In The Arena
Episodes
Janey Martino - 'Celebrating the Cracks'
04 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Janey Martino built Smiling Mind, one of Australia's most impactful not-for-profits, led businesses, coached founders, and is now back in the CEO chai...
Neil Craig - 'A Game Never Won'
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Neil Craig is the first guest we've brought back into the arena — and for good reason. He's 70, coaching leaders at the Australian Institute of Spor...
Gabrielle Dolan - 'Leading with story'
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation with Gabrielle Dolan, we sit with a simple but demanding truth: strategy needs many stories, not one. It doesn’t live in a sent...
Dr. Damien Taylor - 'The second mountain'
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There comes a time when every leader must pause and take stock.For Dr Taylor, it’s the passage between age 40 and 55, a stretch of life that exposes...
Jenny George - 'A different way of hearing things'
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny George runs Melbourne Business School - #1 in Australia. "A CEO is a symbol of what matters," she says. "Every choice you make — what you wear...
Maggie Roberts - 'The pain of standing still'
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At sixteen, Maggie Roberts broke her back three weeks before the Olympic diving trials. Eight months later, at three in the morning, she made a decisi...
John Didulica - 'Without fear or favour'
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Unless you have a deeper sense of what sport can be, it’s impossible to navigate the ups and downs you face every day."John Didulica grew up in foo...
Paul Marsh - 'Carrying the weight forward'
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When bombs exploded near the Australian cricket team's hotel in Pakistan, Paul Marsh was just 33 and only weeks into his role as CEO of the Australian...
Ameet Bains - 'Just be you'
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For leaders, 'not knowing' is our greatest source of vulnerability. Leadership is in the business of ambiguity - if not for ambiguity, we don't need l...
Lisa Alexander - 'Sisters in arms'
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sisters in Arms The moments that meet you where you are—but never leave you where they found you.Lisa Alexander’s story doesn’t begin on the cou...
Craig Foster - 'Courage over comfort'
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Courage Over ComfortWhen I had the choice…Craig Foster was 23 when he first chose courage over comfort. Rising through the Socceroos, he saw older t...
Marne Fechner - 'Be scared and do it anyway'
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Creating belonging in the unknownWhen leadership demands you build what doesn't existThis conversation with Marne Fechner, CEO of AusCycling, speaks t...
Cody Royle - 'A second set of eyes'
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of "In the Arena," coach and author Cody Royle explores what might be the greatest irony in leadership: those of us who believe deeply...
Neil Balme - 'The multiplier effect'.
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Neil Balme is one of those people that you immediately feel good about. Charismatic with a big presence, quick and eager to find humour even in the mo...
Nick Stone- 'Knowing self. Connecting others.'
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Nick Stone, whose journey from AFL journeyman to founder of Bluestone Lane, America's fastest-growin...
Joe Barr - 'Leading with questions'
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"If you are not genuine with people, you won't get anything. You won't get productivity, won't get ideas, you won't get innovation, and you won't get ...
Cameron Schwab - 'Come to play'
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Come to Play"Just be a good person, Cameron."I have put myself back 'In the Arena', this time on the other side of the podcast desk.Soon, I found myse...
Andy Gowers - 'What unites us'
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hawthorn Football Club President Andy Gowers’ leadership beliefs do not reveal themselves through grand declarations or certainties but through a wi...
Layne Beachley - 'I’m a helper, not a healer'
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"You Can't Stop the Waves, But You Can Learn How to Surf" I've used this Jon Kabat-Zinn quote countless times in my presentations, conversations and k...
Ben Williamson- 'Heart and horsepower'
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Williamson arrived at my office seeking a coach, though he had no intention of engaging one. What followed was a three-hour session mapping his 's...
Matti Clements - 'Beyond gold'
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
Shane McCurry - 'The space between'
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“The Space Between”A wonderful kind of wisdom comes from those who understand that performance emerges not from exerting control, but from creati...
Brian Cook - 'Doing well, doing good, doing right.'
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 suppo...
Scott Barrow - 'Begin again'
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“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 Are...
Nick Maxwell - ' When leadership finds you '
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Were you ready?” they ask.You’d think I’d have a ready answer to a question asked so often. One I’d prepared earlier.Maybe it is less quest...
Todd Viney - ' The Character to Compete'
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
‘The Character to Compete’“You will behave yourself in, or you will behave yourself out. The choice is yours.”The role of leaders is to create...
Dame Alison Rose DBE - 'Right team. Right culture. Common mission.'
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As leaders, we are defined by our capacity to create the conditions that enable the group to perform at its best, and there is no better measure than ...
Neil Craig - ' Lead, or be led '
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
‘Lead, or be led’, is how Neil Craig, this week’s guest ‘In the Arena’, describes it. Choose to lead, or allow the challenge of your circums...
Brendan Schwab - ' Then we decided to challenge the system '
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Leadership is an external challenge of communication.”A future vision requires imagination and someone to spark the flame.Performance Coach Owen ...
Dr. Lauren Burns OAM - ' How do I get better ? '
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“I am often overwhelmed by how much I don’t know.”Dr Lauren BurnsMaking room for the person you might be.My conversation with the leaders I coac...
John Bertrand OAM - ' It takes a different type of person '
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“To do extraordinary things, it takes a different type of person.” This week, we welcome Australian sporting icon John Bertrand AO to ‘In the A...
Debbie Lee - ' Mum, do men play footy? '
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Mum, do men play footy?”Having spent a lifetime in the game, I learned that some people are into growing, but most people are only interested in ...
Michael Voss - ' Just remember, you asked for it! '
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Just remember, you asked for it! Moments of uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are the uncomfortable leadership moments, and what you signed up for...
In The Arena
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the Arena with Cameron Schwab. Stay tuned for more