Leadership intelligence, sharpened by sport.

A private members’ club for owners, founders and senior executives. We study how leaders behave under pressure, in elite sport and in business, and members use that evidence to see where their own business could break.

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643 findings from 58 leaders who have performed under pressure. Every quote is checked word for word against the transcript.

Recovery DeficitSeverity 2 of 3
“I think I failed as a leader sometimes where I didn’t step up and call some of those people out”

Al Charron, former Canada captain, four Rugby World Cups

What it shows
He tolerated teammates with poor attitudes rather than confronting them, and now judges that this cost results more than people realise.
The pattern
Recovery Deficit. Hard things get put off until they cost more.
Source
The Business End podcast, episode 12, checked word for word against the transcript.
One of 643 findings in our evidence.

Where the intelligence comes from

Everything a member reads on the platform traces back to something a leader actually said. This is how it is made.

  1. Step 1

    The conversations

    Long interviews on our podcast and talks at our lunches, with leaders who have performed under real pressure.

    47 podcast episodes, all coded

  2. Step 2

    The coding

    Each transcript is read line by line and coded against a fixed codebook: what happened, how serious it was, and the exact words used.

    Severity rated from 1 to 3

  3. Step 3

    The check

    Every quote is checked word for word against the full transcript before it goes live.

    643 findings, every quote checked

  4. Step 4

    The patterns

    Each finding is tied to one of eight patterns that show how organisations break under pressure.

    58 leaders, 8 patterns

Eight ways organisations break

The same eight patterns keep returning, in dressing rooms and in boardrooms. Each ring shows how many of the 58 leaders in our evidence faced that pattern.

  • 42of 58

    Succession Void

    Nobody is ready to step in.

    Why it matters

    If one person leaves or one contract ends, the business loses capability or revenue overnight.

  • 29of 58

    Standards Drift

    The bar is slipping, and nobody decided it should.

    Why it matters

    Results can look fine while quality slips underneath, so the problem shows up late and costs more to fix.

  • 28of 58

    Authority Concentration

    Everything runs through you.

    Why it matters

    The business can only move as fast as that person, and it stalls when they are busy, ill or away.

  • 28of 58

    Invisible Overload

    You are carrying more than you can see.

    Why it matters

    Decisions slow down and standards slip, and the strain often shows only when something gives.

  • 27of 58

    Trust Fragility

    Trust that holds in calm times and cracks under change.

    Why it matters

    It holds while things are stable, but new people or a change of direction can break it quickly.

  • 25of 58

    Recovery Deficit

    Hard things get put off until they cost more.

    Why it matters

    Problems come back in a different form, and each delay makes them more expensive to deal with.

  • 22of 58

    Narrative Flattery

    The story you tell yourself hides the problem.

    Why it matters

    Problems grow quietly because the story feels true, until they are too big to explain away.

  • 19of 58

    False Confidence

    Plan A has always worked, so there is no Plan B.

    Why it matters

    When the one route fails there is nothing ready to replace it, and recovery takes far longer.

Members take the Leadership Stress Test to find out which of the eight apply to their business, and get a 90-day plan to deal with them.

What membership gives you

The evidence, applied to your own business, and a place in the rooms where it is gathered.

The Leadership Stress Test

Find out where your business could break under pressure, and how it compares with the leaders in our evidence.

  1. 12 minutesEighteen questions
  2. Our teamreads every answer and confirms each rating
  3. Two working daysyour report and 90-day plan, then a call
  4. 90 daysa re-test shows what has changed

Decision Intelligence

Bring a decision to the TBE Intelligence Engine, a structured intelligence retrieval system built from our verified evidence. It retrieves the findings that bear on your question and answers with what the leaders actually said, read against your own profile.

Curated Connections

Tell us once what you need and what you can offer. Every morning we check you against new members and guests, both ways, and nothing is shared until you and they agree. You can also search the network yourself and have an answer in about a minute.

The Lunch Network

Lunches of around 60 senior leaders, with a speaker who has led under pressure. Members pay less, can see who is in the room before they arrive, and get suggestions on who to meet and why.

Also for members

  • Your Monday briefA short email each week, written for you: what was added to the evidence, a case that bears on your business, and your next lunch.
  • Quarterly coaching with Ben FranksA live group session with the two-time Rugby World Cup winner on the issues members send in, followed by a written action report.
  • Test your teamTwo tests our team runs for you: how your people see the business under pressure, and how to lead one person well.
  • The TBE ExchangeCredit on every lunch ticket you buy and every member you introduce, to spend on lunches.
  • Special ReportsIn-depth reports from our events and sessions.
  • Partners and benefitsPreferential terms from the club’s partners, including the TBE Wine Club.

The lunches

Around 60 senior leaders and a speaker who has led under pressure. Guests answer a few questions before they arrive, and what the speaker says is coded into the evidence afterwards.

Coming up

Members book at the member rate on the platform.

Leadership Lunch with Neil Back, 13 November 2026, Hawksmoor, Wood Wharf, London

Leadership Lunch with Neil Back

2003 Rugby World Cup winner and former England captain

Fri 13 Nov 2026
Hawksmoor, Wood Wharf
London

This lunch is sold out.

Sold out
Leadership Lunch with Rose Lopez Keravuori, 25 November 2026, Castelroc, Monaco

Leadership Lunch with Rose Lopez Keravuori

Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General

Wed 25 Nov 2026
Castelroc
Monaco

Tickets €125. Members €85.

Buy tickets

Where we have been

A speaker with the room at a Business End lunch
  1. October 2026SydneyBenn Robinson, Katie Ferrier and Dan Watts, with Achilles
  2. October 2026MonacoJamie Cudmore, former Canada captain
  3. September 2026ExeterGareth Steenson and Tony Rowe CBE
  4. September 2026BrightonAndy Gomarsall MBE, England 2003 Rugby World Cup winner
  5. June 2026MonacoAntoine Zeghdar, Monaco-born Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist
  6. May 2026LondonMartin Johnson CBE, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning captain
  7. May 2026OttawaAl Charron, World Rugby Hall of Fame
  8. March 2026ChichesterMike Brown, England, 72 caps
  9. March 2026MonacoPrivate lunch
  10. March 2026BelfastPrivate event

The podcast

The evidence starts here: long conversations with people who have led at the highest level of sport and business, about what pressure did to them and to their teams. Every episode is coded.

47

Latest episode

Brad Ainsworth

Founder of Cathedral Wealth Management, on entrepreneurship, growth and the lessons that only come from experience.
Watch episode 47

Among our guests

  • Ben FranksTwo-time Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks
  • Dean RichardsEngland and the British and Irish Lions
  • Mark EvansFormer chief executive of Saracens, Harlequins and Melbourne Storm
  • David MoffettFormer chief executive of the NZRU, WRU, NRL and Sport England
  • Rocky Clark MBEEngland, 137 caps
  • Catherine SpencerFormer England captain
  • Dr Elin Haf DaviesFounder of Aparito
  • Tony DalwoodGresham House
  • Al CharronWorld Rugby Hall of Fame
  • Matt PerryEngland and the 2001 Lions
  • Rob HendersonIreland and the Lions
  • Topsy OjoBroadcaster, London Irish Foundation

Who is behind this

The operators and athletes who built The Business End, where elite sport meets executive performance.

Liam Mooney

Liam Mooney

Founder

Liam Mooney is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Business End, a leadership intelligence platform that applies elite sport methodology to executive performance. He also founded Blue Pencil Legal in 2002, the leading independent legal search firm for the Offshore and Middle East markets, and has built and led businesses across the UK, Monaco, Dubai and Guernsey.

A Cambridge MA and Solicitor of England and Wales, Liam is a former professional rugby player who represented Ireland A, the Barbarians, London Irish, Exeter Chiefs and Cambridge University.

Justin M. Fitzpatrick

Justin M. Fitzpatrick

Founder

Justin M. Fitzpatrick is the Managing Partner and Founder of The Business End, a leadership intelligence platform exploring performance, leadership, and decision-making under pressure through the lens of elite sport and business.

A former Ireland rugby international with 26 caps and a European Cup winner with Ulster, he also played professionally for London Irish and Castres Olympique. He has built and led high-performance programmes, teams, and businesses across the UK, Europe, and North America.

What members and guests say

Senior operators on the rooms, the people, and the intelligence behind them.

“

I signed up to The Business End expecting a good look at high performance in sport and business, with its shared mindset, habits and skills that drive success in both, plus a chance to network over decent food and company. It’s all that, and more. The members-only Intelligence Centre adds real depth, with useful decision-making tools, speaker analysis, and genuine engagement with others keen to learn and share.

James Copeland
Managing Director at Tempcon Instrumentation Ltd
“

My third Business End Live — and they’ve gotten better each time. Venue, food, drink, attendees, all top drawer. Martin Johnson was brilliant: insightful, with incredible stories and anecdotes laced with genuine leadership gems.

Rob Chapman
Operations Manager, Cormack Advertising
“

I see this as a truly unique proposition. What makes it especially valuable is the way it enables meaningful networking ahead of an event. Rather than simply attending a business lunch and hoping for useful conversations, you arrive with greater purpose, stronger connections, and clearer opportunities. It transforms a good business lunch into something much more strategic and productive.

Sean Connor
Senior Advisor at I-OnAsia

The members’ platform

The Intelligence Terminal is where members read the evidence, take the Stress Test, put questions to the TBE Intelligence Engine and arrange introductions.

  • Your weekly brief on the home page
  • Decision Intelligence and the TBE Intelligence Engine
  • The eight patterns and the Intelligence Library
  • The Leadership Stress Test, your report and 90-day plan
  • Curated Connections and The Room
  • Lunches, coaching, partner benefits and the TBE Exchange

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