#497 Profit, Purpose and Leadership: Rethinking Success in Modern Business
Profit, Purpose and Leadership: Rethinking Success in Modern Business
A Leadership Conversation with Harland Merriam and Niels Brabandt
Success has long been defined in economic terms. Higher revenue, greater market share and personal wealth often serve as the
benchmarks of achievement in business. Yet an increasing number of executives quietly admit that professional success alone does
not always deliver the sense of fulfilment they expected. Promotions are achieved, companies grow and financial targets are met,
yet many leaders still find themselves asking a simple question: Is this all there is?
In a recent interview on The Leadership Podcast, leadership expert Niels Brabandt spoke with author and leadership thinker
Harland Merriam about this tension between profit and purpose. Drawing on insights from his book Profit Seeks Purpose, Harland
Merriam explores how business leaders can pursue financial success without sacrificing meaning, integrity and long term
personal fulfilment.
The conversation between Harland Merriam and Niels Brabandt reflects a broader debate within modern leadership. Organisations
are under constant pressure to deliver financial performance, yet individuals increasingly seek purpose in their work.
Reconciling these two realities is becoming one of the defining leadership challenges of the twenty first century.
Why Profit Alone Is Not Enough
Harland Merriam emphasises that profit itself is not the problem. Financial success enables stability, security and opportunity.
Profit provides the means to support families, invest in innovation and build organisations that contribute to society.
However, when profit becomes the sole objective, leaders often discover that financial success provides a surprisingly fragile
foundation for a meaningful life.
In the interview with Niels Brabandt, Merriam compares profit to fuel. Fuel is essential for a journey, but it is not the
destination. When individuals structure their entire professional identity around financial achievement, they may reach their
goal only to discover a sense of emptiness once it has been achieved.
This experience is more common than many executives publicly admit. Leaders frequently invest years pursuing a promotion, a
company valuation milestone or a specific level of income. Yet once the goal is achieved, the emotional reward often proves
short lived.
The Power of Story in Leadership Reflection
Rather than presenting a traditional management manual, Harland Merriam approaches this challenge through storytelling.
His book Profit Seeks Purpose is written as a modern business fable. The central character, an entrepreneur named Caleb,
achieves the greatest success of his career only to wake up the next day questioning the meaning of his accomplishments.
The narrative structure is deliberate. As Merriam explains in his discussion with Niels Brabandt, stories allow readers to
recognise themselves in the experiences of others. Instead of prescribing a rigid formula for success, the story holds up a
mirror that encourages reflection.
This approach reflects a broader leadership principle. The most profound leadership insights rarely emerge from checklists
or rigid frameworks. They often arise from reflection, dialogue and the willingness to question deeply held assumptions.
The Role of Mastermind Communities
A central theme in the conversation between Harland Merriam and Niels Brabandt is the importance of community in leadership
development. Merriam is a strong advocate of mastermind groups, small communities of peers who challenge, support and
encourage each other.
Mastermind groups allow leaders to confront difficult questions in an environment of trust. Members share experiences,
challenge assumptions and provide perspectives that individuals rarely gain when working in isolation.
For Merriam, this collaborative reflection represents a powerful tool for discovering purpose. Leaders often attempt to
solve complex personal and professional questions alone. Yet genuine clarity frequently emerges through dialogue with
trusted peers.
The concept has deep historical roots. From military leadership development to entrepreneurial networks, peer groups have
long served as environments where individuals test ideas and confront uncomfortable truths.
Purpose in a Changing Economic Landscape
The conversation between Harland Merriam and Niels Brabandt also touches on a generational dimension of purpose. Many
young professionals today question whether traditional career paths will provide stability or meaning. Rising living
costs, uncertain economic conditions and rapid technological change have made long term planning more complex than in
previous decades.
Students and early career professionals often express anxiety about their ability to build stable lives. At the same
time, experienced executives who achieved financial success sometimes discover that material achievement alone does
not answer deeper questions about purpose.
These two perspectives meet at a common point. Both groups are searching for meaning beyond traditional definitions
of success.
Leadership That Integrates Profit and Purpose
The insights shared by Harland Merriam in his conversation with Niels Brabandt suggest that the most effective leaders
learn to integrate financial success with a broader sense of purpose.
Some leaders achieve this by transforming the organisations they already lead. Others decide to pursue new ventures
or redefine their professional path. In many cases the transformation does not require abandoning financial success
but reframing it within a larger mission.
Purpose driven leadership does not reject profit. Instead it recognises profit as a tool rather than a destination.
For executives navigating complex professional environments, this distinction can be transformative. When financial
performance becomes aligned with personal values and meaningful impact, leadership gains depth and resilience.
The conversation between Harland Merriam and Niels Brabandt ultimately reminds business leaders that the pursuit of
success should not come at the cost of personal integrity or purpose. In a world increasingly defined by economic
metrics, the ability to connect profit with meaning may become one of the most important leadership skills of all.
Niels Brabandt
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More on this topic in this week's videocast and podcast with Niels Brabandt: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For the videocast’s and podcast’s transcript, read below this article.
Is excellent leadership important to you?
Let's have a chat: NB@NB-Networks.com
Contact: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn
Website: www.NB-Networks.biz
Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, Moderator.
Podcast and Videocast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
You want to be successful, most likely, because most people want to be successful. The question is: is success everything, or is there more than that? And why actually do we think we want to be successful? We have an expert on the matter with us here today. Hello and welcome, Harland Marriam.
Harland Merriam
Glad to be here, and I look forward to talking about this because I have experienced a lot of people that success just didn't satisfy like they thought.
Niels Brabandt
Exactly. Maybe some people can relate to the situation. You really want to have this salary raise, this promotion, this graduation, whatever it is, and when you achieve it, you wonder, "Hmm, I thought it's going to feel a bit better than this here." And we have someone. Harland, you wrote this book, *Profit Seeks Purpose*. So first, of course, it means it says how to make money without losing your soul. My question, of course, is: what was your—because writing a book is a lot of effort—what was your core motivation to write the book?
Harland Merriam
A mastermind that I've been in for a good while. I facilitated very successful entrepreneurs, had spent a half day with them. I'm riding back on a commuter train and said, "Other people need to be able to experience what we're experiencing." And I can't do that as one person, but a book might be able to help get that out.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. So when people buy this book, what—because some people, of course, wonder, "Well, making money actually is not irrelevant because in today's world, without money, things become pretty dire pretty quickly." And usually, money and success, or whatever is defined as success, are usually sort of intertwined. So is success suddenly bad, or what is this book—what is this book about?
Harland Merriam
Success is not bad. Profit is not bad. Profit's a good tool for getting a roof over our heads, food for our family, but it's really a poor foundation for building a life, just chasing money. I think—who was it that said that a car isn't about fuel? Fuel's just the fuel for getting somewhere. I think that was Simon Sinek that spoke about it in that way. Yes.
Niels Brabandt
Absolutely. How are you going to approach this topic in your book? Because there are many ways how to approach this. What is your take on it?
Harland Merriam
My take is not to lay out a one, two, three, "Here's how to do it." My take is to tell a story. So I've developed this kind of modern business fable of a guy named Caleb who's very successful, comes up against his biggest success ever, and wakes up the next morning and says, "Now what?" He's kind of dry, empty, flat. And he's surprised by that after working toward this goal for so long.
Niels Brabandt
When people now say, "I probably can relate to this," and they say, "I probably reached that point where I thought this is going to be it," and then you feel it's not, the main issue then is you don't know what is the point then. So will your book help me to find that point?
Harland Merriam
The book holds up a mirror in the story, a place where you can watch somebody, maybe see yourself. One of the key things in the book is Caleb, the character in the book, had been trying to do it all himself. And he gets an invitation to join a group of peers in what we call a mastermind. And their questions, they're challenging him, they're encouraging him, really stretches him to discover what that purpose is on his own. And I think everybody's going to have to do that on their own too. It's really helpful to have some people to help you along the way.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. Would you say that today anyone should be in a mastermind group today?
Harland Merriam
I absolutely would. I am a pastor by training, an army chaplain by experience, but I guess I'm an evangelist for masterminds. For about the past 20 years, I learned it the first time in the military.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, excellent. I mean, I'm in two different masterminds for a long, long time. The main issue always is people say, "How do I find the right people for the mastermind?" Because, of course, I don't know if you had that experience, but I also had been in masterminds where I decided in one case after two years, in one case after one year, where I said, "This is not the one I want to be part of."
Harland Merriam
Yeah, not every mastermind is great. It's a challenge to get the right people in the room. A good facilitator is helpful to use the time well and to keep it focused. And yeah, some masterminds have been going on for 8, 10, 12, 15 years, the same people in the room, it fit, and others just don't work. You're right about them.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. So how do I find the right people then?
Harland Merriam
Listen, cast a vision for it. I would say for a lot of people, it's form your own. The book gives some ideas about what might happen in a mastermind. That's just the approach I have. There are some masterminds that are gurus bringing in experts, and you just sit and listen. The kind of mastermind I really think has the power is when it appears working together, being honest, challenging each other, encouraging each other, peers.
Niels Brabandt
Absolutely.
Harland Merriam
6, 8, 10, 12, maybe.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, excellent. So what would you say to people who say, "Look, I probably reached that point with a promotion, and I realized, is that all?" And it's probably not. And then they wonder, "Can I just move on?" And they say, "Look, I have commitments. I have a mortgage to pay. I have a rent to pay. I have a car, which is fully fine." They can't just say, "I walk off and say, 'Good luck from here. I have a family to feed.'" So what should these people say when they say, "I might have taken a road or made a decision where I now figure out when I reach the point where I want to be, I suddenly realize this was not the right choice? What to do then?"
Harland Merriam
Yeah, sometimes it is cutting the rope and getting on to somewhere else. Sometimes it's like Caleb in this story. And many people that I know, and that is transforming where you are, seeing that possibility and gathering some other people with you and transforming where you are, that's probably the easier way. Maybe the harder way, I don't know. Sometimes we ought to get out of the place as soon as we can. You're right about that.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. So would you say that your book is rather a guideline, a modern business fable rather than—because some people might feel, "Okay, this book is going to tell me this is all wrong, this is all right, and that's the way how to do it."
Harland Merriam
This will not tell you this is all wrong or this is all right. It will, as I said earlier, hold up a mirror. Several people have been reviewing the book who said, "I've asked myself questions after reading your book that I need to ask, and I need to find those answers and find the people that can help me get them." But it's not a one, two, three business how-to book at all.
Niels Brabandt
So it's not the magic XYZ steps to another XYZ.
Harland Merriam
No, it's a story. And the reason it's a story is I think that's the most powerful way to get the message across and for it to be received.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. Because we all remember stories best, as we all know. When people now say, "Okay, this is probably all about impact, integrity, finding my goal, my faith, my purpose," and when some people say, "Well, I am on the way to reach this goal, but on the way already, I just realized it's probably not the right one, but I don't have any orientation. I just don't know what to do else." So what would you tell these people to do when they say, "I'm a bit maybe lost or afraid of having no directions in life"?
Harland Merriam
And I've met a lot of people like that over the years.
Niels Brabandt
And I think the number's on the rise. The number for sure is on the rise. Because let's face it, just to give you one background, and that's also probably a generational thing, when I grew up, life was not always easy. However, you knew when you work really, really hard, every day will be a bit better than the day before.
Niels Brabandt
Today, some young people say, "Look, I can work as hard as I want. The rent is going up quicker than I can ever work. Every price goes up quicker. Mortgage is through the roof. Never will be able to afford that. Everything feels suddenly very pointless. So why should I find a direction when, as soon as I find it, everything says, 'Not you again'?"
Harland Merriam
Yeah, I see that. I'm a university chaplain right now here in Florida. And I talk with 18, 19, 20-year-olds working their way up to graduating and going out into the real world. And they deal with that as well. Am I going to be able to make it out there? It's hard.
Harland Merriam
I remember working in North Carolina with a bunch of IBMers. And that was both I've been moved, but IBM made a commitment to their employees back in those days. This is years ago. They will have a job for you no matter what. That's not the case anymore.
Niels Brabandt
Yeah, absolutely. So when all people say, "Hmm, I think Harland holds really good points of view here," maybe they want you as a coach or a trainer or maybe to speak at their conferences. My last question for this interview, how can they get in touch?
Harland Merriam
Well, one is that the book would be a good way to get to know me better because it's, in many ways, a story about me and people I've known through the years. It's available on Amazon these days. And it's called *Profit Seeks Purpose*. And in the back of the book are several ways to get in touch with me. But that probably is what I would suggest right now is get to know me better through the book, pretty easy to do, and see if that resonates with you, and then find the way in there to get back with me.
Harland Merriam
Actually, there's a profitseekspurpose.com website as well that would be a way to get in touch.
Niels Brabandt
Perfect. So buy the book, then you get to know Harland better. And when you think it's a fit, then get in touch. I think these are the perfect final words: profit, seeks purpose, how to make money without losing your soul. Harland Marriam, thank you very much for your time.
Harland Merriam
Thank you very much as well. All the best to everybody listening.
Niels Brabandt
Thank you.