Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
We bring you in-depth interviews with exceptional leaders who drive toward a different bottom line — leaders from health care, philanthropy, non-profits, education and rescue services who are doing exceptional work for the good of the world. Exploring their origin stories, their leadership journey and the lessons they learned on their path -- sometimes the hard way -- we bring you close to understand how exceptional leaders tick.
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Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
24. Luke Di Sessa - Building Men of Character in a Time That Needs Them
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At a time when the world needs men of character, it is my delight to host a conversation with a leader who is working to foster spaces for them.
Luke Di Sessa — a powerful leader in Australia whose life’s work centers on developing men of character and helping them step into authentic, emotionally intelligent leadership.
Luke is the CEO and Co-Founder of Good Better Best Men, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating safe, courageous spaces where men can face their internal challenges, build resilience, and grow into grounded, heart-led leaders. In a cultural moment saturated with confused and often unhealthy models of masculinity — including some in power who confuse bullying and brutality with power and at a time when suicide rates for men remain roughly four times higher than for women — this work is not optional. It’s essential.
Through Good Better Best Men and his broader facilitation work, Luke guides men into deeper belonging, emotional intelligence, and self-responsibility. He is also a key contributor to the Southern Men’s Gathering, where he mentors men in self-transformation and embodied leadership.
Currently pursuing a Diploma in Counseling, Luke integrates somatic practice, psychology, nature-based wisdom, and lived experience. His approach blends heart, body, and mind — inviting men not into performance, but into presence. Not into dominance, but into the courage to be real.
This isn’t Luke’s first podcast conversation. He’s been immersed in men’s work for years, facilitating spaces across Australia and beyond. But as a host who cares deeply about rallying men of character to do exceptionally good in the world — especially in a time that holds uncertainty and too many counter-examples for healthy masculinity — I was grateful to sit down with Luke for some real talk.
In this conversation, we explore:
- What it means to build character rather than just competence
- Why emotional intelligence is strength, not softness
- The role of community and ritual in male transformation
- How embodied practices help men metabolize pain instead of projecting it
- What healthy leadership looks like in families, workplaces, and society
Luke reminds us that growth doesn’t happen through shame. It happens through courageous self-inquiry, honest brotherhood, and the willingness to look within.
And with that, dive in.
Good Better Best Men
https://www.goodbetterbestmen.com.au/
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Producer, editor and host: Ryan Maxwell
Theme music: Ryan Raddatz
Guitar music: Adeline’s Guitar
Credits/Outro Read by: Adeline, Advice and Jess
The views shared on this podcast are those of my guests and the host and do not necessarily reflect those of any employer past or present.