What If Your True North Is Making Money?

A question I’ve been asked in multiple workshops by top-level executives is this:

“Andy, what if our True North is… making money? Lots of it?”

It’s a fair question.

Businesses need money to stay in business. I run a business — and I’ll be the first to say: making money is good. But when I dig deeper into this question, the same story tends to unfold:

• A childhood shaped by scarcity

• Years of instability

• Maybe a family business that collapsed

• A parent working three jobs just to keep the lights on

These leaders weren’t greedy. They were survivors. They had grit in their bones. They had made a vow: “I will never go back.”

But beneath that vow was often an identity shaped more by fear and trauma than by secure, purpose-driven self-knowledge.

The Danger of an Extrinsic “True North”

When your "why" is driven purely by external motivators — like money — here’s what happens:

• You get a dopamine spike when you win

• Then it fades

• So you chase the next win… harder, faster

• Eventually, the cycle erodes your relationships, health, integrity, and joy

The bigger the number gets, the smaller the satisfaction feels.
Wealth without alignment is just another form of poverty.

The Shift That Changes Everything

When we guided these leaders through the True North Radical Resilience (TNRR) framework, they realized something powerful:

They didn’t have to choose between making a lot of money and living a deeply meaningful life.

They could have both.

• Wealth that’s sustainable

• Success that’s fulfilling

• Impact that builds legacy

Because here’s the truth:

Radical Resilience doesn’t just protect your profit — it protects the people who make profit possible.

Why Virtuousness Wins — and Why You Can’t Fake It

Dr. Kim Cameron from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business has studied what he calls “virtuousness” — and defined it this way:

• It always produces a positive benefit for others

• It is intrinsically motivated — done because it feels right, not to get something in return

If you help someone to get a sale, a compliment, or a promotion — it’s not truly virtuous. It’s transactional. And people can sense it.

True virtue can't be faked.

And if you try, you won’t just miss out on the benefits — you’ll suffer the consequences authentic virtue could have protected you from.

The Data Is Clear — and It’s Not Even Close

Cameron’s research compared virtuous organizations to non-virtuous ones. The results?

Virtuous organizations consistently and significantly outperformed their competitors, with amplified effects on:

• Productivity

• Innovation

• Profitability

• Adaptability

• Employee retention

And when employees’ personal “True North” aligns with the organization’s “True North,” it also acts as a buffer against:

• Burnout

• Disengagement

• Absenteeism

• Turnover

That’s not just feel-good theory. That’s empirical data.

But What About Non-Virtuous Companies That Succeed?

Yes, some companies have been wildly profitable without any concern for virtue.

But ask yourself:

Was being non-virtuous necessary for their success?
Or could they have done even better — with less collateral damage — had they followed a more virtuous model?

From my experience, the virtuous model doesn’t just work — it works better. With more consistency. More efficiency. More joy.

Why TNRR Is Different

There’s no shortage of leadership training programs.

But most fail because:

• They’re not practical or actionable

• They don’t address the root cause — identity and culture

• They offer bandaids, not transformation

TNRR works at the source code level — helping leaders and cultures become aligned with who they truly are. When that alignment is in place, the resulting behaviors aren’t just learned — they become part of your DNA.

You don’t have to force greatness.
You just have to build it into the blueprint.

The Business Case You Can’t Ignore

If I told you we could help you:

• Amplify every key business metric: productivity, innovation, profitability, retention

• Protect your organization from disengagement, burnout, turnover, scandal

…wouldn’t it be business malpractice not to explore this?

Even if it means recognizing that so-called “soft skills” — when implemented the True North way — are actually your highest-performing profit drivers?

The Bottom Line

TNRR isn’t a workshop.
It’s not a check-the-box HR initiative.

It’s a transformation engine.
For leaders and cultures who want to be:

• Extraordinary

• Sustainable

• Wildly profitable

Without losing their soul in the process.

Because making money is good.
Making it without losing yourself is better.
And making it while elevating everyone around you?

That’s greatness.

(And yes — it’s sustainable.)

Hope you have a True North week ahead,
Dr. Andy Garrett
CEO & Founder – True North Radical Resilience