do this work because it matters. I made the shift when I asked myself what stories I’d want to tell about my career, and realised it wasn’t about just increasing EBITDA margin. It was about taking top leaders to a new level, so they would in turn catalyse a wave of positive change in the world. When I left Cisco, I turned down a lucrative role in an exciting tech firm to build Xquadrant and fulfil that mission. At the deepest level, I care when great leaders tackle great challenges because they love.
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