Season 4 Kickoff: Magic Moments, Purpose, and the Founder Journey
Release Date: 10/02/2025
Belief, Identity, and the Quiet Foundations of Ultimate Performance
Connecting With Purpose
As we step into a new year, most leaders are refining goals, strategies, and growth plans. But beneath all of that sits something far more fundamental — and far less discussed. Belief. and Identity. In this solo episode, Mark Griffin explores the quiet foundations of Ultimate Performance and why so many founders and senior leaders feel growing pressure even when the business is succeeding. Drawing from his work with growth-stage founders, CEOs, and leadership teams, Mark unpacks: —Why belief is not optimism or motivation, but a decision grounded in purpose —How outdated leadership...
info_outline
When Growth Gets Hard: Resilience and Purpose in the Founder Journey with Adrian Bray
Connecting With Purpose
In this episode, Mark Griffin is joined by Adrian Bray, USA CEO of Stellar Consulting, for a deeply honest conversation about growth, resilience, and what founders are rarely prepared for when success accelerates faster than infrastructure. Adrian shares three defining magic moments that shaped his leadership journey. From laying the foundation of his career inside a global organization, to becoming a parent while building a business at the same time, to a profound resilience moment where trust was broken, security was lost, and everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up. It is a story...
info_outline
The Ultimate Performance Approach with Mark Griffin
Connecting With Purpose
In this episode, we explore how leaders can move from pressure to clarity to sustainable, scalable impact. Many founders hit what I call the Performance Precipice—when pressure outpaces clarity, effort drains energy, and success no longer feels fulfilling. I break down the Ultimate Performance System, a human operating framework that helps leaders shift from Empty Achiever to Purpose-Anchored Performer, and build teams capable of scaling without breaking. If you’re preparing for a big 2026, navigating growth strain, or ready to shift from effort → impact, this episode is for...
info_outline
Leading With Purpose in a Changing World with Munir Haddad
Connecting With Purpose
Welcome back to Season 4 of Connecting with Purpose, where we put the founder first and explore the human behind the business. In this episode, Mark Griffin sits down with Munir Haddad, Founder and CEO of Kiosk, for a grounded and energizing conversation about resilience, people first leadership and what it really means to grow with purpose. Munir shares three defining magic moments from his life. Coming off the bench to score a golden goal in high school, the humbling experience of becoming a parent and watching his own parents sacrifice for opportunity, and the gut check decision to keep his...
info_outline
Sustaining Performance Without Burning Out — The Ultimate Performance Approach
Connecting With Purpose
Episode Overview In this solo episode, Mark explores one of the most important — and misunderstood — challenges facing founders, CEOs, and high-performance leaders today: How do you sustain elite performance without burning out… and build teams and cultures that do the same? Drawing from PurposeFused’s Ultimate Performance methodology, elite sport principles, and real patterns from growth-stage companies, Mark breaks down the three layers of sustainable performance: The Leader’s Performance Engine — why you can’t outperform an empty tank Anti-Fragile Teams — moving beyond...
info_outline
Winning Under Pressure, Scaling Smart, and Building a Team that Runs Fast with Timothy Furey
Connecting With Purpose
If you’ve ever wondered how elite competitiveness transfers from the rugby pitch to the trading floor, this one’s for you. Founder and CEO Timothy Furey of Tradeview Markets joins host Mark Griffin for a candid, founder-first conversation about channeling pressure into performance, building truly scalable businesses, and leading a team that loves to win. Tim traces his nearly 30-year journey from Merrill Lynch commodity broker to floor trader to launching one of the most recognized online brokerages. Along the way, he shares raw lessons on work ethic, momentum, and why “hungry...
info_outline
Money Mindset: Fuel for Impact
Connecting With Purpose
In this solo episode of Connecting with Purpose, Mark Griffin opens up about a personal shift that changed the way he leads, lives, and creates impact — reframing money not as a finish line, but as essential fuel for purpose. For years, Mark viewed money as a byproduct of meaningful work. Impact first. Everything else would follow. But the truth? Some of his most stressful seasons came from not having enough of it. This episode explores how shifting from money-agnostic to money-aligned has transformed his clarity, energy, and long-term sustainability. Through the PurposeFused Me–We–World...
info_outline
From Setback to Scale-Up: Resilience, Leadership, and Outsourcing with Brad Stevens
Connecting With Purpose
In this episode, host Mark Griffin sits down with Brad Stevens, Founder/CEO of Outsource Access and Brad Stevens Training, for a powerful founder-first conversation on resilience, disciplined leadership, and scaling with offshore talent and software excellence. A lifetime entrepreneur, Brad has built multiple companies across industries, scaled Outsource Access to 450+ employees in the Philippines, and advised businesses in more than 75 industries. He’s also a global speaker, trainer, and long-time leader in EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization) and YPO, bringing deep experience in...
info_outline
How to Scale Without Losing Alignment (or Yourself)
Connecting With Purpose
How do you scale your business without losing alignment? As your company grows, clarity often drifts. More people, more meetings, more complexity—yet alignment and focus don’t automatically scale with size. In this episode of Connecting with Purpose, Mark Griffin explores one of the biggest challenges facing founders and leadership teams of growth-stage businesses: how to scale without losing alignment. Mark breaks down four core growth traps: —Alignment Drift —Fuzzy Vision —Too Many Priorities —The Founder Bottleneck Learn how to overcome these challenges by building clarity and...
info_outline
Fight Less, Win More: Leadership, Strategy, and Negotiation with Jonathan Smith
Connecting With Purpose
In this episode, host Mark Griffin sits down with Jonathan Smith, author, negotiation instructor with the Black Swan Group, and Expert EOS Implementer®, for a powerful founder-first conversation on strategy, negotiation, and leadership at the intersection of purpose and performance. Jonathan has spent his career helping high-achieving founders and CEOs navigate the growth curve without losing themselves in the process. As one of the top EOS Implementers in the world, he’s worked with over 150 companies in more than 1,500 sessions, helping leadership teams sharpen strategy, strengthen...
info_outlineWelcome to Season 4 of Connecting with Purpose! 🎙️
This season, we’re putting founders first—exploring the human stories behind the businesses, from their magic moments and entrepreneurial roller coasters to the possibilities ahead. In this solo kickoff episode, host Mark Griffin sets the stage by answering the same questions he usually asks founders:
- Magic Moments – the deeply personal story of his son’s birth and how it reshaped his perspective on pressure and presence.
- Entrepreneurial Spark – how rugby, banking, and purpose combined to inspire the founding of Play Rugby USA.
- Purpose – breaking down passion + impact + application, and sharing his own purpose statement.
- Possibilities Ahead – supporting founder-led businesses and leadership teams to unlock growth and impact.
- Bridging the Gap – the challenge of making authentic human connections in a noisy world.
- Playing Advantage – a call to action: why every leader should create their own One Page Purpose. 💡
Mark also shares his own One Page Purpose and invites listeners to connect directly if they’d like to explore theirs. 👉
Tune in for a powerful kickoff to Season 4, and join us weekly for founder conversations and short, sharp solo episodes designed to help leaders live and lead with purpose.