About this episode

Athena Manley discusses a new leadership model that connects underutilized senior leaders with mid-sized organizations.

The Flexible CEO: Athena Manley on reimagining leadership, life and impact What if the leadership talent businesses need most is hiding in plain sight?In this episode, I’m joined by Athena Manley, founder of The Flexible CEO, to explore a new leadership model connecting underutilised senior leaders with mid-sized organisations — and why reimagining leadership matters for people, performance and society. EPISODE OVERVIEW What happens when someone reaches the centre of corporate power — and decides the traditional leadership path no longer makes sense? Athena is a strategist, advisor and entrepreneur whose career spans senior leadership roles across ASX-listed companies, Fortune 500 organisations and high-growth businesses. Just as she was being positioned for a CEO role, Athena paused to question the model itself — researching the personal, organisational and societal cost of how leadership is typically structured. What she uncovered led her to create The Flexible CEO: a model designed to connect highly experienced, underutilised executives with mid-sized organisations that need senior capability but can’t always access it through traditional pathways. At the heart of this work is…

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