Oct 5, 2026 · 19 min · 9 segments
What gives work meaning beyond a paycheck? In this episode of The Ownership Effect, Jim Bonham sits down with Kathy Varol, former Head of Global Purpose Strategy at Adidas, to explore how purpose can…
Jim BonhamHostKathy VarolGuest
Well, it's sort of fascinating because a lot of us who have followed business in Washington for decades, about four or five years ago, there was a real break from what we would call the Morton Friedman School of Business Economics, which was rooted in the absolute purpose of a business is to maximize shareholder value.
And in recent years, companies have started coming around to, you know what, that may not be the highest purpose or the highest value for a business.
But there are other societal values and societal benefits that business needs to serve as well.
And I think those of us in the ESOP community were like, hey, well, welcome to the show.
Could you maybe explore a little bit for us the difference between purpose and culture and how they might interweave?
It's not a side corporate social responsibility effort, but it's integrated into the business model, the core of what they do, which means it influences how the company is deciding to innovate, how it's working with consumers or partners.
It actually influences the direction of the company and the choices they're making.
And so you see these massive umbrellas of a purpose, which then influence how the company evolves.
Well, it's sort of fascinating because a lot of us who have followed business in Washington for decades, about four or five years ago, there was a real break from what we would call the Morton Friedman School of Business Economics, which was rooted in the absolute purpose of a business is to maximize shareholder value.
And in recent years, companies have started coming around to, you know what, that may not be the highest purpose or the highest value for a business.
But there are other societal values and societal benefits that business needs to serve as well.
And I think those of us in the ESOP community were like, hey, well, welcome to the show.
Could you maybe explore a little bit for us the difference between purpose and culture and how they might interweave?
It's not a side corporate social responsibility effort, but it's integrated into the business model, the core of what they do, which means it influences how the company is deciding to innovate, how it's working with consumers or partners.
It actually influences the direction of the company and the choices they're making.
And so you see these massive umbrellas of a purpose, which then influence how the company evolves.
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