Enter the Mission Generation: Redefining Career, Contribution, and Calling

1 - >

Speaker 1: The topics and opinions express in the following show are 2 - > solely those of the hosts and their guests and not 3 - > those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We 4 - > make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, 5 - > or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, 6 - > explicit or implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio 7 - > or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should 8 - > be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing 9 - > W FOURCY Radio. 10 - >

Speaker 2: What's working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the 11 - > answer to this question. People ache for meaning and purpose 12 - > at work, to contribute their talents passionately and know their 13 - > lives really matter. They crave being part of an organization 14 - > that inspires them and helps them grow into realizing their 15 - > highest potential. Business can be such a force for good 16 - > in the world, elevating humanity. In our program, we provide 17 - > guidance and inspiration to help usher in this world we 18 - > all want Working on Purpose. Now, here's your host, doctor 19 - > Elise Cortez. 20 - >

Speaker 3: Welcome back to the Working on Purpose program, which has 21 - > been brought to you with passion and pride since February 22 - > of twenty fifteen. Nice tuning in this week. 23 - >

Speaker 4: Great to have you. 24 - >

Speaker 3: I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes. Most leaders are sitting 25 - > on untapped human energy, and I help them unlock it. 26 - > I'm an organizational psychologist, local therapist, workforce advisor and the 27 - > founder of the Gusto Now movement. But the title I 28 - > live by is much simpler. I traffic and energy, not 29 - > the surface level motivation or another engagement initiative, but the 30 - > deeper force what I call Gusto, the life force for 31 - > performance that drives the commitment, perseverance, and genuine ownership of 32 - > a shared mission in the clients we serve. You can 33 - > learn more about on how we can work together at 34 - > Gusto dashnow dot com or my personal site, Eliscortes dot com. 35 - > Getting into today's program we have with us are run Gupta, 36 - > who is the CEO of Noble Reach Foundation, a public 37 - > charity with a mission to develop and mobilize America's top 38 - > talent and innovation networks across academia, industry, and government for 39 - > high impact solutions that strengthened the security and prosperity of 40 - > our nation. He's also a venture capitalist lecturer at Stanford 41 - > University and adjunct Entrepreneurship professor at Georgetown University and author 42 - > of Venture Meets Mission and The Mission Generation. Reclaim Your Purpose, 43 - > Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future, which is what we're talking 44 - > about today. His home is Washington, TC, but he joined 45 - > it today from San Francisco, a ruin a hearty welcome 46 - > to Working on Purpose. 47 - >

Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having me, Elisa. 48 - >

Speaker 3: Eric, so welcome. I'm so happy to meet you. And 49 - > I told you before we got an air that I 50 - > absolutely devoured and loved your book and totally aligned with 51 - > Mission Generation. 52 - >

Speaker 4: I meant it, you wrote it for me. Thank you 53 - > for that. 54 - >

Speaker 3: As I told you, I learned and got more pearls 55 - > and insights about myself just reading your book too, and 56 - > help me better understand just why I've been on the 57 - > path that I've been on. So a lot of personal 58 - > gain that I got out of it too, and I'm 59 - > so happy to share this with our listeners and viewers 60 - > around the world. 61 - >

Speaker 5: I'm very kind to you the conversation well. 62 - >

Speaker 3: And I also say this, as I shared before we 63 - > got on air, in the last ten years, I have 64 - > read more than five hundred books, and this book is outstanding. 65 - >

Speaker 5: Okay, I mean a lot. I appreciate it. 66 - >

Speaker 4: So so welcome. 67 - >

Speaker 3: Well, listeners and viewers haven't snuggled up with your background 68 - > and your experiences I have. So let's just open the 69 - > conversation with you sharing a bit about your background and 70 - > just why you were so compelled to write this book. 71 - >

Speaker 5: Yeah, so the lens that I got to write this book, 72 - > it's important for folks to understand. So, my father was 73 - > in public service. He was in an Avy for forty 74 - > five years. To public service was in our family. I 75 - > grew up. In my professional career was in venture capital, 76 - > so I started Carlisle and was at Columbia Capital. So 77 - > the power of innovation and the power of entrepreneurship, and 78 - > in the latter half of my career there was really 79 - > mapping how that I could bring the entrepreneurle ecosystem to 80 - > solve mission driven problems in government in areas like cybersecurity 81 - > and national security. 82 - >

Speaker 1: Uh. 83 - >

Speaker 5: And you saw both the challenges of making that happen, 84 - > but you also saw the magic when you could make 85 - > it happen. And I think that really kind of it 86 - > was hard to go back to just typical venture investing 87 - > that you could do felt had both purpose to an 88 - > and profit. Uh. After that, I started teaching uh and 89 - > uh Georgetown, I was teaching in business school, and I 90 - > was teaching at Stanford Stanford in Washington and created a 91 - > class called Valley meets Mission Really around again, how do 92 - > you take the entrepreneural spirit of the Valley but not 93 - > wasted on candy Cross three point zero? Like, how do 94 - > we take that that talent, that spirit, that vibrancy, but 95 - > you pointed at solving large societal problems but any core 96 - > profit way. And uh, you know what I saw is 97 - > that students, when shown the opportunity, you know, naturally gravitated 98 - > to it, but that the academic institutions themselves were kind 99 - > of siloing students into you know, one of two lanes. 100 - > Either you're going to go make money but you know 101 - > your career may be hollow, or you go solve meaningful 102 - > problems but then you you forego financial security. 103 - >

Speaker 3: Uh. 104 - >

Speaker 5: And those felt like two very unsustainable paths, and that, 105 - > you know, showing them that there was a place in 106 - > between was what inspired writing the first book, Venture Meets Mission, Uh, 107 - > to highlight to them that there's a world there where 108 - > you could try to do both. Around that, we raised 109 - > a foundation where we have now half a billion dollar endowment. Uh. 110 - > Really around two of the core tenants of that book, 111 - > which was the superpowers of our country here in the US, 112 - > is that we create talent better than anyone elsonal world, 113 - > and we innovate better than any realsonal world. And the 114 - > evidence is that everyone from around the world comes here 115 - > to do. Both we haven't done is really invest in 116 - > modernizing the infrastructure so that those two ecosystems are connect 117 - > to government to solve problems at scale. So we're not 118 - > getting our best talent going into government, and we're not 119 - > getting our best innovators to collaborate with government to solve 120 - > problems at scale. One a stack that brings that to 121 - > life is less than seven percent of tech workers in 122 - > government today or under the age of thirty. We have 123 - > four times over the age of sixty. And if we 124 - > really believe we need to tech forward government to meet 125 - > our citizen demands but also maintain global leadership, that should 126 - > feel like we're alert to people. And so we really 127 - > set out to build a program that did that. And 128 - > that's what Noble reached us today, which is like, how 129 - > do we inspire this next generation around national service, but 130 - > especially our top tech talent to go into government, and 131 - > we can talk more about what that program is as 132 - > we go forward. All I will say though, in tying 133 - > it to the book, is that part of what inspired 134 - > to write the second book, The Mission Generation, was really 135 - > based on the energy, the positivity, the optimism, the desires 136 - > of young folks wanting to serve right now, and we 137 - > felt it was important to get that story out there. 138 - > We talk about it not only in the young in 139 - > terms of young folks, but mid career and late career 140 - > folks as well, because we define the Mission Generation it's 141 - > not about being about age, but about being about agency 142 - > and a growing groups that really want to combine civic 143 - > responsibility with personally ambition. They don't want the ore, they 144 - > want the end. And I think there's a lot going 145 - > on right now, which is why the time is now 146 - > to really talk about that, highlight it and also have 147 - > them not feel alone in feeling that way, And so 148 - > we can chat more about that. 149 - >

Speaker 3: Well, first, let me say that was beautifully articulated and 150 - > incredibly inspiring, certainly up to something I don't know how 151 - > how many Apparently you've been issued more hours in a 152 - > day than most of us. 153 - >

Speaker 4: That's what I'm getting out of this. 154 - >

Speaker 3: So for otherseners and viewers who haven't read the book, 155 - > like I have, you part of what you just said 156 - > there towards the end starts to speak to what you 157 - > mean by mission generation, But can you speak to that 158 - > just more directly? 159 - >

Speaker 5: Sure? You know, really, what we were really trying to 160 - > get at and talking about the Mission generation was the 161 - > spirit of folks that we're seeing out there that are 162 - > really don't want to subscribe to the two binary choices 163 - > that they feel like are put in front of them. 164 - > One is going into a world where you can do 165 - > meaningful work and have some responsibility and impact people, but 166 - > in that path there's not a way to really establish 167 - > financial security. And the other is to pursue a path 168 - > of financial security in making money. But in that pathway 169 - > you give up the opportunity to really have impact and 170 - > have meaning. And what we were really highlighting is that, 171 - > you know, what we were seeing is that people no 172 - > longer wanted to subscribe to both either of those. They 173 - > wanted to integrate those together into a meaningful career. And 174 - > we started writing it arguably for early career folks, but 175 - > saw that the same questions existed for mid career and 176 - > late career folks, They just manifest themselves differently given the 177 - > environments that they're in. And the reason we think now 178 - > is the time to be talking about this again and 179 - > why this is surfacing up again is that, you know, look, 180 - > as I said, my dad had one job for forty years. 181 - > I had one career, multiple employers, but I stayed in 182 - > my lane. Going forward, you know, we believe people will 183 - > have four to six careers over sixty years. So careers 184 - > are extending longer and you'll have more of them, and 185 - > so we don't have the scaffolding to support that. And 186 - > the reason I say people will be working longer is, 187 - > you know, I think most people would agree that people 188 - > are just going to be living longer. We're just the 189 - > early stages of a lot of advancements and life sciences 190 - > and all the work that's being done around longevity. And 191 - > so in that process, you know, we will need to 192 - > be thinking about new scripts of how do we do this. 193 - > The scripts we have today are built for a more 194 - > stable world, and they're built for shorter careers, and so 195 - > we tend to create career pathways that are singular, you know, 196 - > you know, and that you're going to get on and 197 - > you stay on for thirty years. I'm going to go 198 - > and be in the private sector. I'm going to be 199 - > in the public sector. I'm going to go in academia. 200 - > I'm going to go into the not for profit sector. 201 - > And we attach ourselves to institutions, and we attach ourselves 202 - > to titles. Those are getting disrupted, and that's that's disconcerting 203 - > the folks, right, Like you know, with AI and everything happening, 204 - > there's a squirrel around that. Having said that, you know, 205 - > the only thing that will be stable, We argue then 206 - > is purpose and meaning And you know, what is the 207 - > why you're doing what you're doing. What's the problem that 208 - > you're solving that you care about, Right, That's how you 209 - > need to be building your career, not about the institution 210 - > that you want to attached to, but what the what's 211 - > the problem that really gives you energy, as you said, 212 - > really kind of like gets you up in the morning, 213 - > right and as you thinking about it even late at night. 214 - > And those problems are going to transcend sectors, and so 215 - > building your career off that will be a more stable 216 - > way to deal with the ever changing world that we're 217 - > walking into in a meaningful way. And so you know, 218 - > we we argue that stability is the new risk, right, 219 - > It's it's riskier today to do the more stable thing 220 - > because in that process you're also giving away agency, And 221 - > in a process, in a time that's changing so quickly, 222 - > you know, building your career and what you care about 223 - > and maintaining that agency becomes incredibly important. And so what 224 - > we try to talk about in the book is, you know, 225 - > is right like, how do we think about career pathways 226 - > differently as people have four to six careers over an 227 - > extended period of time, and what's the scaffolding that we 228 - > need to support that? 229 - >

Speaker 4: So much good stuff in that ruin. 230 - >

Speaker 3: So you're right now speaking of this topic from the 231 - > vantage point of people and their individual's careers, and I 232 - > want to now kind of pull it a little bit 233 - > differently from the vantage point of how these organizations that 234 - > are going to count on that talent to pull them 235 - > forward can attract them. And so the numbers that you 236 - > provide in the book are incredible, and I've seen them 237 - > many of them in other forms before, but we just 238 - > share a couple of them and let you comment on them. 239 - > You have one cis you say that the data confirmed 240 - > what we were seeing firsthand. Eighty six percent of gen 241 - > Z and eighty nine percent of millennials consider a sense 242 - > of purpose as essential to job satisfaction. Other researchers found 243 - > that two thirds of older workers delay retirement specifically to 244 - > do meaningful work, and your own National Service found that 245 - > four out of five people believe that doing purpose work 246 - > helps you live longer. And you say, the mission generation 247 - > isn't a passing trend. It's a fundamental shift spanning every 248 - > career stage. So why I want you to bring that 249 - > up and speak to that is, of course, the work 250 - > that we do at GUSTO now is helping to activate media, 251 - > purpose and organizations and culture so that people will be 252 - > able to be ignited like that you'll be able to 253 - > attract that kind of talent to pull you forward. So 254 - > can you speak a little bit to some of these 255 - > numbers that you have here and that I just shared. 256 - >

Speaker 5: Yeah, So you know, context is the why now right? 257 - > Context is like why are people feeling this right now? 258 - >

Speaker 3: Yep? 259 - >

Speaker 5: And you know the pisis on that is. Look, we're 260 - > coming off with COVID. We're seeing geopolitical conflict like we 261 - > haven't seen in decades. We are seeing environmental conflict engage 262 - > around us. Great power competition with an adversary is back 263 - > in a way that we again have not seen in decades, 264 - > and then we've got Ai. It's creating a very disruptive force. 265 - > That's a lot of swirl, that's a lot of history 266 - > in a short period of time. As one of my 267 - > friends likes to say. And the belief is that when 268 - > things are stable, when things are fine, the ground is solid, 269 - > you focus. It's easy to focus on yourself. It's easy 270 - > just to do your own thing. But when it gets shaky, 271 - > when the sand shift, and when it gets rocky, you 272 - > reach out to others for support. That's that's it's a 273 - > very human reaction. It's the world we're in right now. 274 - > And that's the world when people feel uncertainty, when they 275 - > feel like there's not there's not clarity of what tomorrow 276 - > is going to look like. You want to be part 277 - > of something larger than yourself, yes, And I think that's 278 - > what's driving these numbers. At least that's why young folks 279 - > today are sitting there going, you know, coming off of 280 - > COVID like, I want to do something that's meaningful. I 281 - > don't know what tomorrow holds, you know, how do I 282 - > how do I get that satisfaction in some capacity, and 283 - > purpose place an important role in that. You know, they 284 - > want to be able to not only be able to 285 - > tell their friends or doing things purposely. They internally care 286 - > about this now right in a way they've had time 287 - > to reflect on it, and uh, you know, I we 288 - > we write and it was great that you kind of 289 - > called it out. You know, this line about how you 290 - > know mission is kind of like stock options. You know, 291 - > everyone wants to be part of something mission oriented. They 292 - > don't know why exactly. They don't even know how valuable 293 - > it's going to be. But it's no different than like 294 - > people going like I just want to go get equity 295 - > and they don't know what that is, but like they 296 - > know there's upside to it. There's a lot more upside 297 - > than what you know it's going to be coming from 298 - > just their cash comp And so the same way people 299 - > ask for cash plus equity, you know, I think they're 300 - > looking for you know, income plus mission because that mission 301 - > they don't know what it upside is, you know, is 302 - > it transformative upside or is it just marginal upside? But 303 - > they know it's good for them. They know it will 304 - > give them energy. You know, it's an and and so 305 - > I think that's the explanation that we're seeing with the 306 - > numbers that you that you highlighted. And again, I don't 307 - > think this is something that's only for early career folks. 308 - > I think mid career folks, you know, again, are asking 309 - > these same questions. You know, you've been at a firm 310 - > for fifteen years and you get to a certain spot, 311 - > you're a VP, and you're going like, this is it? 312 - > Like I thought there was going to be more to 313 - > this manifest itself differently because you may have a mortgage 314 - > and a couple kids in the family, but you're asking 315 - > yourself some of the same fundamental questions. And then you 316 - > take folks that are you know, mid fifties, you know, 317 - > early sixties and maybe empty nesting now, and they're asking 318 - > themselves the same things. Right, Like, wait a second, Like 319 - > the scripts we've been given have been all about stability. 320 - > You show a lease and you know this better than 321 - > I that. You know, humans are wired to seek stability 322 - > and security over even happiness. So we will, we will, 323 - > you know, index towards that and are so we shouldn't 324 - > be surprised that our systems have been have been wired 325 - > that way as well. The issue is that as we 326 - > get into those scripts of like stability and comfort, you know, 327 - > again speaking of someone over fifty five, you get there 328 - > and you're like, all right, you're supposed to slow down 329 - > and just kind of be comfortable and do your thing, 330 - > and you're like, what if the energy I get is 331 - > from the discomfort and the vulnerability that I was having 332 - > putting myself out there. 333 - >

Speaker 4: Yes, speaking my love language are oude. 334 - >

Speaker 5: And so it's that that I think is really the 335 - > question we put out there, which is like, maybe the 336 - > scripts that we've been given just aren't applying to us 337 - > now in the same way because they need to be retired, 338 - > and uh, you know, I think that's what people are feeling. 339 - > I also think, and you know, we talk about this 340 - > as well, which is, you know, part of the script 341 - > used to be, you know, life had three phases. You 342 - > learned for your first thirty your life, and then you earned, 343 - > you monetized what you learned in a working capacity for 344 - > the middle thirty your life, and then you waited till 345 - > the last thirty your life to return to give back. 346 - > And you know, in a world where you're living longer 347 - > and things are changing really rapidly, I think what we're 348 - > finding is this idea of like learning and monetizing that 349 - > for twenty years, that that's collapsed, right, because whatever skill 350 - > you've learned, usually by the two years out of school, 351 - > it's already obsolete. So learning is continuous and likewise this 352 - > idea of waiting till the end for purpose, I think 353 - > folks are feeling like, I want to do that. I 354 - > want to integrate that now. 355 - >

Speaker 3: Ye. 356 - >

Speaker 5: So I think what we're seeing is like, uh, you know, 357 - > three threads getting it woven together is what the what 358 - > people want their career to look like. Yeah, I think 359 - > that's the transition that we're in right now. 360 - >

Speaker 4: Beautiful. 361 - >

Speaker 3: Let's let our listeners and viewers reflect on that as 362 - > we take our first break. That's a good place for 363 - > them to consider what you just shared. That there was 364 - > quite a bit. I'm your host, doctor Reli's Cortes. We 365 - > are on the air with Arun Gupta, who is the 366 - > CEO of Noble Reach Foundation, a public charity with a 367 - > mission to develop and mobilize America's top talent and innovation 368 - > networks across academia, industry, and government for high impact solutions 369 - > that strengthen the security and prosperity of our nation. He's 370 - > also a Venture Capitalist lecture at Stanford University. We've been 371 - > talking a bit about what's under the Mission generation, why 372 - > it's so important, how it's coming, how it's coalescing. After 373 - > the raak, we're going to talk a little bit about 374 - > We're going to start talking about how you can use 375 - > what they've written in the book to help mobilize you toward. 376 - >

Speaker 4: This mission generation yourself. We'll be right back. 377 - >

Speaker 2: Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant specializing in meaning 378 - > and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author, she helps companies 379 - > visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired 380 - > leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and 381 - > commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite 382 - > a lease to speak to your organization, please visit her 383 - > at elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get 384 - > your employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose 385 - > with doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or 386 - > to open a conversation with Elise, send an email to 387 - > Elise A. L Se at elisecortes dot com. Now back 388 - > to working on Purpose. 389 - >

Speaker 4: Thanks for saying well us, and welcome back to working 390 - > on Purpose. 391 - >

Speaker 3: I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes, as I am dedicated 392 - > to helping create a world where organizations thrive because they're 393 - > people thrive. They're led by inspirational leaders that help them 394 - > find in contribute their greatness, and we do business that 395 - > betters the world. I keep researching and writing my own books, 396 - > and oftentimes the fodder and research comes from this program 397 - > and what I learned from my guests. So one of 398 - > my last books that came out is called The Great Revitalization, 399 - > How activating meaning and Purpose can radically and liven your business. 400 - > And I wrote it to help leaders understand what today's 401 - > discerning workforce wants from you to be able to give 402 - > their very best and stick around for you. And then 403 - > I provide you twenty two best practices to equip you, 404 - > through your leadership and your culture to provide that for them. 405 - > You can find my books on Amazon or at Leastcortes 406 - > dot com if you are just now joining us. My 407 - > guest is Arun Gupta. He is the co author of 408 - > the Mission Generation, Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild our Future. Okay, 409 - > so I would love to dive in now that we've 410 - > really set a really nice table for why this is 411 - > so important and have people leaning in. Let's also give 412 - > them some of the tools from your book. But first, 413 - > I think it might be useful to just start just 414 - > briefly talking about the four forms of resistance that often 415 - > block people from pursuing meaningfulk I thought that was really 416 - > really powerful if we could hit on that. 417 - >

Speaker 5: Yeah, So as we lay into how do we get 418 - > to wanting to do more mission driven work and why 419 - > people want to do it? The first thing we felt 420 - > like we needed to address up front, so what keeps 421 - > us from doing it? It seems so obvious that everyone 422 - > should be doing it, Like why doesn't everyone just jump 423 - > into it? And we called out four sets of resistances, 424 - > which are really layers, starting from the inside working out 425 - > The first and probably the most important is you know 426 - > a psychological layer, you know inside of you what keeps 427 - > you from doing it? Meaning fair failure is it? You know, 428 - > can I do this? Imposter syndrome? Those are all things 429 - > that you know, individual rules have to grapple with when 430 - > they start to look at making these transitions. The second 431 - > is more relational resistance, where what we talk about is 432 - > more actually the people that are actually your friends and 433 - > family that you're close to people that care about you, 434 - > so it's coming from a place of love, but may 435 - > may bring resistance in by the language that they use, 436 - > you know, saying hey, at least that seems a little risky, 437 - > would you really want to do that? You know, those 438 - > kinds of things can stop people from really wanting to 439 - > move the next forward because you're looking for almost a 440 - > sense of approval from those closest to you, and if 441 - > you don't feel like you get it, you may not 442 - > pursue it in the same way. The third is societal 443 - > working out here, we're talking more about like a concern 444 - > that like will people value this, will will it be 445 - > a prestige marker? Will it be meaningful to others? But again, 446 - > all of those, you know, like relational societal, those are 447 - > external that works right, Those are looking for external validation 448 - > in different capacities. And then the final one is institutional, 449 - > like once you get into an industry, whether it again 450 - > be academia, government, industry, the idea that like I've been 451 - > here now five years or ten years, can I just leave? 452 - > Is there's a level of lock in that keeps people 453 - > from you know, pivoting or moving across sectors. And that's 454 - > real people within your colleagues, for example, going like, well 455 - > why would you leave this? And what you don't realize 456 - > many times is you know them saying that is less 457 - > about what you're doing. It's more of a commentary on 458 - > the decisions they made, them questioning their own decisions, right, 459 - > And so the fact that you're looking to do something 460 - > different can surface those feelings, you know, one hundred percent, 461 - > And that's what is the institutional resistance. 462 - >

Speaker 3: Okay, that was I think our listeners and viewers, I 463 - > encourage you to consider which of those resistances you might 464 - > be experiencing. Now, then let's move on to start showcasing 465 - > some of the beautiful tools you have in your book 466 - > around So starting with a compass capital. 467 - >

Speaker 4: I thought that were compass capitals. 468 - >

Speaker 3: There are six of them, and two that you start 469 - > within the book, of course, our Mission and Money. And 470 - > I love how you talk about it, as you've been 471 - > saying already, is that you know that they're not at 472 - > odds with each other. They can they can compound and 473 - > reinforce each other, and I appreciate that. So let's go 474 - > through the six compass capitals if we can. 475 - >

Speaker 5: And so what we in defining the compass capitals the lens. 476 - > We tried to bring to this. Once we've identified the resistances, 477 - > once you can name it and know what you want 478 - > to do, we also need to think about like how 479 - > do we how do we define success? Yeah, and which 480 - > is why part of the subtitle includes rewriting success right, 481 - > Like how do we think about success differently? And the 482 - > reason we think that's important is because our systems are 483 - > wired for a certain definition of success. We talk about 484 - > the idea of net worth we were in a larger room, 485 - > or if we had your ask to your audience, everyone 486 - > kind of tell us what your net worth is? People 487 - > would probably scribble down some you know, approximation of their 488 - > savings account, investment in portfolio and real estate aspects. It's 489 - > a financial number. It's the way we think about it 490 - > and accepted when someone says what's your networth? That that's 491 - > what they're talking about. And the problem is that you 492 - > know if it, well, this is what your crew in 493 - > networks is what you bring in a table. We all 494 - > know that we bring much more than just that, as 495 - > as far as value and what we bring each day, 496 - > and as we think about that, we need to put 497 - > words around it. The problem is we don't put words 498 - > around it, and so what are those other capitals and 499 - > in that context what we create define There were five 500 - > other capitals that go with financial and we, as you stated, 501 - > are very clear that financial capital is important. So this 502 - > is not a he don't worry about finances, go do 503 - > what you need to go do. Hey, we recognize it's 504 - > important because if you don't feel a sense of financial security, 505 - > that's going to dwarf other feelings. But all we're saying 506 - > is that can't be the only dominant feeling. And also 507 - > in that way, financial becomes goes from being a place 508 - > that can give you autonomy to do what you want 509 - > to becoming a scoreboard. And once financial becomes a scoreboard 510 - > that has its own downside to it. And so you 511 - > start with wanting to have financial security so you can 512 - > create autonomy, I think many get swept up in it 513 - > then and becomes a scoreboard, which then doesn't lead to 514 - > a more balanced way of creating the capital. So what 515 - > are the other capitals? So we talk about, for example, 516 - > in a world that we're going into, especially in AI 517 - > experiential capital, the different experiences that you have in a 518 - > world where AI goes after IQ over EQ, meaning AI 519 - > can go deep and you can codify expertise. Well, what's 520 - > harder to do is unique human experiences that lead to judgment. 521 - > You know, So the more unique experiences you have that 522 - > are different, a more unique human lens you bring to 523 - > the table in any discussion analysis that takes place. So 524 - > experiential capital, we think in the world we're walking into 525 - > becomes incredibly more valuable. And being able to make sure 526 - > you're putting yourselves in new experiences that push you out 527 - > of your comfort zone. The second learning capital, what not 528 - > about learning skills, but how do you drive curiosity right 529 - > in a world of AI? Uh you are, It's less 530 - > about the having the right answers. It's about knowing the 531 - > right questions to ask. And you know, arguably the limitation 532 - > around what humans and a I can do together is 533 - > about imagination of what humans bring the table and not 534 - > really at the core of that is curiosity. The third 535 - > is trust capital and are arguably, and you know, when 536 - > I look back on my own career, I think it's 537 - > probably the most valuable one, and that's relationships that you build, uh. 538 - > And you know, we talk about like trust capital is 539 - > the only capital you really don't own, right because it's 540 - > bestowed upon you by people around you earn it. Yeah, 541 - > you earn it, but you don't own it. But trust 542 - > capital is incredibly important, and I would argue again in 543 - > the world of AI that human trust element will become 544 - > even more valuable. And I look at my career and 545 - > things I'm able to do today, a lot of it 546 - > was based on relationships that we invested in and grew 547 - > over a thirty year span. That's hard to replicate. And 548 - > so that's where trust capital comes from. Health capital here 549 - > we talk about the context of self care and taking 550 - > care of yourself. If you are going to be working 551 - > now for sixty years and seventy years, it becomes important 552 - > to make sure you're taking care of yourself, not physically, mentally, emotionally, 553 - > and that may even include taking you know, career transition 554 - > breaks to re energize and recharge to get back into it. 555 - > And so we think health capital is incredibly important. And 556 - > then the finally the one that you know, the book 557 - > ended with the financial capital is really mission and meaning 558 - > because at the end of the day, you know, people 559 - > want to have meaning in what they do. Uh, it 560 - > doesn't all of these don't have to be equal at 561 - > all times, but we intentionally use the word capitals in there, 562 - > because like financial capital, we wanted to draw the parallel 563 - > that if you even invest a little bit early and 564 - > a little bit consistently, it'll compound over time, and that 565 - > compounding effect will give you an ability to do things 566 - > that you would have never thought were possible and bring 567 - > a sense of balance, but also be a navigation tool 568 - > for you as you in a world that's changing really rapidly, 569 - > because it's going to be less about having the right pathways, 570 - > but it's more about being able to, you know, navigate 571 - > with the right direction. 572 - >

Speaker 3: Beautifully explained to thank you around again, Let's let our 573 - > listeners and viewers reflect on that as we take our 574 - > second break. I'm your host, doctor Earle's Cortes. We go 575 - > on the air with Arun Gupta, who is the CEO 576 - > of Noble Reach Foundation, which is a public charity with 577 - > a mission to develop and mobilize America's top talent and 578 - > innovation networks across academia, industry, and government for high impact 579 - > solutions that strengthen the security and prosperity of our nation. 580 - > He's also a venture capitalist lecture at Stanford University. We've 581 - > been talking a bit about some of the tools he 582 - > has in the book. They have on the book here 583 - > after the break, We're first going to cue up some 584 - > of the cohort of investors that are seeing no longer 585 - > just content to see the mission and returns of its rival, 586 - > of these rival goals of just financial but also put 587 - > in their money where their mouth is, to pay able 588 - > to extend this reach. Just really really fascinating and inspiring. 589 - >

Speaker 4: We'll be right back. 590 - >

Speaker 2: Doctor release Courts has as a management consultant specializing in 591 - > meaning and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author, she helps 592 - > companies vision for a greater purpose among stakeholders and develop 593 - > purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, 594 - > and commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to 595 - > invite Elise to speak to your organization, please visit her 596 - > at elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get 597 - > your employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose 598 - > with doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today or 599 - > to open a conversation with Elise, send an email to 600 - > Alise A. L Se at elisecortes dot com. Now back 601 - > to working on Purpose. 602 - >

Speaker 3: Thanks for saying with us, and welcome back to working 603 - > on Purpose. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes. I mentioned 604 - > in the last break that the great Revitalization came out, 605 - > and I mentioned the twenty two best precreases that are 606 - > I used to equip you to create that destination workplace. 607 - > On gustodeshnow dot com, you can find a simple three 608 - > page assessment to learn just how you're faring as a 609 - > destination workplace if you are just now joining us. My 610 - > guest is Aroun Gupta. He's the co author of the 611 - > Mission Generation, Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future. So, 612 - > as I queued up before the break, here a round. 613 - > I've seen this and other of my other guests. But 614 - > the list of organizations and investor investment groups that you 615 - > list in your book here of course we won't with 616 - > them all is incredible. And so this idea that I 617 - > mentioned that there's this cohort of investors are no longer 618 - > wanting to see mission and returns as rival goals. And 619 - > what we're seeing too, what I've been seeing is that 620 - > they're actually more attracted to mission oriented organizations because of 621 - > their resiliency, their fervor their united workforce around that cause. 622 - >

Speaker 4: And so if you could there's a whole bunch in here. 623 - >

Speaker 3: Just if you could just share with us a couple 624 - > of them to help us understand who they are and 625 - > what they're investing in and maybe why. 626 - >

Speaker 5: Yeah, so it's important, maybe look at it from different 627 - > asset classes. So you have the large financial institutions, you know, 628 - > like the investment banks, and there you see the JP Morgans, 629 - > the Golden Sacks in the world taking a real leading 630 - > ship role and wanting to say, we want to support 631 - > national resilience companies. You know, Jamie Diamond and JP Morgan's 632 - > announced that they've got a strategic Resilience initiative whereby they're 633 - > going to dedicate one point five trillion dollars over the 634 - > next ten years the companies that are working at this 635 - > intersection of national resilience because you know, no longer do 636 - > we think that national security problems or national resilience problems 637 - > are really government's problems. It's an all of country issue. 638 - > You see firms like giving Goldman Sacks taking a real 639 - > leader to the role with how they bring in talent 640 - > and wanting to support these kinds of companies in a 641 - > meaningful way. And so you're seeing, you know, the most 642 - > prominent in financial institutions taking that. In addition, you know, 643 - > you're starting to see or are seeing venture capital firms 644 - > play a leadership role here and recognizing that it and 645 - > they're not doing it. And look, let's just be clear, 646 - > this isn't just altruism like you said, this is this 647 - > is good business sense, right, and and that's fine, and 648 - > that's the whole point, Like, we need a world where 649 - > we can have mission driven capitalism, where we could be 650 - > doing good and in the process of doing well, we're 651 - > doing good for people around us. And and so in 652 - > those kinds of firms that we're seeing, you know, you 653 - > see UH firms like and recent Horowitz, UH firms like 654 - > General Catalysts, Founder's Fund taking a real role of building 655 - > you know, some of the biggest companies that we see today, 656 - > in the largest companies around things like national security, healthcare, 657 - > energy and solving space and solving these big problems. And 658 - > you know, they require different kinds of capital, the require 659 - > different kind of patients. But what they're also seeing is 660 - > that the fervor of being able to attract great talent 661 - > is also much easier here because you're able to show 662 - > that you're making a real difference. And back to the 663 - > idea of having stock options, that equity that you may 664 - > get in one of these companies. And you know, we 665 - > just saw one of the largest IPOs ever as an example, 666 - > you know, can be also really financially rewarding for you 667 - > in the process. And so I think as though success 668 - > stories are coming out and people are seeing that more, 669 - > we're starting to see, you know, more funding go into 670 - > these kinds of companies. As more funding goes in, you 671 - > see better talent come in. As better talent comes in, 672 - > the ecosystem gets stronger. As the ecosystem gets stronger, you 673 - > see better success stories. You see better success stories. The 674 - > early investors make money, and when they make money, money 675 - > goes back in. It's a virtuous cycle, right. It's the 676 - > story of the valley, and in a weird way, it 677 - > is the valley going back to its roots. You know, 678 - > Silicon Valley started as a government initiative, right, it was, 679 - > it was DARPA. It was a lot of federal funding 680 - > that was going in those early kind of venture deals. 681 - > And so the fact that it's now the valley that's 682 - > it's leading the innovation ecosystem is I think incredibly important 683 - > to note. But also I think one of the key differentiators. 684 - > Why I remain optimistic for where we're going because I 685 - > think two things that are really hard to replicate anywhere 686 - > else in the world is our education ecosystem and our 687 - > innovation ecosystem, And largely because those are both deeply cultural. 688 - > You don't just put up, you know, one hundred universities 689 - > and say, hey, they're just going to operate the same way, 690 - > and you're not going to just create a venture ecosystem 691 - > because people have tried for the last thirty forty years. 692 - > It's not like people are holding a secret. People try, 693 - > but it's a deeply cultural thing, and I think it's 694 - > a very American thing. It's an American spirit where you 695 - > can try, you can fail, you dust yourself up, you 696 - > get up again. People around you ask you what did 697 - > you learn, and if you, you know, have good answers 698 - > to that, they want to give you another shot. And 699 - > then you do it again. In many places you fail 700 - > and it's kind of you got a scarlet letter on 701 - > you and you know no one's going to give you 702 - > funding again. And so that's a hard cultural thing to unwind. 703 - > And I think that's, you know, what makes you know 704 - > this country great? I think it is, you know, look, 705 - > we're at the two fiftieth right now, and so it 706 - > really is kind of you know, I proposed to talk 707 - > about the fact that, you know, our founding fathers were entrepreneurs. 708 - > When you think about it, right right, right, right, we 709 - > call them founders. They created a document, you know, like 710 - > a definitive document. We called it a declaration of independence. 711 - > They had a vision, but they didn't have a pathway. 712 - > So there was a lot of testing and learning along 713 - > the way, and they've created a remarkable system for us today. 714 - > And you know, what we try to pose in the 715 - > book at the two hundred and fiftieth juncture is that 716 - > it's the mission generations now opportunity to step up and 717 - > either an opportunity or a challenge to build a system 718 - > of interdependence. So the same way our founding fathers created 719 - > a system of independence, now we've got to if we're 720 - > going to continue progressing in the way that we'd like 721 - > to see, we have to recognize that it's going to 722 - > be the interdependence of these sectors, the interdependence of how 723 - > we work in the community, the interdependence of how we 724 - > go solve problems that will enable us to reach our 725 - > highest potential. 726 - >

Speaker 3: I think that's why I just need to say amen, 727 - > let me just add that, okay. So also since I 728 - > want it, part of what we do in the show 729 - > aroun is is we want to introduce the ideas, inspire 730 - > something bigger for people to reachtore, but also enable them 731 - > or equip them with tools from what we get from 732 - > the book. So if you could introduce the mission flywheel, 733 - > that's powerful. 734 - >

Speaker 5: So we once we talk about the capital, if we 735 - > really wanted to push the into the how do you 736 - > do it? How do you implement it? Right? Well, let's 737 - > get out of theory and at the core is in 738 - > the world that's changing rapidly that we've been somewhat architected 739 - > or educated to think, you know, wait for clarity and 740 - > then go act. And what we the overarching theme of 741 - > the Mission Flywheel and then I'll talk about it subcomponents, 742 - > really is that like the world we're going into, you 743 - > need to start acting and then you get signals and 744 - > then that will bring you clarity. So again we're used 745 - > to waiting for clarity before we act, and what we're 746 - > now saying is we need to flip that you need 747 - > to start acting and doing things and the signals you 748 - > get from those actions will give you clarity on what 749 - > you should go do. And part of the reason we 750 - > say that is in the world that's changing really rapidly. 751 - > By the time if you wait for clarity, by the 752 - > time you get that clarity, the conditions that you used 753 - > to get that clarity have changed, and so you're going 754 - > to find yourself in always a uncertain paralysis of never acting. 755 - > Whereas if you just start doing, and it's very much 756 - > an entrepreneurial way of thinking, you will then you know, 757 - > figure out, test and learn, but you'll have to also 758 - > acknowledge that like everything that you do isn't intended or 759 - > should work, and that can't be viewed as wasted time. 760 - > That's a signal to say that's not good for me, 761 - > that's fine. And again I think many times we get 762 - > wired to like, I don't want to do something if 763 - > I don't think it's going to work, and you've got 764 - > to get over that is what we try to talk about. 765 - > So in the mission flywheel to your questional is, you know, 766 - > we talk about like, you know, starting to think about 767 - > what does give you that energy? Right? What what what 768 - > would fill your mission capital bucket? What are the things 769 - > that really matter to you? Right? And then around that, 770 - > think about how do you reframe your experiences? Like, think 771 - > about what you're doing, what you know, what what's that 772 - > learning capital? What are the curiosity? What are the questions? 773 - > But like how do you think about I think what 774 - > holds many people back is that they're worried that doing 775 - > something different means I'm starting from ground zero again, right, 776 - > And the reason we say reframe your experience is that 777 - > that's just not true in that you know, you may 778 - > have been doing something different, but you were building as 779 - > we talked about in the capitals, either experiences or relationships 780 - > or trust or impact, and you're building assets, you're building things. 781 - > How do we reframe that to where you want to go? 782 - > And so that's the reframing your experience piece. Finally, then 783 - > we talk about not finally, but next we talk about 784 - > running experiments back to the idea of like act and 785 - > then get clarity start thinking about like what are three 786 - > or four things that you can start to do to 787 - > test out like where is this Where would I get 788 - > my energy from? It could be volunteering, It could be 789 - > a side hustle. It could be being an advisor to someone. 790 - > It could just be networking with people that are outside 791 - > your comfort zone in different areas to see what they're doing. 792 - > But running those experience, you know, will give you. Running 793 - > those experiments will give you a sense of like where 794 - > do I get positive and negative signals that give me 795 - > the energy that I want going forward. The next one, 796 - > I think arguably is an important one that gets overlooked. 797 - >

Speaker 4: Absolutely, and that is recruit allies. 798 - >

Speaker 5: And I say that because you can do all the 799 - > first three or four things and it's it's what you'll 800 - > find is that it's very vulnerable and it's hard, and 801 - > he can feel lonely. And when if you can recruit 802 - > allies though, and when I say allies, these are the 803 - > people that when you tell them, like I'll use myself 804 - > a thing sample. I was thinking about writing a book. 805 - > I've never read a book before. I don't know I 806 - > have any business writing a book. And tell some friends 807 - > you're thinking of writing a book, and they react in 808 - > one of two ways you're writing a book, like why 809 - > would you write a book? And then would you have 810 - > another group that it's like, wow, that's kind of cool 811 - > you're thinking of writing a book. That latter group. You know, 812 - > then you get more energy from right because they're they're 813 - > kind of wanting to see you succeed. They're just kind 814 - > of like, now, you know, that doesn't mean you will, 815 - > but you do need that energy, right, you need to 816 - > feel like you've got some people that are kind of 817 - > believing in what you're pursuing, uh, you know. And then 818 - > from that, as you kind of run these experiments, you 819 - > get your allies, you know, then you can start to 820 - > think about like, how do you scale what it is 821 - > now that you really want to go do. How do 822 - > you scale it? And then how do you, you know, 823 - > make it something that you can be, make sustainable through 824 - > your health capital and incorporate it in a way that 825 - > you know, becomes something that's extendable over an extended period 826 - > of time. 827 - >

Speaker 3: And then the last one, of course, is well being. Right, 828 - > regenerate your well being because this is the engine that's 829 - > going to keep this train moving. Yep. Well, so, An, 830 - > we've come close, very close. 831 - >

Speaker 4: To the end of the show. 832 - >

Speaker 3: Went by so fast, and there's so much more I 833 - > could have gotten out of you, which is why listeners 834 - > and viewers you just got to pick up the book. 835 - > But say, in like a minute or so, what would 836 - > you like to leave our listeners with. 837 - >

Speaker 2: That? 838 - >

Speaker 5: I couldn't be more optimistic in the time that we're 839 - > in right now, despite the fact that it can feel 840 - > very uncertain, and that I feel that uncertainty comes from 841 - > us striving to hold onto the old scripts then and 842 - > seeking stability, and that if one can start to think 843 - > about ways to embrace the change that we're entering into 844 - > and embrace the new scripts that are in front of us, 845 - > once we get through that unsettling period, it can be 846 - > very empowering because I think it puts agency back into 847 - > the individuals to build the kind of careers that they want, 848 - > as opposed to having that agency in the hands of institutions. 849 - > So my big thing with folks right now is you know, 850 - > lean in, lean in hard, think about risk, but don't 851 - > obsess about downside. Also think about the upside and think 852 - > about what could this mean if it goes right for me, 853 - > and if it can be transformational, you should go do it. 854 - >

Speaker 3: Thank you Aaron for writing the book, for coming on 855 - > air to share about it. I'm so grateful that our 856 - > path cross that we've met that have you have totally 857 - > positively lifted me and reinforced my journey as well. So 858 - > thank you so much for coming on the podcast to 859 - > talk about this. 860 - >

Speaker 5: Elise, Thank you so much for your kind words. It 861 - > was great to be on this have this discussion with 862 - > you and greatly appreciate your questions. 863 - >

Speaker 4: Most welcome listeners and viewers. 864 - >

Speaker 3: You are going to want to learn more about our 865 - > own group, Ton the work he's doing in the emerging 866 - > technology entrepreneurship, public policy, and venture finance communities, and his 867 - > books The Mission Mission Generation. You can start there learning 868 - > more by going to Themission Generation dot com. Last week 869 - > we missed the live show you can always catch via 870 - > recorded podcast. We were on area with Owen O'Kaine, who 871 - > was recognized as one of the United Kingdom's leading mental 872 - > health experts. He is a practicing psyc with therapist and 873 - > a former National Health Security clinical lead. We talked about 874 - > his latest book, Addicted to Anxiety, How to Break Brick 875 - > the Habit. It was just layered full of all ways 876 - > as you start to recognize how you are attached to 877 - > anxiety and how you can move away from that. Next week, 878 - > we'll be on air with Tonil Miller once again talking 879 - > about her latest book, Flourishing from Within, Reclaiming who you 880 - > came to be and the life that's actually yours. See you, 881 - > then let's continue learning how to help more people flourish, 882 - > elevate their operating systems as leaders, and create destination workplaces 883 - > where legendary business takes place. Let's work on Purpose. 884 - >

Speaker 2: We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to 885 - > tune into Working on Purpose featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortes, 886 - > each week on W four C. Why. Together, we'll create 887 - > a world where business operates conscientiously. Leadership inspires and passion 888 - > performance and employees are fulfilled in work that provides the 889 - > meaning and purpose they crave. See you there, Let's work 890 - > on Purpose.