Most leaders are not struggling because they lack skills. Their issue is they don’t have roots: leading in complexity and pressure, on overloaded nervous systems, rewarded for speed rather than clarity.
Monday Muse is about what happens when you change that. In Season 1, Harriet Molyneaux explored what makes exceptional leaders with guests Prof Lynda Gratton and CPOs from Santander and Pearson, listened across 25 countries.
Season 2 shifts to how: Radical regulation. Expanded consciousness. Cognitive capacity. Featuring Amanda Cusdin, CPO Sage and Michael Fraccaro, former CPO Mastercard.
Building a Good Life with writer Christina Patterson
One of the biggest challenges of modern work is how many of us lose touch with what actually matters to us.
Not because we are careless, but because we are busy. Busy achieving. Busy performing.
Of course having a roof over our heads and food on the table is important. But if we are lucky enough to have those things are in place, then what is all our busyness in service of?
I spoke to the wonderful Christina Patterson, journalist, writer, broadcaster and executive coach, this week about ambition, identity, illness, beauty, loneliness and what it really means to live a good life.
And at the heart of our conversation is the question: What matters enough that you are willing to build a life around it?
The people I most admire are rarely the ones with the most perfect careers. They are the people whose paths feel coherent. People who have shaped both their work and their lives around what matters most to them.
16 Mar 2026
Seeing Differently: Courage, Consciousness and Ease in Leadership
One of the disciplines of leadership is the ability to see things differently. To step outside the stories we tell ourselves. To recognise that our perspective is only one view of the world. And sometimes to have the courage to question what we thought we already knew.
My guest today is Justine Whitaker, an inspirational ChiefPeople Officer whose career has taken her from New Zealand to Australia and now to the UK. She shares that the golden thread of her career has always been ending up in situations she never thought she would be in, leading to a careerrich with experience and interest. In this discussion we explore:
- Expanded consciousness and the impact on leadership.
- We talk through how to get our of entrenched thought patterns, and how to ‘get you of your own way’.
- We delve deeply into the daily practice ofchanging thoughts and habits.
This is an inspiring and unashamedly positive discussionaround the possibility of creating life tackling big meaningful things, while living each moment with more ease. Let’s get musing!
2 Mar 2026
Beyond IQ and EQ: The Decency Quotient
How do you build deeply trusted leadership and embed it into an organisation’s DNA?
In this episode of Monday Muse, I speak with Michael Fraccaro, former Chief People Officer at Mastercard and now Senior Advisor at Egon Zehnder. Recorded during his final weeks at Mastercard, Michael reflects on his journey from school teacher to global CPO and explores why titles may grant authority, but moral courage creates real leadership.
We examine the difference between formal and moral authority, and introduce DQ, the Decency Quotient. Michael shares practical insight into how trust is built through everyday actions, disciplined decisions, and consistency under pressure, including how Mastercard embedded this culture directly into performance and reward.
This is a considered conversation about leadership that inspires rather than commands, and about making decisions you would be proud to stand behind. Let's get musing.
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