The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy

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Purpose-Inspired Leadership

Leaders follow people.

—Joey Reiman, on leadership

The purpose-driven leader puts purpose first. Becoming such a leader begins with the desire to have a purposeful life and career. Neither cornering the market nor obtaining a corner office motivates purpose-filled leaders. For them, life is not printed on dollar bills.

The word motive comes from the Latin motivum, which means “moving cause.”1 A meaningful motive truly serves as the engine that fuels the purpose leader’s passion. An impassioned heart is the best stimulus package. As Albert Einstein wrote, “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.”2

The old guard leaders’ symbol was the yardstick that measured how much ground his employees or company lost or won. The purpose leader’s symbol is the compass to keep him or her heading in the right direction. Without purpose, leaders drift. With purpose, they steer.

Purpose leaders believe that all people are created equally important and that equality is the glue of company solidarity. Yvon Chouinard, founder of purpose-powered outdoor-enthusiast company Patagonia, stated in Let My People Go Surfing, “The best leadership is by example. Malinda’s and my office space is like everyone else’s, and we always try to be available. We don’t have special parking places for ourselves or for any upper management; the best spaces are reserved for fuel-efficient cars, ...