When Athalie Williams looks back at the pivotal moments in her career, she notices a pattern. At every major crossroads, she chose uncertainty over security, challenge over comfort, and growth over the status quo. It’s a pattern that has taken her from management consulting to senior executive roles across multiple industries, building expertise that spans strategy, operations, and people leadership.
“Back yourself, and take the riskier option,” Williams says, reflecting on the advice she would give her younger self. “Whenever I’ve been at a career crossroads, I’ve chosen the path that felt less safe but more interesting, and it’s always worked out. Looking back those moments were pivotal milestones in my growth and development because they were more risky and uncertain.”
Her multi-disciplinary career path—from 14 years at Accenture to senior HR roles at National Australia Bank, BHP, and BT Group (British Telecommunications)—demonstrates how embracing risk can build distinctive expertise that transcends traditional functional boundaries.
The Consulting Foundation
Williams’ career began with what many would consider a safe choice: joining Accenture (then Andersen Consulting) as a graduate. But even within consulting, she consistently chose challenging assignments that pushed her into unfamiliar territory.
“Dynamic 14-year career as an organisation strategy and workforce transformation specialist,” her experience encompassed financial services, telecommunications, health services, and resources sectors across Australia and Southeast Asia. Rather than specialising in a single industry or function, she deliberately sought breadth.
This foundation in consulting provided Williams with something invaluable: a systematic approach to understanding complex business problems across different contexts. “I’ve been involved in transformation across industries, geographies, business models. I go back to my consulting days where it was 14 years of a range of different large-scale changes,” she explains.
The Identity Challenge
When Williams eventually transitioned from consulting to corporate HR roles, she faced an identity crisis that many career changers experience. “When I stepped away from consulting and moved into corporate into an HR role, it took me about, I reckon six or seven years before I got comfortable telling people I was in HR, I was an HR executive,” she admits.
“I used to say, ‘I’m not really an HR executive.’ But because I didn’t like to wear that coat, that label, I didn’t like what HR, its reputation, what it stood for.”
This discomfort with traditional HR identity became a catalyst for redefining what HR could be. Rather than accepting the conventional boundaries of the function, Williams approached HR through her transformation lens.
“I always thought, in my view, HR exists for two reasons only. One is to keep companies out of jail. You’ve got to meet your legal and regulatory obligations. And the second is to help the business, help the organisation deliver on its performance objectives, its business goals. And if you’re doing anything other than those two things, you’re probably not working on the right things.”
The Transformation Perspective
Williams’ willingness to take risks extended to how she positioned herself within organisations. Rather than accepting the typical CHRO role, she consistently sought opportunities for broader transformation responsibilities.
“I think the distinction matters. It matters for me personally, but I also think it matters more broadly because transformation, it’s not just about a system change or a new technology or a strategy, it’s about how do you bring all of those elements together,” she explains.
This perspective required her to take risks in how she approached senior leadership. “I get really frustrated when I see HR peers in other organisations talking about their HR change agenda, and they’ll go into the board and they’ll talk about those things, but in a way that’s disconnected with the business problems you’re trying to solve.”
By positioning herself as a transformation executive first, Williams risked being seen as overstepping traditional HR boundaries. But this risk-taking allowed her to contribute to enterprise-wide change in ways that purely functional HR leaders cannot.
The Authenticity Breakthrough
One of the most significant risks Williams took was learning to be authentic in leadership roles. “Earlier in my career, I put a lot of energy into how I showed up, trying to be the polished, professional version of who I thought people expected me to be,” she recalls.
A pivotal moment came when “a fabulous boss gave me some advice I’ve never forgotten: stop trying so hard and just let people see the real you. It gave me permission to let down my guard and show up as myself—the good and the imperfect.”
This advice represented a significant career risk. “That shift changed everything. I became more comfortable in my own skin, more confident in conversations with senior leaders, and more connected to the people I worked with. I realised that everyone is human and we all have good days and not-so-great days, and most of us are just trying to do our best.”
The authenticity risk paid off dramatically. “That authenticity has been one of the most powerful enablers of my growth.”
Learning from Failure
Williams’ willingness to take risks inevitably led to failures, but her approach to these setbacks demonstrates the learning mindset that makes risk-taking valuable. “Earlier in my career, I led a large operating model change that looked solid on paper but didn’t land well in practice,” she admits.
“I hadn’t spent enough time listening to the business leaders who were going to be impacted. We took out headcount, assuming line leaders would absorb the work, but they didn’t, and the work simply didn’t get done. It caused real disruption and forced us to go back, increase headcount, and redesign the processes and teams.”
Rather than being defensive about the failure, Williams extracted valuable lessons: “The second time around, I approached it differently. I listened more closely to stakeholders, involved them in shaping the solution, and focused on building buy-in from the start. It was a tough but valuable lesson: even the best-designed change will fail without trust, engagement, and a clear understanding of how the work actually gets done.”
The Portfolio Transition
Williams’ latest career risk is perhaps her boldest: transitioning from senior corporate roles to a portfolio career. “I really feel like I’m ready to build a new set of muscles and to contribute in a different way,” she explains.
This transition requires stepping away from the security and status of major corporate roles to build something new. “For me, it’s about how do I continue to have an impact but grow a different set of muscles, broaden my skills while still staying close to the work that I really care about.”
The portfolio approach—potentially including non-executive director roles, CEO and board advisory work, and senior leader coaching—represents a significant departure from traditional executive career paths.
The Multi-Disciplinary Advantage
Williams’ risk-taking has created something increasingly valuable in today’s business environment: multi-disciplinary expertise that transcends traditional functional boundaries. Her combination of strategy consulting, transformation experience, and people expertise positions her uniquely to address complex organisational challenges.
“I bring something that’s a little bit different than a typical HR executive. I’ve always thought of myself as a business executive first with a kind of spike in HR,” she notes.
This multi-disciplinary approach has allowed her to contribute to major transformations at global organisations whilst maintaining focus on the human elements that make change sustainable.
The Risk Philosophy
Williams’ career demonstrates a particular philosophy about risk that goes beyond simple risk-taking. “Don’t always wait for permission or perfect conditions. Trust your instinct and speak up sooner,” she advises.
This approach requires distinguishing between reckless risk-taking and calculated risks that serve long-term growth. Her risks have been strategic: choosing roles that stretched her capabilities, taking positions that challenged conventional thinking, and building expertise that transcended traditional boundaries.
The Continuing Journey
As Williams builds her portfolio career, she continues to apply the same risk-taking philosophy that has shaped her journey. “The core of it, for me, almost all roads lead to leadership at the center,” she explains, suggesting that her diverse experience has revealed common leadership challenges across industries and functions.
Her willingness to take risks has created a career that spans transformation, strategy, and people—expertise that becomes increasingly valuable as organisations face unprecedented complexity and change.
“Every time you are at a point of choice about what you do or the decision you need to make, take the riskier option and those moments will shape you more than you know,” Williams concludes. Her career serves as evidence that calculated risks, embraced consistently over time, can build distinctive expertise and create opportunities that safer choices never could.
