The Center Will Unlock New Insights and a Deeper Understanding of the Intersection of Well-being, Purpose, and Performance for Industry Leaders
SAN FRANCISCO — October 4, 2022 - Today BetterUp®, the human transformation company, announced that renowned psychologist Adam Grant, a bestselling author and current BetterUp Science Board member, is expanding his role with the company to serve as Chairman of BetterUp’s newly launched Center for Purpose and Performance. With an innovative research and convening agenda, Grant will drive the Center’s mission of partnering with industry leaders to deepen understanding of the intersections of well-being, purpose, and performance.
For almost a decade, BetterUp has led research to quantify the importance of purpose at work, and to identify clear, actionable insights to help organizational leaders drive meaning, performance, and business results. The science reveals that performance and well-being cannot thrive without purpose, yet there is still a major disconnect around developing purpose within workplace cultures. Under Grant’s direction, the new Center for Purpose and Performance will facilitate bold conversations with leading practitioners, fund innovative, interdisciplinary research, and use science to develop the tools and practices that improve the quality of life and work.
“BetterUp’s mission to help people live with greater clarity, purpose, and passion is closely aligned with my life’s work to enrich our understanding of motivation and meaning,” Grant said. “In the time I’ve spent as part of BetterUp’s Science Board, I’ve been impressed by the team’s commitment to rigor and relevance. I’m thrilled to take on this new role working with top academics and practitioners to unearth new evidence that leaders can apply to their workforces to foster environments for personal growth.”
The Center will produce exclusive industry events and unite a diverse community of prominent CEOs and CHROs, business luminaries, top academics, practitioners, and impactful BetterUp coaches around groundbreaking research and innovative practices for bringing purpose and performance into the workplace. Grant will oversee the awarding of a grant for scientists to answer the most pressing and important questions around the connection between purpose and human flourishing in personal and professional life. This body of work will create a deeper understanding of how people can live more meaningful lives, do more fulfilling work, and create thriving organizations. The findings will also be applied to BetterUp’s innovative coaching interventions and technology to enact transformation and lasting behavior change. Grant’s leadership will bring expertise, energy, and convening power across business and academia to one of the most pressing challenges for people in the workforce: unlocking human potential to improve quality of life.
"At BetterUp, our data from millions of coaching sessions have validated the fundamental belief that performance and well-being are one interconnected journey. And, a strong sense of purpose at work is key to driving both these outcomes,” said BetterUp CEO and Co-Founder Alexi Robichaux. “Today we announce a major investment in this incredibly important challenge, under the leadership of the peerless Adam Grant. With this partnership, we will create a center of excellence that will marshal the greatest minds across industry, business, and academia to study, uncover, and develop interventions and a deeper understanding of how purpose fuels peak performance. We could not imagine a more ideal Chair for this critical initiative than Adam."
The Center is the latest iteration in BetterUp’s research-driven efforts. In 2018, BetterUp Labs was established to help both organizations and employees uncover the scientific findings they need to drive human transformation. Recently, groundbreaking research from BetterUp Labs was published in the leading peer-reviewed global digital health journal, Journal of Medical Internet Research, showcasing the effectiveness of coaching as an intervention for building well-being and mental fitness. All of the findings have been integrated in BetterUp’s coaching methodologies that help develop the mindsets, skill-sets and behaviors for whole person growth and professional fulfillment.
Grant has dedicated his career to helping others succeed. As a BetterUp Science Board member and advisor on BetterUp’s Whole Person Model, he’s helped inform and drive cutting-edge research that’s been applied to new BetterUp coaching methodologies, assessments and techniques. He pioneered groundbreaking research on generosity, increasing performance and reducing burnout, championing new ideas and organizational change.
BetterUp was built by a team of world-leading researchers and PhDs across the fields of positive psychology and human performance, alongside best-in-class developers and data scientists. BetterUp works with the world’s largest companies to deploy hyper-personalized solutions that support their workforces. BetterUp products include 1:1, group, and on-demand coaching on topics that span diversity and inclusion, parenting, nutrition, sleep, and more. BetterUp combines the industry’s most innovative behavioral science, AI technology, and human interaction for people and organizations to thrive.
More information on this announcement and the BetterUp Center for Purpose and Performance can be found at BetterUp.com/center-purpose-performance.
About BetterUp
Founded in 2013, BetterUp® is a human transformation company that drives peak performance in individuals and organizations, through unparalleled access to coaching, content, community, and cutting-edge AI technology. BetterUp is the inventor of virtual coaching and the largest mental health and coaching startup in the world, with the world’s largest network of over 3,000 Coaches offering support in 64 languages across over 70 countries. Trusted by more than 600 organizations including NASA, Google, Snap Inc., Chipotle, Salesforce, Hilton, Warner Media and other leading Fortune 1,000 companies, BetterUp delivers on three key impact areas – Mental Fitness, career & leadership development, and social connection – inspiring people everywhere to live with greater clarity, purpose, and passion. Investors include Wellington Management, ICONIQ Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Threshold Ventures, PLUS Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Mubadala Investment Company, Morningside Group, SV Angel, Freestyle Capital, Crosslink Capital, and Tenaya Capital. BetterUp’s Science Board is composed of leading researchers in the fields of positive psychology and human performance including Martin Seligman, Adam Grant, Shawn Achor, and Quinetta Roberson. BetterUp has been recognized in the Inc. 5000, Fortune’s Great Places to Work, and People Magazine’s Companies that Care. To learn more, visit www.betterup.com.
About BetterUp Labs
Launched in 2018, BetterUp Labs is a $20 million investment and a first-of-its-kind behavioral research lab bringing together business, academia, and science. With a team of more than 40 PhDs, embedded across the BetterUp organization, Labs brings expertise and innovative research techniques in organizational psychology, behavioral neuroscience and social psychology. The Labs team is dedicated to conducting validated and peer-reviewed studies, and to understanding lasting behavior change from the world’s largest real-time dataset on coaching and personal and professional growth. BetterUp Labs has published cutting-edge research on the topics of Meaning and Purpose, Belonging, Connection, and Future Minded Leadership (prospection), and how they relate to human transformation. To learn more, visit www.betterup.com/research.
About Adam Grant:
As an organizational psychologist, Adam Grant rethinks how people lead, work and live. He has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years, and his pioneering research has inspired people to question assumptions about motivation, generosity and creativity. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five books that have sold millions of copies, most recently Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. His TED talks have more than 30 million views, his podcast WorkLife has topped the charts, and his viral op-ed on languishing was the most-saved article of 2021. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and one of Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and has received scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation. Adam received his BA from Harvard University and his PhD from the University of Michigan, and he is a former magician and junior Olympic springboard diver.
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