What impact are you having?

In this episode of Fearless Creative Leadership, Charles Day speaks with Andrés Ordóñez, newly appointed Global Chief Creative Officer of McCann. When this conversation was recorded, Andrés didn't yet know his future — which makes this a rare portrait of a leader reflecting not on a title, but on who he is.

Across a deeply personal conversation, Andrés describes the forces that shaped him: a childhood surrounded by creativity, a mother whose illness forged his sense of responsibility, and a career built on connection, curiosity, and generosity. He talks about leading with humanity, navigating the upheaval of AI, and the responsibility that comes with carrying the torch for thousands of people across a global organization.

This is a conversation about impact — the kind you have on work, on people, and on the world.

00:00 — Opening: The Impactful Leader
Charles introduces the theme: leadership as responsibility and impact.

03:00 — Andrés's Creative Origin Story
Family, Colombia, motorcycles, and the early spark of advertising.

07:00 — Childhood, Parents, and Identity
Emotional bonds, choosing to live with his mother, and lessons that shaped him.

12:00 — Becoming a Caregiver at 18
Responsibility, work ethic, and how caring for his mother changed him.

16:30 — Defining Leadership & Creativity
Connecting people, solving problems, the spark of creativity.

22:00 — AI: Partner, Tool, and Test of Humanity
The future of creativity, trust, and why machines can't feel goosebumps.

28:30 — The Business Model of the Future
Time, efficiency, and rethinking how creative value is measured.

32:00 — Casting People & Building Culture
Human connection, belonging, and why team energy matters more than résumés.

37:45 — Responsibility Without Control
Leading collaboratively while carrying the weight of outcomes.

41:00 — The "And" Philosophy
Why mixing magic and logic changes everything.

46:00 — Change, Uncertainty, and the IPG–Omnicom Merger
How Andrés holds ambiguity and stays grounded.

50:00 — Fear, Evolution, and Personal Growth
The dangers of fear, staying curious, and the need to evolve.

54:00 — Defining Success
Helping others realize their dreams — and the power of not putting yourself first.

59:00 — Closing Reflections
Legacy, hope, and carrying the torch for ot

How alive do you feel as a leader?

In this episode of Fearless Creative Leadership, Charles Day sits down in London with the newly announced founders of Ace of Hearts — Rick Brim, Martin Beverly, and Polly McMorrow — for their first recorded conversation as partners. Over the past seven months, Charles has interviewed them individually while they prepared to build something of their own. Now, you'll hear what happens when belief meets reality.

They discuss why they started the company, the chemistry that binds them, what they're learning about themselves, and how creativity must be valued differently if the industry is going to survive disruption — including AI.

This is a rare, unpolished look at the emotional and practical journey of starting a business. It reveals how fun, fear, optimism, and ambition shape founding teams — and why starting a company may be the most alive a leader ever feels.

00:00 — Opening: How alive do you feel?
Welcome, framing creativity as the only scalable advantage.

01:03 — Introducing Ace of Hearts
A glimpse into aliveness, excitement, and possibility.

03:30 — Why start a company now?
Martin on timing, intuition, and the pull of founding.

07:30 — What founders want to find out about themselves
Uncertainty, relearning, and stepping into the unknown.

12:00 — What kind of business are they building?
Pride, impact, fun, culture — and why it matters.

15:00 — How thinking has evolved over the past months
Confidence, experimentation, redefining where they play.

19:30 — The future of creativity and value exchange
Human creativity, AI, commercial models, risk-taking.

24:00 — From clients to partners
Trust, alignment, value creation — and saying no.

31:30 — What they're truly good at
Finding the soul of brands — and owning it.

45:00 — The name revealed: Ace of Hearts
Meaning, emotion, optimism, and brand potential.

52:00 — Closing and next steps
Looking ahead — meeting at Cannes and bonus episodes.

How do you react when people make mistakes?

Patricia Corsi is the Chief Growth Officer of Kimberly-Clark. Patricia has been named one of the Top 50 Most Influential CMOs of the World by Forbes in 2024 and 2025.

She has very clear beliefs about how to unlock creativity and innovation in her business, and the kind of leadership that requires.

Creativity and innovation are unpredictable. They demand uncertainty and depend on failure. Failure is how we learn and without it, creativity dies.

Modern society isn't good on failure. We look for likes and follows and success, defined across as many metrics as possible. Childhood is a celebration of attendance, not attempt. Break the rules, and punishment ensues. Conform, and be confirmed as a trusted member of society.

The world is unstable. Politics is unpredictable. Technology is rampant. We can no longer believe our own eyes. Or ears.

When we can no longer rely on our senses, those attributes that helped us survive the last 3,000 years, it's not a surprise that avoiding mistakes has become the currency of choice for many businesses. Plan and execute. A sea of grey in a world looking for hope.

Leadership is the single greatest opportunity most of us will have to make a difference. I've said that before. Today, it's truer than ever.

It comes with a responsibility which is to decide what that difference is. If you measure it in titles and awards, I promise you will be soon forgotten. Your name on a plaque at the bottom of a recycling bin or a landfill.

But if you measure the difference you make in terms of how you react when people make mistakes, you will have established the foundations on which their creativity is unlocked.

And that opens the door to ideas that no one has ever thought of before and to businesses that no one has ever seen.

So, how do you react when people make mistakes? And what might you do differently?