Narrator: In 2001, a devastating earthquake struck Gujarat, India, leaving a trail of destruction. In Seattle, thousands of miles away, the author Akhtar Badshah watched the news with a heavy heart, having once lived in the region. He and others in the local Indian community quickly mobilized, expecting to raise a modest sum for relief. But something unexpected happened. The response was overwhelming, raising nearly one million dollars. A significant portion of that generosity flowed from a single source: employees of Microsoft, who not only donated but leveraged their company’s matching gift program to double their impact. This event sparked a critical question: What was it about this one company that had cultivated such a profound and scalable culture of giving? The answer, a deep exploration of how corporate culture can systematically inspire individuals to connect profit with purpose, is the central theme of Akhtar Badshah’s book, Purpose Mindset.

Narrator: Microsoft’s philanthropic culture wasn't an accident; it was an intentional design that evolved into what the book calls a "great giving machine." Its origins trace back to the early 1980s when Bill Gates's mother, Mary Gates, a prominent community leader, urged him to establish a United Way campaign for his young company. This initial push was formalized by Bill Neukom, Microsoft’s first general counsel, who established a Community Affairs department and, crucially, a charitable matching program.

This program was different. It wasn't just a passive corporate fund; it was an employee-driven campaign. It fostered a sense of ownership and friendly competition. This spirit is perfectly captured in the legendary story of executives Steve Ballmer and Mike Maples. After a fundraising competition between their divisions, they both agreed to swim across the campus pond, affectionately known as "Lake Bill," as a stunt. Employees gleefully filled the pond with ice, and the two executives, in full office attire, plunged into the freezing water. This wasn't just a silly dare; it was a visible, high-level demonstration that giving was an integral, celebrated part of the company’s DNA. This system, which empowered employees to direct funds to causes they cared about, transformed giving from a corporate mandate into a cultural habit.

Narrator: Microsoft is famous for championing a "growth mindset," the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. However, Purpose Mindset argues that the company’s culture fostered a crucial evolution beyond that: a "purpose mindset." While a growth mindset focuses on improving the self, a purpose mindset extends that drive for improvement outward, to the benefit of the greater good.

This shift is about recognizing that philanthropy is not just about changing others' lives, but also about transforming one's own. Paul Maritz, a former Microsoft executive who later became CEO of VMware, embodied this lesson. When he took the helm at VMware, he was determined to inject the culture of giving he had experienced at Microsoft. He told his new employees a profound truth he had learned: "Philanthropy is not only about contributing to other people’s lives. It is also about transforming your own." This idea—that engaging in service enriches one's own perspective and fulfillment—is the core of the purpose mindset. It reframes giving not as a duty, but as an opportunity for profound personal and collective growth.

Narrator: The true test of a culture’s power is what happens after people leave. The book reveals that the purpose mindset instilled at Microsoft didn't end at the company’s doors. It created a diaspora of alumni who went on to become some of the world's most influential social entrepreneurs.

Consider the story of Trish Millines Dziko. As an African American woman in the tech industry, she experienced firsthand the systemic inequities and lack of diversity. While at Microsoft, she became involved in diversity initiatives, but soon realized that to truly make a difference, she had to change the pipeline itself. Inspired by watching a group of students of color light up with excitement during a visit to the Microsoft campus, she founded the Technology Access Foundation (TAF). TAF started as an after-school program to introduce underserved students to STEM, but it evolved into a full-fledged, tech-focused public school. Dziko’s philosophy was simple and powerful: "You have it; you share it." She took the skills, resources, and mindset from her corporate career and applied them to dismantling the very barriers she had faced, creating a lasting ripple effect of opportunity.

Narrator: As the culture of giving matured, it moved beyond simple check-writing toward a more engaged and strategic form of philanthropy. This required a shift away from what Paul Shoemaker, another Microsoft alumnus and former head of Social Venture Partners (SVP), calls the "arrogance of philanthropy"—the top-down belief that wealthy donors know what’s best for a community.

SVP championed a different model, one where philanthropists invest not only their money but also their time and expertise, working in direct partnership with nonprofits. They were encouraged to get their "shoes dirty" by spending time with the organizations they supported, understanding their challenges, and offering their skills in a way that was helpful, not disruptive. This approach transforms donors into partners and builds stronger, more resilient communities. It’s a move from transactional giving to transformational collaboration, ensuring that solutions are built with, not for, the people they are meant to serve.

Narrator: The book highlights a common journey for many of its subjects: the climb up a "second mountain." The first mountain is the conventional path of career, ambition, and personal success. The second mountain, as author David Brooks describes it, is a life devoted to service, community, and contribution. Many Microsoft alumni, having conquered their first mountain, deliberately chose to climb the second.

Ravi Venkatesan, the former chairman of Microsoft India, is a prime example. After a highly successful corporate career, he felt a deep calling to address India’s systemic challenges in health, education, and employment. Inspired by the idea that a nation’s "citizen elite" has a responsibility to drive progress, he left his corporate life behind. He launched Social Venture Partners in India, co-founded an impact investing fund, and started the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) to create millions of jobs. Venkatesan chose to redirect his formidable talent and network away from building a business and toward solving urgent world problems, embodying the ultimate expression of a purpose-driven life.

Narrator: In its final chapters, the book explores the philosophy of effective altruism—using data and reason to do the most good possible. However, it offers a crucial counterpoint: data alone is not enough. The most profound impact comes from a human-centered approach rooted in empathy.

This is powerfully illustrated by the story of Roberto D'Angelo and Francesca Fedeli. When their infant son, Mario, suffered a perinatal stroke, their world was turned upside down. Navigating a medical system that offered few answers, they refused to see their son as a "problem." Instead, they said, "we started to look at him as a son." This change in perspective was everything. They founded FightTheStroke, a nonprofit to support other families, and Roberto, a Microsoft employee, used the company’s internal hackathons to collaborate with engineers and data scientists. They developed technology to help with rehabilitation and monitor epilepsy, winning Microsoft's global hackathon. Their work wasn't driven by abstract data about disability; it was fueled by love, lived experience, and a deep, human-centered desire to create a better world for their son and others like him.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Purpose Mindset is that a corporate culture, when intentionally designed around service and empowerment, can become one of the world's most powerful engines for social good. It proves that a company's greatest legacy may not be its products, but the purpose it instills in its people—a purpose they carry with them to transform communities long after they’ve left.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge. It asks us to look beyond traditional corporate social responsibility and consider how our own organizations—and our own lives—can become platforms for purpose. It’s not just about giving money; it’s about creating a system where every individual is empowered to find meaning by contributing to a cause larger than themselves. The ultimate question is, how can each of us begin to build our own "pillars of purpose," weaving together our work, our relationships, and our desire for a better world into a single, meaningful life?