Creating a Culture of Courage: Daniel Goodenough On How to Create a Culture Where People Feel Safe to be Authentic & Why That Helps the Bottom Line
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Build that purposeful structure in the organization that takes a person’s deepest calling into account and makes it real. Open up the expectation that the employee has the opportunity to explore that and report back in an ongoing way. A number of companies offer a certain percentage of the week, for example, for the employees to just explore. This freedom and the autonomy that goes with it create huge dividends. A significant part of company growth can come from that.
In today’s social media filled, fast-paced world, authenticity in the workplace and in our personal lives has become more difficult to come by. Business leaders must focus on the bottom line of profits and corporate success, but does that have to be at the expense of the authenticity of their employees? I believe it is quite the opposite. I know from my own experience that a culture of authenticity allows the hiring of a team that will bring their all to the workplace. That fosters innovation, creativity and a level of success that few companies dream of. Yet, fostering an environment where individuals feel secure enough to express their true selves remains a challenge. The importance of authenticity cannot be overstated — it is the foundation of trust, innovation, and strong relationships. However, creating such a culture requires intention, understanding, and actionable strategies. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel Goodenough.
Dedicated to science, art and spirit, Daniel inspires individuals, teams and enterprises to live their unique vision in the way the world most needs it. Co-founder of The Way of the Heart with Kimberly Herkert, Daniel designs processes for people to live more fulfilled, purposeful, and intentional lives. He recently published The Caravan of Remembering, a powerful self-directed inquiry for discovering our deepest calling. Together with Jill Taylor and Shelly Cooper, in 2023, Daniel co-founded the HuPerson Project to help leaders develop a deep awareness and presence, opening new structures of thinking so that corporate and entrepreneurial enterprises are able to embody their vision and become a remedy for the needs of the world today.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I could start by saying I had to invent my career. As a child I looked around, and I was bewildered by the adults who seemed to dread going to work. I felt called to explore how to help people remember why they’re here and how to create a livelihood that embodies each person’s reason for being here. The first part of my life was dedicated to the question: How do I make a living helping people remember why they’re here? With the dubious wisdom of a fourteen-year-old, I asked myself, How do I become famous, so that when I talk about a person’s life mission, people will listen to me? I looked at my size, and I said to myself — not an athlete. I was too shy to be an actor, so I turned to music. While attending university as an art major, I also worked as a professional musician, which eventually turned into full-time touring and studio work. Post-touring, I co-founded a design studio in Chicago with another musician to really understand the mechanisms of being an entrepreneur. During this period I became involved in the International Success Institute, where I eventually became a lead trainer for personal development training. The Way of the Heart, a personal growth company, emerged from this. To make this work available to the general public, I created a fictional/self-directed inquiry called The Caravan of Remembering in which the main character experiences the process of examining why you’re here, what that calls you to do, and who that calls you to become.
The HuPerson Project was born out of an opportunity to transform the way business is done. Jill Taylor and I brought together our decades of experience of working with transformational training to business leadership.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I held a week-long training exploring the integration of art, science and spirituality, in the context of bringing a person’s deepest sense of meaning and purpose into the world. On the fifth day, four of the participants shared that they had experienced significant challenges and were feeling trapped in the lives they were currently in. However, something had changed for them. They had never seen a way to hang on to hope in the way they had gotten access to in this week of training. They now had a way to bring their deepest calling into the world through their work.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Singleness of purpose. I dedicated myself to finding a way for people to understand why they’re here; what that calls them to do; and who that calls them to become.
- Radical attention to that purpose. In his book called The Preservation of Soul in Corporate America, the Irish poet David Whyte writes, “All of your ability to hold the conversations you were made for relies entirely on your ability to hold radical attention to your intention. And without that radical attention, nothing much will happen at the frontier of your being.” We could rephrase that ending to read, “And without that radical attention, nothing much will happen at the frontier of business.”
- Creativity and discipline: In order to be able to help anyone, anywhere, in any circumstances find why they are here and find a way to step into that — this has been a life-long project. I wanted to be able to talk to people with any career, and as a consequence, I developed a creative and disciplined approach to helping people in the full spectrum of careers attend to their highest intention.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a pivotal moment in your career or personal life when being authentic made a significant impact on your success or well-being?
Being authentic has made a difference at every level of the journey. I was chosen among many talented musicians for a national tour. Why me? My commitment and dedication created a high degree of authenticity, which opened doors for me, including winning a fine arts scholarship. Being authentic means that at every next opportunity, you have the magnetism to progress. Therefore, authenticity is pivotal at each level. Authenticity comes from your commitment to clearly understand what you are called to do with your life. And that commitment changes who you are, so that what you do reflects why you are here. Magnetism comes from being the total embodiment of what you understand your deepest purpose to be, essentially, your “why.”
What strategies have you found most effective in fostering an environment where employees or team members feel safe to express their true selves, including their ideas, concerns, and aspirations?
If an enterprise can support people exploring their deepest sense of meaning and purpose, and then create a means to share that, two things will happen. People will feel safe within the business to explore and develop their raison d’etre, their deepest, recurring sense of what they are being called to do, their why. Secondly, employees will bring enthusiasm to the workplace, since their authentic self is being actively fostered within the company. Even if what you’re asking them to do is not their ultimate life mission, there will be a congruency between exploring their why and what they’re being asked to do. The satisfaction from this congruency can work as an antidote to the massive resignations that took place around the time of the pandemic.
How do you navigate the challenges that come with encouraging authenticity in a diverse workplace, where different backgrounds and perspectives may sometimes lead to conflict?
A person’s deepest sense of purpose is not disconnected from their cultural background. There’s a reason to be found in why you were born into a certain culture. You can bring the story of your culture into your sense of your why, since a person’s highest intention is not just about them. By encouraging people to get present to their why, creates a means for people to find a place in your company. Rather than creating conflict, if you approach different backgrounds in this way, you find not a problem, but an opportunity. Diversity creates a plethora of whys. When you’re encouraged to bring your sense of deep purpose, including the part that comes from your culture, the resulting conversation is an uplifting conversation, rather than a conflictual one, whereas if that avenue is not there a person doesn’t feel at ease. This integration of whys creates possibility, which may in turn create a new opportunity for the enterprise.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways to Create a Culture Where People Feel Safe to be Authentic?”
1 . Create the company’s playbook to include a conversation about a person’s deepest intention of why they are here. This in turn leads to the questions of what an employee is called to do, and how they can bring that calling to who they are called to be. This becomes part of the company culture. Without this given, employees may feel they have to present an inauthentic acceptable self, a pretense that would give the impression that they belong. The company’s playbook includes ongoing development, training and coaching to foster the employee’s most authentic self.
2 . Hire the person not the job. The job intake can be amended to include the prospective employee’s why. It’s not just the credentials that HR is looking at. You’re hiring their deepest sense of purpose and their commitment to move that in the world. You’re hiring, in fact, their authentic self. Steve Jobs once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” This approach points to hiring a person, rather than hiring a set of skills. Cultivating an employee’s deepest intention will in turn result in them bringing new possibilities to the company.
3 . Develop executive presence that inspires and engages people. If the leader can’t engage authentically, this lack will lead to employee disengagement. To be present, or presencing, is an important executive skill that extends throughout the company. Presencing is connecting to the highest future possibility and how we are called to bring that to current challenges. This kind of presencing anchors your confidence and your conviction. As an executive you can create a culture that honors and cultivates a person’s unique sense of their intention. A company “faking” deep engagement with their employees will create the opposite of a sense of safety. If the company doesn’t follow through on this engagement, then what else will they not follow through on? The employee’s most authentic self will then go underground. To avoid that, it’s important from as early as the outreach to clearly state the training in the intake, and also outline the continuing support, connection, integration, and purposeful structures. This provides authentic management, developing an executive presence that inspires and engages. This will attract skilful, authentic employees.
4 . Build that purposeful structure in the organization that takes a person’s deepest calling into account and makes it real. Open up the expectation that the employee has the opportunity to explore that and report back in an ongoing way. A number of companies offer a certain percentage of the week, for example, for the employees to just explore. This freedom and the autonomy that goes with it create huge dividends. A significant part of company growth can come from that.
5 . Re-evaluate what performance is. We want to ask ourselves, What is the performance review for? Redefine the questions to include a focus on the person’s why, asking, How well did you do with developing your stated intention? And, How do you build mastery, take action, and mobilize possibilities? By supporting a person’s purpose and creating an avenue for them to align with the company’s vision, the company may see greater profits and retention.
In your opinion, how does authenticity within an organization influence its relationship with customers, clients, or the broader community?
An authentic company, one that also considers its own intention and the intention behind that, supports prosperity. And the community knows that. At Burgerville, we had a great push to work with the local community, which, especially during the pandemic, was a godsend. People would send friends and family to check out Burgerville as a great place to work because we never stopped giving back. We built a more nutritious burger, committed to the health of the region, honoured the farmers and ranchers, and implemented safety in the drive-through line during COVID. Parents felt that the food at Burgerville was actually food. Our customers trusted us and trusted our food, which had them keep coming back. All of this in the name of our campaign, “Regeneration: from Soil to Soul.”
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’d like to change the conversation around purpose, vision, or a person’s why, for the world loses something when people don’t honour that. If a significant number of the eight billion + people stepped into their purpose, there would be significant movement in our world. The solutions to our world’s problems are in the hearts and minds of the people on the planet now. That’s how important a deep sense of purpose is. Imagine a curriculum where young students explore their reason for being here, and what that’s calling them to bring forward in the world. What’s the impact that might make? That conversation is largely missing in the world.
How can our readers further follow you online?
thehupersonproject.com
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
Creating a Culture of Courage: Daniel Goodenough On How to Create a Culture Where People Feel Safe… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.