Neil Tunnah
Find the edge already in your team. Sharpen it. Drill it until it wins.
Many sport speakers were the stars. Neil wasn't. He built the system behind them.
The elite coaches who never played at the top came from the classroom. Neil came from a building site.
Carpenter out of school. Construction manager by 30. In 2009 the firm went bust, and while the administrators were still telling the room it was over, he booked a one-way ticket to Sydney.
In 2013, with a newborn, he walked away from the salary to coach schoolboys a few hours a week. Three years later, Super Rugby and Test players. Three seasons after that, a pro club in Europe.
He’s the kind of coach who brings out the best in people, builds confidence, and helps individuals realise what they’re truly capable of.Jerry Sexton, lock, Jersey Reds and Southern Kings
In the race to find competitive advantages, Neil understands the bedrock of leadership and elite performance is building real relationships within your team.Dehra Harris, USA Eagles. Former Assistant Director of High Performance, Toronto Blue Jays
Review the play, not just the score.
Pro sport reviews how the team played, every day. Business reviews the result.
Read it right. Decide. Act fast.
Pro sport reads the signal before it hits the scoreboard, then acts in seconds. Business waits for the numbers. By then it's history.
No sugar hits.
No workshop high that's gone by Monday. Built for habits that still hold when the pressure's on.
Find the edge.
Pro sport doesn't hire its way out of trouble. It finds what each player is exceptional at, and builds the game around it.
- I review the tape, not the story.
- Same message in the room and out of it. No back channels.
- Feedback at the moment it matters. Specific and usable.
For leaders tired of generic leadership content.
Built on how professional sport works: every week built to win the next one.
Leading Through The Noise.
Pro teams don't track more than you. They track what matters, and act before you do.Keynote at the Mindshop Conference, Melbourne. For leadership conferences, CEO forums, business owner events.
Would your team draft you?
Every team has three groups: the elite, the ones hungry to get there, and the ones whose agent you're already calling. Which one would your team say you are?For CEO forums, leadership conferences, board offsites.
Decisions at game speed.
Pro teams decide in seconds and review by morning. Your rivals are getting faster. Are you?For senior leadership events, industry conferences.
The scoreboard you're not keeping.
Revenue is last game's score. Pro teams build every week to win the next one. Do you?For sales kick-offs, operating leadership, growth-stage companies.
AI won't replace strong leaders. It will expose weak ones.
Pro sport makes calls on live data mid-game. AI now makes that possible in business. The question is who uses it first: you or your rivals.For leadership conferences, technology and transformation events, board briefings.
Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes. Panel. Fireside chat.
Brilliant, passionate and focused.
Fantastic - loved the ‘in moments of chaos, decide and act with speed’.
Brought it back to basics, so much resonated with me in my current environment.
Attendees, Mindshop Conference post-event survey.
Same job. Three worlds.
- Commercial construction projects.Engineers, architects, designers, subcontractors and suppliers. The first system he built got them all chasing the same goal, on tight deadlines and tight budgets.
- Professional rugby.No international playing career. He coached his way in from the club game, then built the forward and defence systems pro teams ran on, on three continents. At Jersey alone, 12 players who came through them stepped up to the Premiership, Pro14 or Test rugby.
- The Performance Chain.The same system, now for executive teams: talented individuals at the top who aren't yet a team.
The job never changed: build the system that lets talented people win together.
Episodes, ready to go.
- The talent you need is already on your payroll. Pro sport would have spotted it.
- From the war room to the boardroom: would your team draft you?
- Coaches watch the full tape. Executives get the highlight reel.
- Pro teams see the signal and act. Business waits for the scoreboard.
- Pro sport makes calls on live data mid-game. AI makes that possible in business. Most leaders aren't using it yet.
Neil Tunnah has spent 15 years coaching professional rugby across Australia, Europe and the USA. Seven players who came through his programmes went on to Test rugby, four of them Wallabies. He also spent ten years in senior corporate leadership. His whole career is helping people climb their mountain, and he is known for a no-fluff approach to people and performance. He is the founder and CEO of The Performance Chain, which builds the same weekly performance systems for executive teams. He is based in Adelaide and works across the US, the UK and Australia.
- The Authentic AdvisorFrom elite sport to business. 2026
- Talking Leadership TVEp. 68. 2025
- Future PeopleBeyond culture: building teams that truly perform. 2025
- The Brian Moylett PodcastWhat professional sport and business can learn from each other. 2024
- The AI GrappleEp. 40. From fear to confidence: leading teams through AI
- Curious AFEp. 30. The leadership secret no one tells you
- The My Future Business ShowGuest episode
- Happiness Is Egg ShapedGuest episode. Watch on YouTube
- The Magic AcademyGuest episode
- The Michael Peres PodcastTranslating elite sport into business leadership
Founder and CEO, The Performance Chain.
The Performance Chain gives executive teams the weekly performance system professional sport runs on. Based in Adelaide, working across Australia, the UK and North America.
It starts with the executive team. Then we take it into your sales and production teams.
Neil has an amazing depth of knowledge and a broad width of experience that allow him to relate to and work through all of the issues I’ve thrown at him. He truly is a trusted advisor for me in this phase of my professional career.Matt Merrett, Partner, Brentnalls
Book Neil for your stage, your show or your story.
Keynotes. Conferences and events. Panels and fireside chats. Podcast guest spots. Media commentary.
Tell Neil the event, the audience, the date and the city. You'll hear back within two working days.