Planet Purpose

When talking about higher purpose, one of the largest companies out there is Prudential, which also happens to be a purpose-driven company. Prudential's purpose is to solve the financial challenges of our changing world, helping its customers achieve peace of mind and financial security. On this episode, the team chatted with Prudential Chief Marketing Officer Susan Somersille Johnson about the Olympics, Broadway, racial equity, and bringing back the Rock in their advertising campaigns.

As the pandemic continues to amplify existing inequalities and derail decades of progress for women in the workplace, there are, however, some incredible leaders out there who are really making a difference. Phoebe Robinson is one of the hottest rising comedians in the United States, and she also recently started an imprint called, Tiny Reparations Books . Chip and Scott sat down and talked with Phoebe about her latest essay book, "Please Don't Sit in My Bed in Your Outside Clothes," which serves as a launch of the imprint.

It's not surprising that a recent survey found 76% of Americans expect companies to take action against climate change. 73% of Americans would stop purchasing from a company that doesn't care about climate change. But the question is -- are companies really going to step up, and if so how? Chip and Yolanda sat down with HP Chief Impact Officer and Head of Sustainable Impact Ellen Jackowski to shed some new light on the sustainability challenge companies are facing.

Over the past 18 months, we've witnessed a completely new level of employee activism, challenging the traditional structures of management and putting new pressures on leaders who weren't taught how to deal with this new reality in business school. To delve into this more, the team chatted with Conspiracy of Love Founder and Chief Purpose Officer Afdhel Aziz. They discussed how employees can find and unlock the power of their own purpose, and why that matters.

Corporations feel like they have to take on social issues, but as we've been discussing, doing so isn't easy. Recent research from RepTrak found that 36 percent of consumers have "felt betrayed" by what a company stands for, and 47 percent have stopped doing business with the company as a result. 63 percent prefer to do business with companies that "stand for a purpose that reflects their values and beliefs, and will avoid those that do not." We sat down with Laura Lane, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at UPS, who had some great food for thought on the topic.

In a recent Harris poll of customers' reaction to the COVID-19 crisis, more than 80 percent of respondents said they would remember which companies “did the right thing by their workers.” Three-quarters said they wouldn't forget those businesses that took missteps “long after” the crisis ends. This is familiar ground for Northwell Health CMO Ramon Soto. We sat down with Ramon to chat about his experience mobilizing people inside Northwell Health, one of the largest health services organizations in the country, the largest private employer in New York state, and the organization that received the full brunt of the COVID crisis when it descended upon New York in 2020.

The world of business leadership has shifted dramatically in the past few years – from stockholder capitalism to stakeholder. A higher purpose is what businesses need to be about and companies need to take a stand on societal issues. There's one big problem though: today's leaders weren't trained for this new world. There was no class for this in business school. In some ways, it's the wild west – a new frontier with no map. And C-suiters are struggling to find the way forward. As a result, there's a vacuum in purpose leadership. Company purpose is often toothless and company social activism backfires. How do CEOs navigate this new terrain? How do CHROs build this new culture of leadership into the employee experience? How do CMOs build purpose effectively into their brand?

What do Millennials think about purpose? Do they actually buy and work for companies and brands that have activated purpose? Is this a real thing? And what should leaders know about this important generation?  We've invited a couple of Millennials to chat about it. Fast Company's Social Media Producer Christina Royster and Fast Company's Associate Editor Yasmin Gagne from the podcast, Hit the Ground Running, are here to share their opinions and ideas about what purpose means to them.

Today, consumer spending and sentiment suggest that purpose has become more influential in the purchase decision of a brand versus any other business lever. However, leaders constantly challenge if product, price or even placement are more important to drive purchase behavior. In this episode, we will discuss why purpose has grown in importance and provide insight and examples that show when purpose wins and when purpose loses to other business levers. Tune in to hear how companies and brands rise to the top and gain some new insights about the power of purpose.

We've been thinking a lot about how companies responded to recent social events and wanted to dig into it some more on today's episode. What's at the heart of it? What are companies going to do to show they have a point of view, that it's not all talk and they are doing something meaningful for everyday people?

Planet Purpose from Inc. magazine examines how companies can focus on their purpose and transform their brands. Join co-hosts Scott Goodson, Yolanda White and Chip Walker as they take a look at the ways purpose-driven companies could realize better outcomes by activating purpose to the people who matter inside the organizations and out. Tune in every other Wednesday, starting on June 16th, available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and wherever you enjoy your podcasts.