Welcome to another episode of The Decoding Purpose Podcast. This is the Turning Point, a new series of Decoding Purpose dedicated to helping you and your business to navigate this pandemic with purpose.

A few weeks ago, an email landed in my inbox with a quick note insisting that I track down and interview today's guest. I followed the lead and discovered an incredible thinker and thought leader by the name of David Burkus, and the title of his new book is called ‘Pick A Fight: How Great Teams Find A Purpose Worth Rallying Around’. Now, this is a book that would have jumped off the shelf at me in any context given my obsession for Decoding Purpose, but this book was a real stand out. It offered a new perspective, unlocked personal motivations, and looked at what it takes to form a passionate army around a world-changing mission.

And let's face it, the timing of this book couldn't be better. After all, we are in a war. We have through no fault of our own had to pick a fight against a virus where there is no human enemy, and where the only way forward is together. See this is the first time where we are not fighting over race, religion, political agendas or land. We are fighting for health, for freedom, for our right to exist and engage in human tribes - and for the first time ever we are fighting with one dream united. To stop the virus. This human army is real, and human purpose - our desire to stay alive and well - is at the forefront of this mission.

So who is David Burkus? David is one of the world’s leading business thinkers. His ideas and bestselling books are changing how companies approach innovation, collaboration, and productivity. He is also a skilled researcher and inspiring communicator, an award-winning author and his TED Talk has been viewed over 2 million times. David's writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, Fast Company, and more.

David believes that from battlefields to boardrooms and everywhere in between leaders who frame their mission as a fight to be won against a threat that must be removed, have been able to bring together even the most divided teams and push them to the highest levels of performance. Let's hope this same approach is precisely what drives us to get through this trying time and to come out victorious in this age of corona. An era where our ability to fight with a purpose is exactly what will enable us to live through one of the most challenging periods of time in this century.