Name: WeWork's Search for a Bone Marrow Match
Uploaded: 2019-12-19
Duration: 5 min 24 s
Description: How the shared workspace startup is doing good by leading with purpose.

 Adam, many CEOs are now saying that the purpose of business is to go beyond just making profits, and so they're addressing social problems as part of their core corporate mission. Now, we know at WeWork, you've been thinking that way all along from the beginning. But what would you say-- what does leading with purpose mean to you? So to me, it starts with the leader. The leader needs to ask themselves, first of all, what is my do what I love moment? It's very important that it's something you're passionate about. Otherwise, you'll never see it through. This thing that I'm passionate about, does it fit my organization? Is that a capacity or an ability that my organization has? Is that a core competency? If the answer is yes and yes, will I do something positive in the world? Is my intention actually one of changing and uplifting, or is my intention only money? If the answer is yes to all three, I think that's where leading with purpose starts. And if that's your truth, employees will follow, customers will follow, and the world will follow. Rebekah, what are your thoughts? From the beginning, before WeWork started, we knew that we wanted to start a company that was going to hopefully really positively impact the world. That's not something that we layered on later, which I think is an important thing to do. The way to lead with purpose is to constantly grow and evolve as a person yourself, and then hopefully, when you're in the workspace, bring that energy and that presence to people around you. And what we found is that employees today are no longer looking just to grow professionally. They want to grow personally. I want to pick up on what you're saying about evolving, because it seems, Adam, that your thoughts about leading with purpose is evolving. And I'm referring in particular to how you and the company have been helping one of your employees, Valerie Batista, come up with a bone marrow match to cure her of a very rare disease. And WeWork and everyone in the company has been rallying behind it. You've joined forces with a nonprofit called Be the Match to help her out. So in what way is this one case triggering maybe a even broader view of what your business philosophy is, and your definition of purpose? When Valerie got sick, we did not understand the severity of how sick. She was she just asked for leave so she can help heal herself, and we were all very supportive. One of my lawyers rushes into my office in December and says, Adam, a horrible thing happened yesterday night. Valerie called me and asked me if LegalZoom is a company that you could use to write a will. And I said, what are you talking about a will? Valerie's in their early 30s. And she said, no, Adam, it's very bad. And I suddenly woke up and I said, wait, we talk about this all the time, and an employee of ours is talking about and will at her early 30s? Then purpose kicked in. And since then, the whole company has rallied behind finding Valerie a match. But by doing that, we're actually going to help hundreds of thousands of people around the world find matches, because now we're creating new awareness to the entire topic, getting more people to volunteer, to donate, to do a swap. And that's leading with purpose. And we're grateful for Valerie. I wish this was not the problem. We will find a match, but we're going to do a lot more than that. We're going to help uplift a category. So Rebekah, how is Valerie's story changing your view on purpose? I wouldn't say it's necessarily changing my view on purpose, because that's something intrinsic to how I operate all the time. But what I'm really noticing is the power of community, which we talk about. And after speaking a lot with Valerie, she really feels that a lot of her healing has come from the entire community supporting her and rallying behind her. And she feels safe that Adam-- because she feels Adam delivers and manifest things-- is going to find her a match. Adam, a lot of people still in the business world have not bought into this kind of thinking, and they say this act of charity, like what you're doing for Valerie, is a wonderful thing that you're doing, but there there's a disconnect between doing good work and making money. So first of all, you used the word charity. We're not helping Valerie. Valerie is helping us by giving us an opportunity to give. We know as the fact that giving is receiving, so therefore, she's wondering something for us. To answer your question more directly, we will prove very soon that a business that puts intention and meaning before material goods ends up being more successful, and that success will also translate financially. We will make more money in the bottom line. Our employees care more about every dollar. They care more about how much things costs. They care more about their own compensation, and only ask for what they need and where they want to be, but no more than that. And every single action they take has meaning and intention behind it. Not only that-- I believe companies like this, who actually make a difference in the world, will get a higher multiple than even a technology company. So as we prove over time that our value is also higher financially, we'll give the right cues to CEOs and boards all over the world to start doing it for themselves. One more thing about intention -- you can't have a company that's 100 years old and wake up today and decide you have intention. Those are just words, and that's just branding. The We generation will not buy into it. Intention comes from a leader and executive team that actually believes from the depth of their soul that this is the truth, and leads by example. If they're not an agent of change, these are just marketing words, and the We generation will not buy into it. Maybe for a year, but two years from now, we'll know what you're doing, and we'll go buy from the person who actually means it. 

WeWork's Search for a Bone Marrow Match

Leadership

How the shared workspace startup is doing good by leading with purpose.

Adam. Many seals are now saying that the purpose of business is to go beyond just making profits. And so they're addressing social problems as part of their core corporate mission. Now we know what we were. You've been thinking that way all along from the beginning. But what would you say? What does leaving with purpose. So to me, it starts with the leader. The leader needs to ask themselves, First of all, what is my do what I love moment. Very important. That something you're passionate about, otherwise you'll never see it through. The thing that I'm passionate about that except my organization Is that a capacitor? An ability that organization has. Is that a core competency? The answer is yes and yes, well, I do something positive in the world. Is my intention actually, one of changing and uplifting with my intention on Lee money? If the answer is yes, tow me. I think that's where leading with purpose starts. And if that's your truth, employees will follow, customers will follow and the world will follow. Rebecca, where you're from the beginning, before we work started, knew that we wanted to start a company that was gonna hopefully really, positively impact the world. That's not something that we kind of layered on later, which I think is important thing to D'oh. The way to lead with purpose is to constantly grow and evolve as a person yourself. And then, hopefully when you're in the workspace, bring that energy and that presents to people around you. And what we found is that employees today are no longer looking just to grow professionally. They want to grow. Personally. I want to pick up on what you're saying about evolving because it seems Adam, that your thoughts about leading with purpose is evolving. And I'm referring in particular to how you and the company have been helping one of your employees, Valerie Batista, come up with a bone marrow match to cure her of a very rare disease. And we work, and every one of the company has been rallying behind it. You've joined forces with a nonprofit called Be the Match to help her to help her up. So in what way is this one case triggering maybe even broader view off what your business philosophy is and your definition of purpose? When Valerie got sick, we didn't understand the severity of how sick she was. She just asked for leave so she can help heal herself. And we were all very supportive. One of my lawyers called rushes into my office in December, and other horrible thing happened to the night Valerie called me and asked me. A legal zone is a company that you produced to write a will. What are you talking about? The well Valerie's in their early thirties and signaling them. It's very bad. And I suddenly woke up and said, Wait, we talk about this all the time and an employee of ours is talking about a will in her early thirties. Then purpose kicked in, and since then, the whole company is rallied behind finding Valerie a match. But by doing that, we're actually gonna help hundreds of thousands of people around the world find matches. Because now we're creating new awareness to the entire topic, getting more people to volunteer, to donate, to do a swap. And that's leading with purpose. And we're grateful for Valerie. I wish this was not the problem. We will find the match what we're gonna do a lot more than that. We're gonna help uplift the category. So Rebecca Howe is Valerie Story changing your view on purpose? I wouldn't say it's necessarily changing my view on purpose because that's something intrinsic to how I operate all the time. But what's on what I'm really noticing is the power of community, which we talk about. And after speaking a lot with Valerie, she really feels that a lot of her healing has come from the entire community supporting her and rallying behind her. And she feels safe that Adam, because she feels Adam, you know, delivers and manifesting is going to find her a match. Adam. A lot of people still in the business will have not bought into this kind of thinking, and they say this act of charity, like what you're doing for Valerie is a wonderful thing that you're doing. But there's a disconnect between doing good work and making money. First of all, you used the word charity. We're not helping Valerie Valerie helping us by giving us an opportunity to give. We know the fact that giving is receiving. So therefore she's wondering something for us. I'll answer your question more directly. We will prove very soon that the business that puts intention and meaning before material goods ends up. Being more successful in that success will also translate financially. We will make more money in the bottom line. Our employees care more about every dollar. They care more about how much things cost. They care more about their own compensation and only asked for what they need and where they want to be. But no more than that. And every single action they take has winning an intention behind it. Not only that, I believe companies like this actually make a difference in there. We'll get a higher multiple than even a technology company. So if we prove over time that our value is also higher, financially will give the right cues to CEOs and boards all over the world to start doing it for themselves. One more thing about intention. You can't have a company that's 100 years old and wake up to then decide you have intentions. Those are just words, and that's just branding. The regeneration will not buy into it. Intention comes from a leader and executive team that actually believes from the depth of their soul that this is the truth and lead by example. If they're not an agent of change these air, just marketing words and the regeneration will not buy into it before year. But two years from now, we'll know what you're doing, and we will go by from the person who actually means it.