Saving Lives

Roy Vagelos discovered his North Star as CEO of Merck, where he carried out founder George Merck's passion for discovering life‐saving drugs for 2 decades. Roy had been an academic medical researcher for 19 years when he was asked to become dean of two prestigious medical schools, the Universities of Chicago and Pennsylvania. “I was horrified about becoming a dean, because you don't teach or do research; you just shuffle papers and push people around,” he explains. Then he got an offer to lead Merck's research.

I could use my knowledge of biochemistry to discover new drugs, I could impact human health far beyond what I could as a practicing doctor, and I could change the technology of drug discovery. I never thought of myself as a leader but asked myself instead if I was contributing something to the world.

Roy demonstrated his North Star—to impact human health in the broadest sense—with his leadership in eliminating the African disease known as river blindness with the drug Mectizan. When market projections indicated Africans could not afford it, Roy took the courageous course of completing the drug's development and distributing it for free throughout Africa until all river blindness was eradicated. He explained, “Here's a drug that can prevent blindness in 18 million people. That single decision put Merck in a position where we could recruit anybody we wanted for the next decade.”

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Merck had the most productive record in producing life‐saving new drugs of any pharmaceutical company, in large part because of the inspiration Merck's researchers drew from Roy's passion and sense of purpose. Not surprisingly, Merck's shareholder value increased 10 times in 10 years. Now in his 90s, Roy is still going strong. As chair of biotechnology firm Regeneron for the past 25 years, he has guided the creation of numerous revolutionary drugs using monoclonal antibodies and a 4,300 percent increase in shareholder value.

It is hard to find a more noble purpose than the one Roy Vagelos pursued. His leadership is an inspiration to us all. He concludes, “Given a choice of working just to make a living, or benefiting the people of the world, the majority of people will choose the latter.”

Pursuing a Transformational Purpose

Kees Kruythoff is one of the boldest and most passionate leaders I know when it comes to his purpose and the impact he can have on society. After retiring from Unilever in 2020, Kees founded the LiveKindly Collective to transform the global food system through plant‐based foods. “Our reliance on animal products is destroying the earth,” he says, “but it doesn't have to be this way. We can give consumers plant‐based products that taste like conventional meat but made with sustainable ingredients.”

As CEO of Unilever North America, Kees was a passionate advocate for Unilever's mission of sustainability—its corporate purpose. Kees says, “The Unilever sustainable living plan is about how business can be a force for good to have a positive impact on society.” When Unilever CEO Paul Polman asked me to become Kees' coach, I enjoyed helping him build on his enormous enthusiasm, drive, passion, and ability to inspire others, while working with him to slow down and smooth off some rough edges.

In 2019, he was deeply disappointed when the board shared that Polman's successor would be his highly respected colleague, Alan Jope. Kees took a 6‐month sabbatical to contemplate what lay ahead. It was then he discovered a way he could continue pursuing his North Star of sustainability. He reflects, “My biggest passion, expertise, and what the world needs most all came together in being part of the global transformation from an animal‐based to a plant‐based system. This is the world's biggest hunger and what it needs most.”

Kees continues, “We're blessed with this generation of Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z, who are leading the plant‐based foods revolution.”

My teenage daughters ask me, “Dad, why do we ever eat animals?” This generation demands transparency and trust in authentic leaders and insists that business is a force for good. Every company must ask why their business exists and whether it serves society.

Now business leaders are realizing that purpose, relevance, and therefore growth are inextricably linked. For the first time, financial markets recognize that investors will pay a premium for companies that have the environmental, social, and governance at their core.

Kees recognized that the next step of his journey must be about the joy of business as a force for good by creating networks around the world with people whose values are aligned to have a positive impact on society. Kees says, “As I turn 50, I am keen to do another 50 years putting my experience and expertise at service to society. I believe in personal growth, being curious, reinventing yourself, and making conscious choices.”

A Spear‐in‐the‐Chest Moment

John Replogle realized that at age 35 in a striking moment.

He yearned to be of service to the world. As an idealistic college student, his peers elected him as student body president at Dartmouth. Later, he used his intellect, teambuilding, and persuasiveness to climb the corporate ladder, first as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group and then at spirits company Diageo, where he became president of Guinness Beer at age 35.

While Guinness's positive essence was communion, John witnessed the other side through his brother's struggle with alcoholism. “One Saturday, in my car with my kids, I looked in the rearview mirror and had my ‘spear‐in‐the‐chest’ moment. I realized my work and my purpose in life were incompatible. My purpose is to inspire people to take great care of people and planet. As much as I loved Guinness, I wasn't building a future for my kids or caring for people or the planet.”

I asked myself a fundamental question: Now that I have security and comfort and can feed my kids, what am I doing for my self‐realization and making the world a better place? My personal mission hadn't manifested in my work. Finally, I said, “I'm not congruent. My two worlds don't support each other.”

For John, this moment launched a metamorphosis. He explains, “My prior stage had been about learning skill and competencies.”

I was more focused on professional development than on pursuing my purpose. I asked myself, “Whom do I have an impact on in work and the world around me? Where do I want to fly?”

John left Guinness to join Unilever as head of its beauty line, moving closer to a purpose he believed in. Three years later, he joined Burt's Bees in his first CEO role. Burt's Bees gave John the platform to use purpose as a differentiator for the business. In one dramatic event, his team secretly collected all the trash discarded at the office for two weeks and stacked it at the entrance to a company picnic. In an instant, everyone understood the company's efforts to cut packaging waste through its supply chain. After selling Burt's Bees to Clorox, John became CEO of Seventh Generation with ecofriendly products made from plant‐based ingredients.

Between these career transitions, John took periods of “intentional pause” during which he connected with friends and mentors, did volunteer work, and engaged with coaches to ensure he was intentional about his path. He explains, “If you want to find your North Star, start with your personal purpose, then understand your business's purpose, and find the points of intersection so they work together.”

Banking with Heart

Tim Welsh's realization came when he was 50. Born in an orphanage and adopted by a Catholic family, Tim realized “my adoption was the only thing that mattered.”

That was the moment when it became clear God was looking after me in a deeply profound way. That realization has shaped my life since then. I'm among the luckiest people because I've had one mother who loved me so much, she gave me up, and two parents who took me in. When you've been loved that profoundly, your purpose is clear: you're going to be loving to everyone else.

Tim comes across as so caring, thoughtful, and committed to his purpose and values that when you first meet him you would be excused for thinking that he's a priest or a teacher, but he is vice chair of the nation's fifth largest bank, U.S. Bank.

After graduating from business school, Tim joined McKinsey, where he was inspired by 85‐year‐old founder Marvin Bower and his clarity of purpose of helping people. Tim adds, “Our purpose should be about serving someone else. The minute we confuse ourselves that our purpose is about us, and we should be rewarded financially, bad things happen. The times I have fallen short are when I forgot that.”

For example, I lost focus on my purpose when I applied for two roles at McKinsey and got neither of them, because I was focused on me and my promotions. I went on to lead global learning programs at McKinsey for 10 years. I blossomed and had the greatest satisfaction of my career because I focused on other people.

In his early 50s, Tim made the bold move to U.S. Bank because he was attracted to its mission: “We invest our hearts and minds to power human potential.” He says, “I went there because the bank's purpose aligned with mine.”

My personal purpose is to help as many people as I can. With several million clients, I realized I can make a big difference in the lives of millions of people. Our values call for us to put people first, value diversity, and innovate to stay a step ahead. I would only work at a place where the purpose and values aligned with mine, so I can be who I am.

When COVID‐19 hit in early 2020, Tim came up with a creative solution. Recognizing that the bank's clients were hurting and stuck at home, as were his employees, he launched an outreach program in which all employees called their clients, not looking for business but simply asking them how they were doing. They said, “Hi, it's Tim from U.S. Bank. It's a tough time, and I want to check in and make sure you're okay. If you need any help or have financial needs, I'm here to help you.”

From April to June 2020, bank employees made 1.4 million calls to clients simply offering help. Tim says, “People were shocked. When was the last time you got a call like that from a bank?” As in‐person meetings became feasible again in 2021, Tim got his teammates to proactively reach out to clients, scheduling two million appointments, compared with only 50,000 in 2019.

He notes, “All this is rooted in our purpose of helping clients.”

We're seeing the highest levels of customer satisfaction ever. On our Friday calls, our bankers share their heartfelt stories and satisfaction in doing something good for someone else. As bankers, we are in a position to empower people to live lives they want to live and enable their businesses to grow. In addition, our foundation gives $150 million per year to the communities we serve. Banks cannot thrive unless the community thrives.

Tim Welsh is the model of a modern banker, who is more focused on serving his clients' needs than on making money, but the virtuous circle he has created has enabled U.S. Bank to perform extremely well.

From Making Money to Improving Lives

Unlike other leaders in this chapter, Omar Ishrak found his North Star not in a moment of great revelation but rather through a lifelong process of introspection. Omar traveled a long way from his home in Bangladesh to become the highly successful CEO of Medtronic. Yet throughout his life and career he has remained true to his life story, his faith and values, and his commitment to using his gifts to make the world a better place.

I asked Omar why so many South Asian immigrants have reached the top of major American companies like Microsoft, Google, Mastercard, Medtronic, and Adobe. His answer: Indians focus on technical education, rigorous thinking, humility, desire to help others, and being satisfied with what you have. He explains, “For immigrants, there is a culture here of wanting to win. America offers opportunity. If you come here and work hard, it doesn't matter what color you are or what language you speak, you will be rewarded.”

Omar learned those characteristics from his family growing up in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Shortly before his 18th birthday, Omar moved to London to complete his A level exams. He then entered King's College London, eventually gaining his PhD in E.E. “Doing that was one of the best decisions I ever made,” Omar says. “It taught me reasoning, the linkage between theoretical, computational, and empirical approaches and essentially how to think differently.”

Omar's thesis was in ultrasound, which became a lifelong passion and led him to focus his purpose on improving people's lives and restoring their health. His ultrasound expertise took him to California, where he worked for Philips and Diasonics, and eventually went to GE. Omar went from thinking “engineering is all I could ever do to wanting to run a company.” At GE, he spent 16 years leading its imaging and medical equipment business. He observes, “GE struggled with mission. There was no real consistent corporate mission; financials were always the main priority.”

When the opportunity came along to become CEO of Medtronic in 2011 and restore the company's flagging growth, Omar saw his purpose aligned with Medtronic's mission, “To alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life.” The day Medtronic announced his appointment, Jack Welch called me, saying, “Bill, you got a good man. He is the finest innovator in all of GE.”

Throughout his decade at the helm of Medtronic, Omar was a passionate advocate for the mission, using it to inspire employees, develop the company's innovation strategies, and build the company's growth culture. Omar saw his purpose at Medtronic not just as making money but expanding the number of people restored to full health by Medtronic products. Initially, he focused on expanding Medtronic's reach in emerging markets like China, India, and Latin America. Then he focused Medtronic's research and innovation by addressing unmet medical needs with breakthrough solutions. He explains,

I am proudest that Medtronic today restores two patients to full health every second, compared with every five to seven seconds when I joined. We created entirely new solutions for challenging diseases with technology for leadless pacemakers, closed loop diabetes treatment, thrombectomy, stroke reduction, clot removal, and blood pressure reduction.

Since retiring, Omar is using his deep understanding of technology and wisdom to help others. As chair of Intel, he is guiding the company through a turnaround. He serves on the boards of Amgen, Cargill, and Cleveland Clinic and contributes his time to helping people in Bangladesh and nonprofits like Children's HeartLink, which helps children around the world with genetic cardiac disease.

Across these endeavors, Omar still faithfully follows his North Star, concluding, “I want to do something where I can see the difference in people's lives by using humanity and technology. That's what I find most satisfying.”

Taking Faith to the Streets

Jim Wallis is a purpose‐driven leader who is using his faith to address social justice issues. In 1971, he founded Sojourners to pursue his mission, as he became one of America's leading religious figures. Jim believes purpose has little meaning unless it is translated into action:

My vocation is for faith to hit the streets in our work, neighborhoods, nation, and the world. If it's not a driving force in your life, it won't be sustained. At Georgetown, I ask students, “How does your faith hit the streets?” If religion doesn't ever change things on the street, it has little impact.

Jim grew up in a White neighborhood of Detroit. As a teenager, he was troubled by the disparities he saw in Black Detroit just a few blocks away, concluding, “Something is terribly wrong with my city and my country. I went into the city to find answers.”

Becoming friends with young Black guys as a janitor at Detroit Edison changed everything. Back at my church an elder told me, “Jim, Christianity has nothing to do with racism; that is political, and our faith is personal.” I left my church that night as a teenager. The issue of race was consuming me in mind and heart. I said, “If the Christian faith has nothing to do with racism, then I want nothing to do with Christianity.”

While studying at Michigan State, Jim was deeply involved in civil rights and antiwar movements and arrested 20 times in nonviolent civil disobedience. He says, “As a radical student activist, I could put 10,000 people on the streets in two hours.” In 1970, when tensions over the Vietnam War brought emotions to a boil, he led the student strike that temporarily shut down Michigan State. Ironically, 44 years later his alma mater awarded him an honorary degree for his unwavering commitment to social justice.

Jim had a conversion during college from studying Matthew's Gospel and a passage in Chapter 25: “Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my people, you have done it to me.” He explains,

Here is the Son of God saying, “I'll know how much you love me by how you treat them.” Them is the marginal, vulnerable, poor, and oppressed. How we treat the poorest and most vulnerable is the real test of our faith. My life's purpose has been figuring out the public meaning of faith.

Jim founded Sojourners in the early 1970s as a faith‐based social organization with the mission of “Putting faith into action for social justice.” For the past 40 years, he has vigorously pursued that mission, never wavering in his commitment to help the oppressed in society.

He makes a sharp distinction between climbing the career ladder and pursuing your vocation, explaining, “Career is climbing the ladder of success. Vocation is discerning your gifts and your calling, your North Star.”

Your vocation is where the world's crying needs intersect with your gifts. Rather than looking for opportunities to ascend, ask what you're called to be. The difference between career and vocation is central to your leadership—what you're doing every day in your work and relationships. When people ask how to find their North Star, I say, “Trust your questions and follow where they lead.”

True to his calling, Jim has taken his work to the streets of South Africa, inmates at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, and the poorest residents of inner‐city Washington, D.C., never ceasing in his efforts to help society's underprivileged. Upon retiring from Sojourners in 2021, Jim is chair of Georgetown University's Center on Faith and Justice, still pointing to his North Star in a new role focused on deepening the role of faith in civic life.