As GE Aviation worked to identify its purpose, the leaders started by revisiting the wisdom of arguably one of the most purpose-driven, visionary founders a company could have: Thomas Edison, who once said, “I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give to others.” GE Aviation leaders responded to this attitude: “We knew the purpose had to capture the spirit of innovation that drove Edison and has been core to GE since day one. We also needed to capture how that innovation was designed to serve the greater good.” The company contributes to lifting people up (literally and figuratively, as aviation has lifted emerging economies and contributed to a more connected world). And the engines GE Aviation builds are also responsible for bringing millions of people home safely, from commercial-flight passengers to fighter pilots making it across enemy lines. For GE Aviation, the magic of the purpose was in the intersection of the spirit of Edison and the company’s impact in the world both yesterday and today. GE Aviation’s purpose is captured in the company motto: To invent the future of flight, lift people up and bring them home safely.

GSD&M is one of the top advertising agencies in the United States. About twenty years ago, Roy Spence—one of the founders—asked, “What’s going on that some of the brands we help build are phenomenally successful and everyone loves working on them … and others, not so much?” This question led to the discovery that the people of GSD&M were at their very best when they were using their creativity to help purpose-driven brands win in the marketplace—brands like Southwest Airlines, John Deere, BMW, the US Air Force. These brands actually stood for something. The people of GSD&M didn’t want to just deliver visionary ideas that build sales or build brands. That’s table stakes for any agency. They wanted to deliver breakthrough ideas with impact. Hence, the agency’s purpose: To deliver visionary ideas that make a difference.

After Southwest Airlines had spent over a decade educating the marketplace about how it was different from other airlines—low fares, frequent flights, friendly people—it decided to ask a new question. Herb Kelleher, the insatiably curious founder of Southwest Airlines, said, “By now, everyone knows how we’re different. What I want to know is … what difference do we make?” When GSD&M started asking that question for Southwest, the ad agency started hearing people talk about the freedom that they had been given because of those low fares, frequent flights, and friendly employees. GSD&M went back and told Kelleher, “Holy smokes! You’re not in the discount airline business. You’re in the freedom business!” And the purpose of Southwest Airlines was revealed: To give people the freedom to fly.

Over thirty years ago, sixty leaders of Whole Foods Market came together and wrote a document called the “Declaration of Interdependence.” It contained the DNA of the company’s purpose (and, in many ways, reflected the core tenets of Conscious Capitalism). When you read this document, the passions, strengths, and desire for meaningful impact come through loud and clear and have since been echoed in the voices of team members throughout the organization. One of the core strengths enabling Whole Foods to become not only a world-class grocer but also a world-class advocate for change is its mastery of the multi-stakeholder mindset. This strength enables the company to develop ideas that actually work because everyone affected is included in the creation of the idea. Whole Foods team members are some of the most passionate people you will ever meet. They embody the hero archetype and act with great courage and determination to change things for the better. From preparing a better store display to eradicating poverty, these are people on a mission. As for meaningful impact, they believe in creating a system where everyone can flourish—team members, customers, vendors or suppliers, communities, and shareholders. Its purpose is bigger than food, and yet the food is what makes everything possible. So a purpose that leaves food behind wouldn’t be quite right. Whole Foods Market takes all these ingredients into account and brings them together in a powerful purpose statement that captures the strengths, passions, and ultimate impact of the company: With great courage, integrity and love, we embrace our responsibility to cocreate a world where each of us, our communities and our planet can flourish. All the while, celebrating the sheer love and joy of food.

Anyone who has ever driven a BMW knows that there is nothing quite like it. It’s fast. It’s tight. It’s fun. It’s exhilarating. In the words of thousands of BMW owners over decades of driving experiences, it’s pure joy. And that’s precisely how people producing “the ultimate driving machine” think about their purpose. They have taken the idea of joy and made it the central idea that drives everything they do (pun intended). Certainly, the company wants people to experience the joy and thrill of driving a BMW. It also wants to do business in a way that makes people joyful—whether the company is creating a great work environment or pioneering sustainable ways of doing business—joy is what fans believe is at the heart of BMW.

Thus, we understand the purpose of BMW: to enable people to experience the joy of driving.

Most people know Life is Good as a socially conscious clothing and lifestyle brand. At the most basic level, it sells T-shirts, other clothing, and lifestyle-related merchandise with a message that life is good. The brand offers several benefits:

The functional benefit: Life is Good merchandise enables people to outfit themselves with a nice article of clothing, but much more importantly, it outfits them with a message that runs counter to the often-prevailing view that life is hard and messed up. It lets people advocate a different worldview.

The emotional benefit: Through its messaging, music festivals, community, contributions to nonprofit organizations, and its use of play to overcome trauma, the Life is Good brand is designed to stimulate good feelings—gratitude, hope, creativity, fun, compassion, openness, compassion, humor, and love.

The ultimate value: The company spreads optimism. Even if life isn’t perfect and even when life is hard, it’s still good.

Life is Good is not in the T-shirt business, as its chief executive optimist, Bert Jacobs, would tell you; it’s in the business of optimism. And that’s its purpose: to spread the power of optimism.

A perfect example of tuning in to your heart to find your purpose comes from Interstate Batteries. As a battery company, it is in the business of providing dependable power. But for the leaders of Interstate Batteries, the most dependable source of power in the world is not of this world. Interstate Batteries is a faith-based company that strives to run its business in accordance with biblical principles. It practices servant leadership and lives by the Golden Rule. It honors its commitments and does all it can to serve those in need. When time came to articulate its purpose, there was almost no debate about what should be uppermost in the statement. The idea was a nonnegotiable, because it was so central to the company’s sense of who its people are: to glorify God and enrich lives as we deliver the most trustworthy source of power to the world.