You might traditionally describe the two of us as competitors. We are both well established, recognised and respected authors, speakers and consultants on the niche but vitally important subject of purpose-driven leadership. In 2023, we met at an event which led to a conversation. This conversation sparked a question - what might collaboration look like for us? This in turn led to some deep discussions. We agreed that if we were to collaborate and combine our expertise, we needed to raise the stakes and set our ambitions higher - not just to help individual clients, but to help build the movement of purpose-driven leadership.

We recognised that the key to doing this went beyond our existing work - offering pathways and solutions to clients as they navigate their paths to purpose. Whilst this work is important and still absolutely valid, we have set our collaborative sights on something else - supporting those individuals within organisations who are doing their best to bring their purpose and sustainability agenda to life, centre stage, as the beating heart of their organisations; not just a siloed effort.

These courageous individuals are what we describe as "Purpose Champions", the true purpose-driven leaders of our generation. Our vision of collaboration is clear: to combine our knowledge and skills to support these leaders to build transformation within their organisations and more widely, through business and society.

You can learn more about our individual backgrounds below.

Carolyn Butler-Madden

Author, speaker and Chief Purpose Activist at Purpose Consultancy, The Cause Effect, Carolyn helps leaders unlock the full potential of their organisation, by embedding meaningful purpose into their business and brand. Her mission is to make social purpose a vital part of business.

Carolyn's book “For Love & Money” was awarded best Social Responsibility book in the 2022 Australian Business Book of the Year Awards. She also wrote Amazon bestselling book, Path-To-Purpose, hosts the For Love & Money Podcast and has contributed numerous articles to media organisations including Forbes Australia and CEO World Magazine. Her career includes 30 years in marketing, including 18 years as an agency owner working for corporate brands.

Connect with Carolyn on Linkedin

Phil Preston

Phil is the founder of WhyThisNow and a purpose strategist who helps leaders, teams and organisations create a legacy they’re proud of and that others seek to follow.

After leading high-performance teams in the investment management industry, he was invited to Boston to spend time with Harvard Business School leaders in the business purpose field and has since pioneered work in this area, authoring Connecting Profit with Purpose, several case studies and being quoted in the AFR report on purpose in business.

Phil’s a keynote speaker and professional facilitator with more than 15-years experience working with clients across all sectors.

Connect with Phil on Linkedin