In The Arena

My guest today has forged a new path in leadership. A path that wasn't supposed to exist - from psychologist to Director of the Australian Institute of Sport.For decades, the pathway to senior leadership in sport has been narrow and predictable. Commercial expertise and playing experience were considered non-negotiable. For a female psychologist, these traditional expectations created a double barrier.Yet Matti Clements' background - building trust quickly, reading dynamics accurately, responding to what each situation demands - has proven to be precisely what modern leadership requires.Over our conversation, Matti shares her insights and wisdom with characteristic bravery, generosity, self-awareness, and joy. Her understanding that wellbeing isn't separate from performance but essential to it, that belonging creates magic, has helped transform Australian sport.The 'leader's limp' comes in many forms. For some, it's the visible scars of public failure. For others, like Matti, it's the private struggles of forging new paths and challenging conventional wisdom and, yes, bias and prejudice about what leadership looks like."Elite sport is not for everyone," says Matti, but I can say with conviction that it is for her, and what a game she brings.This is Matti Clements, In the Arena.

“The Space Between”A wonderful kind of wisdom comes from those who understand that performance emerges not from exerting control, but from creating the conditions for performance to flourish.As I speak with our next guest on ‘In the Arena’, Shane McCurry, this thought comes to mind.His understanding of performance and well-being reflects this wisdom: "It's not one or the other, it's one through the other," he observes, emphasising that sustainable excellence can only come through nurturing the human spirit. The Tigers' success demonstrated this perfectly - excellence achieved not at the cost of humanity, but through embracing it.In a world often focused on quick fixes and immediate results, Shane's serenity comes from understanding that true success - whether it's premiership flags or personal growth - comes through patient, purposeful cultivation of environments where people feel valued and capable of their best work.His legacy isn't just in the silverware at Richmond, Vixens or Storm, but in the many lives he's touched through his quiet, steadfast and compelling commitment to creating spaces where others can shine.Play on!

As a leader, people do not experience our intentions; they experience our behaviours.How you make them feel, to elevate and inspire, by not only supporting and encouraging them through the demands of their work, but also when trying to stretch and grow them when you glimpse potential and possibilities they are yet to see in themselves.I call this the Leadership Promise.Our next guest, ‘In the Arena’, is legendary AFL Club CEO Brian Cook, the longest-serving club CEO in the game's history, who, for thirty-five years, has delivered on the Leadership Promise.He is a legacy-driven leader, a good ancestor, a steward of the future, the shoulders on which future generations stand, with the simple expectation of himself:‘Doing well, doing good, doing right’.

“What change do you seek to make?”I came to coaching, having been coached, and the coach was Scott Barrow, my guest on Episode 10 of ‘In the Arena’.This is a different conversation. We explore together. It is an open and sometimes challenging discussion, one that I am glad we had, as I always do, and I hope you enjoy it.Scott Barrow helped me see that leadership (and life) is not a ‘got to’ thing but a ‘get to’ thing.By embracing this mindset, we are ‘making room for who we might be’. I thank Pippa Grange and her book ‘Fear Less’ for this powerful idea.Once we have made room for who we might be, we can then make space for others to do likewise.We ‘get to’ craft ourselves and make our own art, not as an outcome-based pursuit, but by following our own imperfect path, and in doing so, make things better.We then ‘get to’ play a role in the lives of others and help them to make themselves better.There is never one ‘right’ answer and no perfect outcome. It will always feel uncertain, which is, most likely, the most important skill we learn.We get to ‘begin again’.We all need someone like Scott Barrow in our lives.