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Ask today\u2019s guest, Dan Pontefract, about his current mission and he\u2019ll tell you, \u201cIf we want Purpose to happen, maybe we need to take a look at our thinking\u201d\u2014and that, \u201cWe\u2019re not here to see through each other, we\u2019re here to see each other through.\u201d Sounds like we need his input into our work trying to answer our defining question for Season 7 of \u2018Is Purpose Working?\u2019 Agreed\u2014and we do just that in today\u2019s episode, but then we do even more: in the first of a two-half Purpose podcast, we then have a mid-Season discussion which I\u2019ll tell you about in a second. Now, back to Dan: based in Canada (Victoria, British Columbia) Dan is a leadership strategist, author, keynote speaker and trusted advisor. After a successful career including as \u2018Chief Envisioner\u2019 and Chief Learning Officer at TELUS, a $14bn Canadian telecommunications company where he (among other things) set up a special internal TELUS MBA, a role he took on after senior roles at major tech firms such as SAP, Business Objects and BCIT, Dan then founded The Pontefract Group, which is all about building bridges between life and work. Writing for Forbes and Harvard Business Review, he\u2019s also an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business, and has published four books (with a fifth on the way!). And as you\u2019re going to hear, Purpose is very much at the heart of all his recent work and thinking; he says he helps organizations and leaders become better versions of themselves, plus offers consulting to help organisations get more \u201ccollaborative, productive, engaged and purpose-driven\u201d. We flesh this out a little bit, and also find out how: why Purpose needs to be more than \u2018values on the wall\u2019 but a working, operating behaviour guide; his idea that there are three kinds of Purpose\u2014personal, role and organisational; why he\u2019s convinced there\u2019s a direct link between EBITDA and Purpose; is it the employer\u2019s responsibility or not to help the employee find their Purpose? why Purpose is much more a realistic business deliverable after COVID than it was in 2015; and much more.

Then, as noted, we pivot after the conversation with Dan to conduct a special three-way (Dani, Stacia and I) review of some recent key developments with regard to Purpose and what\u2019s going on out there in a fast-moving COVID world right now. Before we deep dive into all that, just a reminder that, in early 2021, the issues Dan but also all our other awesome guests will get discussed in the second half over all nine episodes of the Season will have a full Level 1 Diagnostic in a special live, online gated experience where we will debate all the Learnings and problems with Purpose we\u2019ve uncovered. Make sure you file a question if you have one real early by locking-in your free place at the webinar. How can I do that, I hear you say? So easy it\u2019s almost insulting to a smart person like you, I answer! Just zip on over to the special NovoEd microsite supporting the project, www.novoed.com/purpose (and thanks once again to those guys for sponsoring all this work). All set? Cool\u2014so get ready for a quick debate between me and the smart RedThread Research ladies on what we took from talking to Dan like the many levels of Purpose beyond organisational and why they need to align and his sharp linking of Purpose and Empathy, as well as external developments such as: how talk of Purpose is everywhere right now\u2014including for the President-Elect\u2014but will it stand the test of Time? a year on from the famous Business Roundtable statement, what\u2019s actually happening in the real world, Purpose-wise? a critique of the September KKS Advisors Purpose audit and its methodology; where we are with possible metrics to help\u2026 if we even need them; and much more.