In my work, I meet so many leaders and over the recent years, there has been a shift in their thinking. Many leaders truly want to make a positive difference. They are finding their purpose and letting that drive their work with a bigger meaning behind it. They are using their influence in their roles and companies to create a positive, caring workplace. They are tired of the focus being solely on money, returns, profitability, margins and quarterly reporting. They want to have more meaningful work than just shareholder value.

Unfortunately, these leaders are still not in the majority. We still have a lot of toxicity in the workplace with many organizations. But so many people are at a point where they will no longer tolerate this type of environment.

Our world has been built on financial foundation and with financial systems that are all about the bottom line—many times with no regard to the impact on the environment, the community, or to the people. But many leaders don’t want that anymore. This “industrial business model” is becoming obsolete and is not sustainable.

Purpose-driven companies who connect deeply with their customers and their employees are rising to the top and will continue to do so. As the new generations come into the workplace, they are looking for purpose-driven organizations. These companies will have a much easier time getting the talent they need to keep moving forward. In CEO surveys from PwC and also our own research at Evoloshen, we hear that CEOs are concerned about being able to reach their targets in the next three to five years if they cannot get the talent they need.

During the crazy 2020 “global pause,” we have seen that companies with a strong culture seem to be faring better than many others. This year has also raised many concerns about well-being as well as diversity and inclusion. Many have struggled to adjust to a more virtual culture (we have a Virtual Culture Report coming soon).

Although the media portrays so much division and turmoil, the day-to-day conversations with people reveal a different reality—at least what I have seen. I see people who truly care for each other, leaders who want to reassure their employees while still collaborating and performing as strong teams. I see the mindset that “we are in this together” and “how can we best support each other?”

This is our true human nature—to care and to connect. The more people who genuinely do this, the faster we can transform our world into a place where we can experience peace and joy. I know this may sound too positive or naïve for some, but I believe in the power of co-creating our world when we come together, when we unite with a common goal and vision.

So, my question to you is this: what have we got to lose? What world do we want to co-create? Why not unite, focus on our similarities (i.e. we are all humans living on this one planet!)? Let’s bring kindness and caring back into our communities, and let’s create more joy—especially at work and at home! With this common vision, we CAN make it our reality!