Traditional business planning fails because it focuses on intellectual exercises like metrics and behaviors. A more powerful approach grounds the plan in purpose-driven questions about service and mission, providing stronger motivation than numbers alone.

When leaders are stuck defining their organization's mission, this question forces a shift from generic goals like survival to tangible impact. It clarifies the unique value provided to customers and society, revealing a more motivating and authentic purpose beyond simply 'staying in business.'

To foster deep motivation, leaders must explicitly connect every employee's role, no matter how small, to the ultimate mission. Ger Brophy explains how showing a factory worker that the product they make is critical for a specific cancer treatment allows them to feel personal ownership of the patient impact.

Purpose isn't exclusive to high-status professions. Any job can become a source of deep purpose by connecting its daily tasks to a larger, positive impact. A NASA custodian can be "putting a man on the moon," and a parking attendant checking tire treads can be ensuring driver safety. Purpose is a mindset.

A prestigious title doesn't guarantee a sense of purpose. A doctor can feel their work is just a job, while a shuttle bus driver can find deep meaning by choosing to make people smile. Purpose is an active, individual choice to serve, accessible to anyone in any role.

After burning out, Bumble's founder returned with renewed purpose by reframing the company not as an app, but as a "vehicle to deliver love." This elevated, mission-driven perspective—seeing the company as a means to a greater societal end—can be a powerful tool for leaders to overcome fatigue and reconnect with their work.

A corporate purpose statement is ineffective if it remains a slogan on a website. The industry's most significant failure is not operationalizing its mission by taking it 'off the wall and putting it into the hearts and hands' of every employee through intentional, individual connection.

Goals fail when they're isolated. View your intentions as a nested hierarchy: a present action supports a plan, which serves a goal, which aligns with a priority, which fulfills a core value. This "intention stack" ensures daily work has purpose and follow-through.

This framework structures decision-making by prioritizing three hierarchical layers: 1) Mission (the customer/purpose), 2) Team (the business's financial health), and 3) Self (individual skills and passions). It provides a common language for debating choices and ensuring personal desires don't override the mission or business viability.