Paul Zak: Neuropurpose - Unlocking The Science Of Trust, Generosity and Belonging

Welcome to another episode of the DNA Of Purpose Podcast.
Here’s a question for today – what if purpose has nothing to do with an individual's pursuit for meaning, but instead is a quality that is symbiotic with our innate desire to belong to a tribe? What if the reason the idea of purpose can be tricky to conceptualise is because we don't understand what factors enable purpose to thrive. Drivers such as trust, connection and belonging.
To frame this up we live in a world where we have been exposed to an invisible narrative of seek out success over significance, pursue the promotion over the purpose, and stay on that rat wheel chasing those golden carrots, because if you do your reward at the end is a ‘meaningful life’. Sadly for many people this equation leads to burn out rather than brilliance.
Within that race we often miss the moment by moment meaning makers. The acts of kindness and connection. The moments where we can empower co creation, and invite conversation that enable us to view the world through a different lens.
What if we chose again and within that, and started to think about purpose through a new lens? Infact, what if the possibilities for a more purposeful life were not about ego, and instead completely reliant on the unique contribution we make within our tribes.
And in leading on from those questions: What can science tell us about how our brain responds to attributes such as trust, belonging and our desire to give back to others? Could it be that ‘purpose’ itself is evolutionary? Today's good conversation is a good one and I can't wait to dive in.
Today's guest is Paul Zak. Paul is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is also the founder of Immersion Neuroscience. For more than two decades his research has taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. All this in a quest to understand the neuroscience of humans of what makes humans tick.
Paul has been obsessed with human connection for as long as he can remember. His focus on understanding connection led to his ground-breaking research on oxytocin. And all of this work led to the best title ever: nope, it is not PhD or keynote speaker, it is Dr. Love.
His latest book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies, uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to accelerate business outcomes. His 2012 book, The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, recounted his unlikely discovery of the exact neurochemical that drives trust, love, and human morality.
On that note, get ready to dive into the wonder and the magic of what I am going to call Neuro Purpose...with the one and only Paul Zak.

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