Empowering Leaders

Luke Darcy sits down with Luke Tunnecliffe - a man who has spent most of his career behind the scenes shaping the biggest moments in Australian sport and media.
From walking into Collingwood at 17 to decades in the Triple M Footy chair and building JamTV alongside Eddie McGuire, Luke is a steady hand. A connector. A storyteller.
He’s been in rooms with Usain Bolt. Backstage with John Farnham. In Shane Warne’s man cave while Ed Sheeran played DJ.
But this conversation isn’t really about any of that.
It’s about Jack.
Luke and his wife Amy are raising three children, including their son Jack, who is nonverbal and autistic. Unwilling to accept treatment with no promise of positive change, they have spent years trying to understand what might help, and how to hold a family together when life doesn’t look the way you thought it would.
Luke speaks honestly about the strain - the financial weight, the exhaustion, the impact on siblings, the friendships that fall away and the ones that step up.
He talks about the way music became a lifeline for Jack. And how in one extraordinary moment, Ed Sheeran sat with his guitar beneath the MCG and sang to him - calming him in a way few others could.
And then came a treatment plan that has changed everything. While there’s still a long journey ahead, the treatment has already led to the moment that Luke will hold onto for the rest of his life - Jack putting his arms around his neck and saying the three words he’d been waiting years to hear.
This is an episode about resilience, fatherhood, mateship - and what it feels like when hope slowly starts to return.
This conversation reflects Luke and his family’s personal experience. It is not intended as medical advice. Listeners should always seek guidance from qualified healthcare professionals when making decisions about their own health.
Learn. Lead. Collaborate.
Start your leadership journey today. Head here to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Book a discovery call today.
Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. Find more information about studying at VU here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it actually take to perform at the highest level - not just once, but across a career?
Luke Darcy sits down with Cate Campbell, four-time Olympic gold medallist and one of the most respected voices in Australian sport. Cate doesn't just talk about the wins. She reflects on the dream she and her sister Bronte cooked up as children in Malawi, the surreal experience of becoming an Olympian at 16, and what it meant to carry the Australian flag at Tokyo. But she also goes somewhere far more honest - into the parts of elite sport that rarely make the highlight reel: identity, failure, body image, team culture, and what it means to figure out who you are when the sport that shaped you is finally over.
Cate also shares what real resilience looks like, why the most powerful shift in Swimming Australia was moving from valuing performance to valuing people, and the three pieces of advice she'd give any young person chasing a dream.
Cate and Bronte recently launched their podcast, Campbells and Co. Check it out here.
We are privileged to have Cate as part of our Aleda Connect community. If you want to learn and grow alongside people like her, find out more via the link below.
Learn. Lead. Collaborate.
Start your leadership journey today. Head here to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Book a discovery call today.
Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. Find more information about studying at VU here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are we paying enough attention to our young men? Do we know how to raise healthy, confident young men in the world we live in?
Luke Darcy sits down with Scott Galloway, professor at NYU Stern, entrepreneur, bestselling author and host of the wildly successful Prof G and Pivot podcasts.
In this conversation on Empowering Leaders, Luke and Scott explore the pressures facing young men right now and why the path to adulthood seems harder than it once was. Scott reflects on the role his mother played in shaping his life, why learning to handle rejection has served him so well, and how becoming a father completely shifted his sense of purpose.
He shares why boys need strong role models around them now more than ever, reminds us why empathy matters more in leadership than many people realise, and why learning to recover from failure might be one of the most important life skills we can develop.
You’ll also hear about Scott’s upcoming plans for his huge Resist & Unsubscribe movement, his disappointment in most big tech companies at this time and his belief that sometimes the most powerful thing individuals can do is simply choose not to participate.
Scott, authentic as always, offers the kind of leadership our next generation may need most.
Learn. Lead. Collaborate.
Start your leadership journey today. Head here to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Book a discovery call today.
Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. Find more information about studying at VU here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recorded live overlooking the 18th at LIV Golf Adelaide 2026, Luke sits down with Scott O’Neil, CEO of one of the most talked about organisations in global sport.
Scott has led at the highest levels of the NBA, NFL and NHL, and now finds himself as CEO of LIV Golf, guiding a competition that has challenged golf’s traditions while attracting a new generation to the game.
In this conversation, he reflects on disruption and humility, the balance between innovation and respect for history, and why free agency matters in modern sport. He shares the philosophy behind his book Be Where Your Feet Are, what it means to lead under scrutiny, and how he keeps perspective when the criticism inevitably comes.
From coaching his four daughters in basketball to learning golf at 50 in front of a global audience (a great story!), Scott speaks candidly about ambition, family, pressure and giving grace.
Learn. Lead. Collaborate.
Start your leadership journey today. Head here to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Book a discovery call today.
Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. Find more information about studying at VU here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it really take to build a championship organisation in one of the most competitive leagues in the world?
On this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke sits down with Jon Horst, General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks and one of the most respected executives in the NBA.
From starting as an intern to becoming the youngest GM in the league, Jon shares the mindset that shaped his rise - and the leadership principles that helped deliver an NBA championship and sustained excellence.
He reflects on building a team around Giannis Antetokounmpo, what makes Giannis so rare beyond talent, and why character is non-negotiable when constructing a winning culture.
Big topics:
Jon's reputation for recruitment and the “IP” behind their decision-making process
The balance between analytics and instinct
How clear communication cuts through high-stakes pressure
Why sustained success is about people, not just performance
Jon also speaks about the cross-pollination of leadership across sport - you’ll hear him mention leaders like Matt LaFleur (listen to Matt’s Empowering Leaders episode here) - and how community and shared learning elevate teams beyond what any individual can do alone.
Learn. Lead. Collaborate.
We are privileged to have Jon as part of our Aleda Connect community. Book a discovery call today to find out more about how you can learn and grow alongside people like Jon within our signature leadership program.
Head here to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time.
Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. Find more information about studying at VU here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.