The win for purpose at work: Personal and economic

(joyful music) - [Narrator] Purpose is a hot topic in business these days, but there's a reason behind the hype, actually a lot of reasons. - [Narrator] Purpose isn't a new concept, Aristotle talked about it, but we've seen a surge in the last three or so years, particularly about purpose in the workplace. - [Narrator] And the reason is that the rewards of bringing more purpose into the work are clear from a performance perspective and also a lot of other perspectives. - [Narrator] When you have purpose, there's a neurological impact. Medically, there's research from Rush University, that people with purpose in their life have higher functioning brains and succumb less frequently to deterioration from things like Alzheimer's later in life. - [Narrator] Right and when we feel connected to each other in the pursuit of a greater purpose, even in the short term, like on a single day, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin and all those other feel-good chemicals. So it's not surprising that when your mind feels called to something greater, it literally rises to the occasion neurologically. - [Narrator] And there's some spiritual and emotional benefits to purpose as well. - [Narrator] Right, purpose is at the heart of most spiritual and religious practices. - [Narrator] It's also at the heart of the most positive personal relationships and the communities. Think about your own most fulfilling moments over the course of your life, work or not work. You were likely doing something of purpose, whether it was teaching a child how to do something, volunteering, or accomplishing something you really cared about at work. - [Narrator] Those highly engaging, highly fulfilling moments, become the core of who we are. - [Narrator] So if the physical and the emotional reasons aren't compelling enough for you to embrace purpose, there are also some economic benefits. - [Narrator] Right, there's some new data from Michigan State, that prove people who are motivated by purpose who really wanted to make a difference, outperformed people motivated by money over time. - [Narrator] Yeah, because when you have purpose, it brings in mindfulness and more engagement and that carries over into your performance, you have more attention to detail, your relationships with your boss, your team, and it's all because you're more purposeful and more present. - [Narrator] And organizations as a whole who are driven by a higher purpose, outperform their competitors by up to 350%. - [Narrator] So purpose means you're more successful, you have a more fulfilling career and you have a better quality of life.