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.