Finding Purpose: Why purpose is the answer to uncertainty and anxiety (w/ Arun Gupta) | from Fixable

**Modupe Akinola** (0:00)
Hi, listeners, it's Modupe, the host of TED Business. On this show, we talk about the business of business and the why of it all.
A sense of purpose is often at the heart of successful, impactful work. And these are the big questions that we're constantly asking on TED Business. How do you seek out meaningful work? How do you locate meaning in your work? What does the word purpose even mean? Well, I'm not the only one in the extended TED family asking these questions. Over on the podcast Fixable, leadership coaches Frances Fry and Anne Morris have done a four-part series on Finding Purpose, and I'm sharing each part of it with you today. I just know you guys are going to love it. So without further ado, Frances and Anne are going to take it from here.

**Anne Morris** (0:57)
Frances, we are coming to the end of our Purpose at Work series. I have surprised myself by how much I have enjoyed this. We've talked to some really interesting folks about what gets them out of bed in the morning and keeps them going in the face of setbacks and uncertainty.
It has been super energizing to include all of these voices in a conversation I feel like you and I have been having with each other for like our whole lives.

**Frances Frey** (1:27)
When people get more in touch with their purpose, I don't think it's like an incremental improvement in their lives. I think it is a dramatic improvement. So I have been unexpectedly surprised at how helpful the series has been.

**Anne Morris** (1:42)
Yeah, one of the things I realized coming to this episode is that I haven't officially asked you how purpose has operated in your life, at least not in front of our Fixable audience. So let me ask for the record, how are you thinking about purpose these days, particularly when there's so much chaos and disruption and uncertainty in the world?
It's not a small question.

**Frances Frey** (2:07)
Well, my operations roots will show, I think in my answer to this, which is, I think about purpose in terms of the capacity of people, of other people, and how do I get them in touch with not only their full capacity, but how do we help them dramatically increase their capacity? And when I'm doing that, I don't even notice time, I don't notice effort, I don't notice anything. And so, it's being in touch with the, enhancing the capacity of others, and then trying to let them live fully into it.

**Anne Morris** (2:46)
First of all, that was beautiful, and resonates in my experience of you. Does it feel more urgent for you, given the state of the world, or where you are in your own life?

**Frances Frey** (2:58)
No, you know, we've said that we need more leaders, and leaders, fortunately, are not just at the top of the hierarchy, they're everywhere. We need more leaders unleashing what's possible in others.

**Anne Morris** (3:12)
Yeah. Well, one of the reasons I'm excited to talk to our guest today is that he, in kind of a similar way, is making the case that purpose is the answer to what so many people are feeling in the year of Our Lord 2026
This is Fixable, a show where we take the problems at work that feel unfixable and prove that they're not. I'm Anne Morris.

**Frances Frey** (3:43)
And I'm Frances Frey.

**Anne Morris** (3:44)
Listeners, before we get to our interview today, I want to invite you to stick around after our conversation to hear our thoughts on our Purpose at Work series. Frances and I have really loved making the last five episodes, and wanted to take a minute to reflect on what we've learned from all of our fantastic guests. So hang in there with us. And first, our guest today is Arun Gupta. Arun is a longtime investor and the CEO of the Noble Reach Foundation. He spent his career helping people find ways to serve something bigger than themselves.
He lectures at Georgetown and Stanford, where he teaches the popular course, Valley Meets Mission. He's also the co-author of the new book, The Mission Generation.

**Frances Frey** (4:26)
I am so excited for people to learn about this book.

**Anne Morris** (4:29)
Yes, and join the movement that is the Mission Generation. Let's bring them in.
Arun Gupta, welcome to Fixable.

**Arun Gupta** (4:47)
Anne, thank you for having me.

**Anne Morris** (4:48)
We're delighted you're here. We have been talking to a whole bunch of high-profile people for a series about purpose at work. And Arun, we wanted to end with you because we think you're saying something really big and important about purpose. And I'm going to have the audacity to try to summarize it. And then you tell me how close we are to getting it right. So what I think I hear you saying is that purpose is the answer to all of our fears and anxiety, which are at an all-time high as a species right now.