Connected Leadership with Peter Boyd

As a researcher, author, and keynote speaker specializing in leadership and purpose, Zach Mercurio explores a question within everyday workplace interactions: Do people know that they matter? Drawing from years of research on purposeful leadership and human motivation, Zach reveals how small, interpersonal leadership behaviors—listening deeply, noticing effort, and showing genuine care—can transform performance, well-being, and trust. From the science of mattering to practical strategies leaders can apply immediately, Zach reframes leadership not as authority, but as the daily work of helping others feel significant, valued, and seen.

This episode offers powerful insight into leading with purpose, building cultures of belonging, and unlocking human potential by helping people know they truly matter.

Entrepreneur and impact leader Kola Masha traces an extraordinary journey from music and television to engineering, global business, and building one of Africa’s most ambitious social enterprises. As co-founder of Babban Gona, Kola shares how he applies disciplined leadership, patient scale, and human-centered systems thinking to enable millions of smallholder farmers to double their income. With a mission to create the world’s highest-impact business, Kola unpacks how depth of impact and scale must work together to drive real change. He discusses empowering smallholder farmers, building businesses that serve entire ecosystems, and leading with discipline, patience, and long-term vision.

From redefining leadership development to designing systems that unlock food security, education, healthcare, and mobility, this episode offers a masterclass in purpose-driven entrepreneurship and leading transformation at scale.

Content Note: This episode includes discussion of maternal mortality and maternal health challenges, which some listeners may find sensitive.

Media trailblazer, producer, and author Pat Mitchell reflects on a lifetime of groundbreaking leadership driven by courage, clarity, and purpose. From becoming the first woman to lead multiple major media organizations to the social justice movements that activated her voice, Pat recounts the defining forks in her life map and that shaped her “forward-moving” mindset. Exploring the dynamics of female leadership, she shares her philosophy of “dangerous leadership,” grounded in speaking up, standing up, and showing up in times that demand more than ordinary action. Pat also delves into championing women leaders, building inclusive teams, and widening the path for those who follow.

This episode offers inspiration for leading with impact and embracing the power with—not power over—as a catalyst for change.

Innovation strategist and entrepreneur John Duffield shares an extraordinary journey through two open-heart surgeries—an experience that reshaped his understanding of purpose, leadership, and the future of patient care. Merging his technical expertise with personal experience in the healthcare system, John works to redefine the patient journey and how technology can support patients during their most critical moments. He tells stories of his own; using AI to translate complex diagnoses into metaphors his children could understand and developing models to ease the fear and uncertainty leading up to surgery.

This episode dives into resilience the unexpected ways purpose reveals itself — in critical moments when a sudden health crisis becomes a catalyst for personal transformation.

Franziska Weiss is a Munich-based business coach who hit reset at age 40 after a long career in corporate public relations. In this episode, she shares how stepping away from the automotive industry led her to rediscover her purpose, and build a more connected, intentional approach to leadership. Franziska reflects on how the Connected Leadership course shaped her coaching practice, how she helps teams align across generations, and why meaningful system change starts with knowing yourself. From energy management to team values to shifting workplace paradigms, she brings both structure and spark to leadership development.