Empowering Leaders

Some leaders feel the pressure to have all the answers. The most interesting ones stay curious instead. In this Success Leaves Clues episode of Empowering Leaders , Luke sits with people who’ve built entire careers on asking better questions. From future-of-work expert Dr Ben Hamer to AI advisor Dr Ayesha Khanna, cave diver Craig Challen, Paralympic champion Curtis McGrath, artist Vincent Fa...

In leadership, everyone talks about high performance. Fewer people talk honestly about what it actually costs. In this Success Leaves Clues episode of Empowering Leaders , Luke brings together a powerful mix of coaches, athletes and leaders who all start in the same place: self leadership. From the NFL to elite netball, from politics to BMX gold, they talk about managing energy, filling your own c...

This special episode of Empowering Leaders brings together some of the world’s most forward-thinking voices to explore one of the biggest shifts of our time: artificial intelligence. Across dozens of conversations on the show, we’ve been asking leaders how they’re navigating this moment. Their answers are honest, energising, sometimes confronting... and full of clues about what g...

On this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke Darcy sits down with one of the greatest figures in world hockey, dual Olympic gold medallist and champion coach Alyson Annan. Alyson reflects on her journey from superstar player to leading the Dutch and now Chinese women’s national teams, and why she never once thought of herself as “the best in the world” - even though she was! She s...

On this special SLEEP episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke sits down with world-leading sleep and recovery coach Anna West, founder of Sleep2Perform , to explore why good sleep might be the most underrated performance enhancer on the planet. Drawing on her work with Premier League clubs, Olympic programs and high-pressure corporate environments, Anna explains how a single night of poor sleep can af...

What if the “right” pathway to success doesn’t exist? In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke sits down with WNBA champion and Opals leader Sami Whitcomb, whose story is anything but conventional. Undrafted out of college and cut from early opportunities, Sami took her game to Germany and Australia, grinding away from the spotlight for years before forcing her way into the WN...

What do you do when the thing you love most is also the thing you fear the most? In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke sits down with Olympic BMX gold medallist Saya Sakakibara, whose story is as much about courage and inner work as it is about winning in Paris. Saya opens up about watching her brother Kai’s life-changing crash, the strange limbo that followed, and why she chose to kee...

What makes the All Blacks the most successful international sporting team of all time? For Gilbert Enoka, who spent 23 years shaping their mindset and culture, the answer begins within. In September, when Luke walked into Aleda’s leadership conference in London, the Head Coach of the United States Women’s National Team, Emma Hayes, was clutching Gilbert’s book in her hands. She l...

What should leaders actually do with AI this year? In this conversation, futurist and CEO Dr Ayesha Khanna gives Luke clear, practical steps for small teams and big organisations: start with personal productivity, build safe team workflows, then move to data-driven pilots that serve customers first. Ayesha explains why governance must sit beside innovation, what recent AI experiments really tell u...

Few leaders have captured the world’s attention quite like Jacinda Ardern has! As Prime Minister of New Zealand, she became known for her compassion, her decisiveness, and her ability to lead through crises with grace. Now, after stepping away from politics, Jacinda is finding new ways to influence change - through her work at Harvard, her continued advocacy for kindness and integrity in lea...

What does it take to lead with clarity in a world that celebrates complexity? Jeremy Kodomichalos spent over a decade helping shape Google’s strategy and operations across Australia and New Zealand. He’s known for his calm, collaborative approach to leadership - one grounded in curiosity, problem-solving and humility. In this conversation, Jeremy reflects on the lessons that shaped his...

What happens when a data scientist steps into the boardroom and the locker room at the same time? Adam Driussi, co-founder and CEO of Quantium and chairman of the Canterbury Bulldogs, shares how he’s using artificial intelligence to shape both business and sport. Adam explains why leaders shouldn’t feel “aged-out” of AI, how simple it is to get started, and the surprising w...

How do you stay driven and ambitious... without burning yourself out on your way? In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke Darcy sits down with Dr Tim McGrath, Senior Director of Player Health and Performance for the NFL’s Washington Commanders. With a career spanning the AFL, NRL, NBA and now the NFL, Tim has spent decades helping athletes and teams find the balance between relentless am...

What does servant leadership look like at the highest level of professional sport? Jenny Boucek is one of the first women to coach in the NBA. She’s a trailblazer who’s shaped her own leadership style across two decades in professional basketball. From head coaching in the WNBA to assistant coaching roles with the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and now the Indiana Pacers, she&rsquo...

Thirteen years ago, Curtis McGrath lay on a battlefield in Afghanistan, having just lost both legs to an IED. As his mates carried him away, he promised they would see him at the Paralympics. He kept that promise ... FOUR gold medals later, Curtis is one of the most dominant paracanoe athletes in history. In this episode of Empowering Leaders , Curtis shares the ways that humour has carried him th...

What do whiskey, Madonna’s bagpipe player, and American soccer have in common? The answer: today's guest, Dan Rutstein!  A former British diplomat and award-winning journalist, Dan is now President of Orange County Soccer Club, where he’s overseen record crowds, commercial growth, and a remarkable transformation of the club. Along the way he’s also built a reputation as a gi...

How do you reshape an entire sport through a female lens? Recorded LIVE in London on 5 September 2025 at Lead Better, Live Better - a transformational leadership and wellness conference co-created by Aleda and Live Love Better - Emma Hayes shares her journey from a career-ending injury at 17 to leading Chelsea and now the US Women’s National Team. Speaking to an audience of global leaders ga...

How do you create a culture your people love to walk into AND still win when it matters most? Recorded LIVE in London on 5 September 2025, 'Steve Kerr & Mikel Arteta: The Leadership Playbook' brings two elite coaches together for a rare, unguarded conversation about modern leadership. Brought to you by Aleda, in collaboration with Live Love Better, Steve and Mikel unpack the jump from player t...

How do you inspire people to care for a world they forget they are a living, breathing part of? Natalie Kyriacou OAM, founder of My Green World, Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree and recipient of an Order of Australia Medal, has spent her life answering that question. In this episode of Empowering Leaders, she joins Luke to share how a childhood passion for wildlife grew into global advocacy.  Nata...

What if we trained our minds with the same dedication we bring to our bodies? In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke sits down with Jack Preddey, founder of Optimize Mind Performance, to explore why mental skills training has become as crucial as physical preparation for peak performance. Jack opens up about building a business that transforms how athletes and leaders approach resilience, foc...

What happens when a life devoted to shaping national conversations is suddenly interrupted by a diagnosis that changes everything? Jamila Rizvi has spent her career steering the agenda on gender equality, parenting, politics, and power. A bestselling author, speaker, and advocate, she started out as a political staffer in the Rudd and Gillard governments, where she witnessed firsthand the challeng...

What does it take to make life-or-death decisions when the world is watching? According to today’s guest - it’s every single thing that you have achieved, all the choices you have made and all the moments you have learned from in the years leading up to that moment. In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke speaks with Dr Craig Challen - veterinarian, adventurer, and one of the cave...

What if our neighbourhoods are just as important to our health as our diet or exercise? Urban futurist and tech entrepreneur Lucinda Hartley has spent her career reimagining the cities we live in and in this episode of Empowering Leaders, she joins Luke Darcy to explore what it takes to build places that truly support human wellbeing. Lucinda has advised the United Nations, co-founded two tech sta...

What if every conversation is a transaction - but connection is the only currency that matters? In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Luke Darcy is joined by Todd Duncan - world-renowned mindset coach, NYT bestselling author and global speaker - whose work on transformation, leadership and culture has impacted millions around the world. As the founder and CEO of the Duncan Group, Todd has authore...

What does it take to lead at the highest level, consistently - across teams, cultures and continents? Michael Cheika has coached national rugby sides in Australia, Argentina and Lebanon, but his leadership journey began much earlier - shaped by the resilience, humility and drive of his immigrant upbringing in Western Sydney. In this episode of Empowering Leaders, Michael joins Luke Darcy for a can...