An Interview With Chad Silverstein

Articulate an Authentic & Audacious “Why”: Define a purpose that is genuine, deeply connected to the organization’s reason for being, and captures hearts and minds. Then define a set of behaviors that will show your people how to achieve that “why.”

Purpose has become the new currency of success in today’s workplace, and leaders who prioritize mission-driven cultures are standing out in the war for talent. To explore this important topic, we are interviewing Valentina Gissin.

Valentina has been a thought leader in the People space for over a decade, spanning industry and stage. Valentina pivoted from a career as a technology lawyer to manage talent for the world’s largest hedge fund and since then has always taken a first principles, non-traditional approach to People. Valentina went on to lead talent management, employee experience, talent development and several aspects of human resources for Chewy, building the foundations that enabled Chewy to grow by almost 50% during her tenure, and also served as the Chief People Officer of Citizen.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

My path into People leadership was certainly not linear! I actually started out as a technology and security lawyer. Growing up as an immigrant with financial instability, law felt like a secure fallback, though my underlying passion was always screenwriting, which I pursued for several years. Eventually, family responsibilities drew me back, and I was fortunate to be recruited by Bridgewater Associates out of law. My leadership journey truly began there, where I was eventually tasked with shaping and running their most critical talent program, reporting directly to investment leadership, not traditional HR.

That experience was pivotal because it taught me that the People function can, in fact, be a core strategic driver — and not just a support service. We built programs based purely on the business needs, designing from first principles and leveraging cutting-edge predictive analytics. All of this ignited my passion for developing organizations and unlocking human potential to achieve ambitious goals, and this eventually led me to Chief People Officer roles where I could apply these principles more broadly.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began working in leadership, culture building, or purpose-driven organizations?

While I generally believe that culture must be purpose-built for a company’s particular mission and vision, I am coming to believe a few culture elements are core to the performance of any company. Candor is one of these core elements — the ability to build high-trust environments where honesty is part of the company’s DNA. My particular version of candor is very development-centric; to interview potential team members, I often work with them to deeply unpack something from their work history that can highlight a critical trait in their leadership. I’m essentially coaching them, and about a quarter of the time it results in the candidate asking how much they owe me for the therapy session.

Most people, if they’ve gotten this far, love this interview. Every now and then, someone really hates it. And that’s okay. If you have an unusual culture, you have to let it shine through the interview process as much as possible — don’t hide it behind the same vanilla “tell me about a time” interviews that everyone uses. Let it be front and center, so those who will thrive in your culture are attracted and those who would not enjoy your company learn that fact when they should.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. First-Principles Thinking: I rarely accept existing playbooks or “best practices” at face value. My instinct is always to break problems down to their core components and design solutions based on the business context and desired outcome. For example, when revising the core talent program at Bridgewater, we didn’t look externally; we designed everything based on the unique needs of identifying and developing top investment talent, leading to unconventional but effective approaches like the first AI talent management tool I’d ever heard about.
2. Identifying, Attracting, and Developing “20x” Talent: Ambitious business goals require truly exceptional teams. That starts with attracting great people, identifying their raw potential early, and then cultivating it relentlessly. I trust my managers’ judgement, but I also have strong intuitions by now. I keep a close eye on talent across levels; specifically, I’m looking for strong thinking skills, extreme ownership, and a lot of grit. Once identified, I work with high-potential people to develop opportunities for their personalized growth. I’ve found that exceptional talent thrives when given the autonomy to own what others (or even they themselves) might consider too much for them.
3. Strategic Business & Product Mindset for HR: I believe that the People function is fundamentally a business function — one that’s critical to achieving strategic objectives and driving revenue. This means that we don’t initiate HR programs in a vacuum; we start by deeply understanding the business problems to be solved and the desired ROI. A key question I always ask for any proposed project is: “Which KPI will move if we do this?” And if we can’t answer that clearly, we don’t proceed. I also believe that People leaders are essentially product leaders with different customers: from prospective candidates to alums. And just as a product leader obsesses over customer experience, we must focus on our customers’ experience with the “products” of our programs, processes and tools. This means understanding our desired employees’ wants and needs, deciding which ones are critical to deliver on, and making good on those promises. It is equally incumbent on us to deliver delightful experiences. We would never ship a product feature that required customers to wade through a cumbersome 20-page manual. Similarly, HR processes like performance reviews or onboarding flows should be designed thoughtfully and efficiently, respecting employees’ time and cognitive load.

Let’s now jump into the focus of our interview. What does a “purpose-driven culture” mean to you personally, and why do you think it’s critical for attracting top talent?

To me, a “purpose-driven culture” means that the organization’s mission is deeply understood and actively integrated into how it operates, makes its decisions, and treats its people.

When a company has such a clear, compelling purpose — whether it’s transforming healthcare, advancing technology for social good, or solving a major societal challenge — it acts as a powerful magnet for people who resonate with that mission. Exceptional individuals increasingly want to dedicate themselves to something meaningful; they want to understand the impact of their work.

Having a powerful north star allows you to attract people who are intrinsically motivated by the problem you’re solving. This often leads to greater resilience and more discretionary effort, which happens to drive the bottom line.

How did you identify and define the mission or purpose for your organization? Was it inspired by a particular event, challenge, or insight?

The mission typically stems from the founders’ initial vision — the core problem they’re trying to solve. Defining it involves distilling that core motivation into a clear, compelling, and memorable statement that articulates the “why” in a way that captures hearts and minds.

What are the key steps leaders can take to embed purpose into the day-to-day operations and decision-making of their companies?

First, culture is the behavioral operating system of your company — it’s how your people interact with each other. Leaders should use their company’s core purpose to define that culture through values, operating principles, or tenets. That way, the behaviors encoded in your culture will be tied to that purpose, and they will show your talent how to drive your specific mission forward.

Second, however you’ve written down your culture, include it in your company competencies. Many leaders shy away from laddering values by level and/or separating them by function, saying they’re universally applicable. But that’s a naive claim. The behavioral operating system on which your entry-level employees run is very different from your C-suite. And it may be quite different between customer support and engineering, as well.

Third, use those competencies — or, if you don’t have them, your values — in hiring and performance reviews. Ensure that operating by the culture (and therefore, in a purpose-driven manner) is a requirement to join and to thrive.

What role does leadership play in championing and modeling a purpose-driven culture? Can you share an example of how you or another leader helped reinforce your organization’s purpose?

In companies with exceptional performers and high autonomy, great ideas constantly come up that may be lucrative but would distract from the core mission. CEOs must consistently demonstrate that the purpose isn’t to be sacrificed for short-term gain. The best CEOs I’ve worked for cultivate this by knowing how to say “no” well — and often.

How do you handle skepticism or resistance from team members or stakeholders who may not immediately understand the value of focusing on purpose?

The value of focusing on purpose has to be shown, not just told, and it must always come from the top down. People should see consistent action from their leaders that demonstrates how the purpose is real and consequential, both for the business and for individual roles.

Remaining skeptics deserve hard data and examples to show how purpose helps attract better talent, foster innovation, improve decision-making, enhance brand reputation, and drive long-term value. Their concerns are often based on not understanding how to implement something new, so it’s important to bring them into the conversation on how to best integrate the purpose within their own teams.

Ok, let’s talk strategy. Based on your experience, can you share “5 Steps to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent”? If possible, please include examples or stories for each.

1. Articulate an Authentic & Audacious “Why”: Define a purpose that is genuine, deeply connected to the organization’s reason for being, and captures hearts and minds. Then define a set of behaviors that will show your people how to achieve that “why.”

2. Hire for Mission Resonance: Make purpose a key screening criterion. Go beyond skills to assess whether candidates genuinely connect with and are motivated by the “why.” During interviews, for example, explicitly ask candidates what draws them to the company’s specific mission — then listen for authentic passion versus generic answers.

3. Embed Purpose into Operational Cadence: Integrate the purpose into goal-setting (OKRs), strategic planning, decision-making frameworks, and internal communications. When evaluating new product features, consistently ask, “How does this drive the mission forward?”

4. Empower Leaders as Purpose Champions: Equip and expect leaders at all levels to constantly communicate the purpose, connect teamwork back to it, and model purpose-driven decisions. A manager should celebrate a team’s success not just for hitting a metric, but for how hitting that metric advanced the core mission of improving patient outcomes.

5. Measure and Tell Stories of Impact: Track metrics that demonstrate progress toward the purpose, and share compelling stories that highlight how the organization’s work makes a real difference. For example, Garner Health regularly shares with its employees anonymized stories of how identifying a top doctor helped a patient avoid unnecessary procedures or get healthy faster; this connects individual roles to tangible human impact.

Can you share a specific example of how embracing a purpose-driven culture helped your company attract exceptional talent or achieve a significant business goal?

Garner’s explicit, ambitious mission — to transform the healthcare economy — is a primary attractor of top-tier talent. We consistently draw exceptional performers who are deeply motivated by this specific challenge. Many explicitly state they joined Garner, sometimes turning down more lucrative offers elsewhere, because they wanted to apply their skills to a problem with such profound societal impact. The purpose is a huge attractor.

What advice would you give to leaders of smaller companies or startups who want to build a purpose-driven culture but don’t know where to start?

First and foremost, you must be crystal clear on why your company exists, beyond making money. As a founder/leader in a small company, you are the culture, initially. And that means all your actions, decisions, and communications must be aligned with your purpose.

Your first 10–20 hires will cement the purpose-driven culture you aim for. At this stage, over-index on values and purpose-alignment alongside big talents; one misaligned hire can have an outsized negative impact.

Above all, you should talk about the purpose constantly — in all-hands, 1:1s, and onboarding. Never assume that it’s fully understood by your people. Always strive to make it real and tangible by connecting everyday tasks back to the bigger picture.

What are some common mistakes leaders make when trying to create a purpose-driven culture, and how can they avoid them?

1. Lack of Integration: One common mistake is when the purpose is not integrated into the goals, decision-making, and performance management of the company. This can be avoided by baking the purpose into planning, resource allocation, and individual success criteria.
2. Leadership Inconsistency: Sometimes, leaders might behave inconsistently and contradict the stated purpose (like prioritizing short-term profit over considerations central to the purpose). To avoid this, it helps to establish clear cultural competencies that lay out how leaders should model purpose-driven behavior, and then hold them accountable to those competencies in performance reviews.
3. Top-Down Only Approach: Other times, leaders might be too involved in dictating the purpose, leaving employees unclear on how it connects to their own work. So it can be important to create opportunities for people to discuss and define how their teams contribute to the overall mission.

How do you ensure that your organization’s purpose evolves and remains relevant as your company grows and the world changes?

The first step is distinguishing between your fundamental purpose and how it’s expressed or pursued. While the purpose itself may be timeless, its expression will likely evolve with shifting markets, advancing technologies, and social changes.

As the world changes, build periodic checks into your strategic planning cycle, to ensure that your purpose continues to reflect the company’s impact and aspirations. Beyond the leadership level, solicit feedback from employees, customers, and partners on whether your purpose continues to resonate and feel relevant to them.

What trends or shifts are you seeing in the workplace regarding purpose, and how do you think these will shape the future of business?

One shift I’ve seen comes from our increased understanding of motivation, especially among younger generations just entering the workforce. People are much more likely to do their best work when they are intrinsically motivated. And a sense of purpose is among the greatest intrinsic motivators.

The younger generations have also brought an increased air of activism back to the workplace. I’ve seen how employees are more willing to voice their personal concerns, and to push their organization to live up to its stated purpose and values. Companies that are inauthentic about their purpose are more likely to find themselves with internal turmoil now than even a decade ago.

In your opinion, how does having a purpose-driven culture impact not just employees, but customers, clients, and the broader community?

Customers — especially the younger generations — care a lot about the brands they support. They want to give their business to companies that they perceive to be doing good. Companies with a strong purpose and a compelling “why” are best positioned to win their loyalty.

At the same time, people are increasingly adept at detecting superficial “purpose-washing,” so it’s critical that any purpose the customer sees be mirrored by the company’s own internal culture. As the world has grown smaller and more connected, employees and customers “talk” on social media, if indirectly. Any disconnect only gets magnified there. It’s in the company’s best interest to have integrity around its purpose and avoid treating it as just a PR or marketing exercise.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people by building purpose-driven workplaces, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I touched on this earlier, but in my experience, I’ve found three universal pillars present in any culture that aspires to high performance. These pillars are the 3C Cultural Model: Challenge, Candor, and Care. My movement would show how these traits give companies the best opportunity to serve their mission.

• High Challenge: Audacious goals fuel motivation and innovation. The alternative is complacency and stagnation.
• High Candor: You can only win as a team if you’re honest with your teammates. Otherwise, you’re just playing by yourself.
• High Care: To embrace that challenge and live by that candor, employees must feel valued and secure. In return, they will give you their best work.

This model works best in purpose-driven cultures. High performers love to feel their oars in the water and perceive the impact of their work. When that impact is on something they care deeply about, they invariably row that much harder.

How can our readers further follow you online?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn at Valentina Gissin, and also be sure to visit Garner’s website www.getgarner.com to learn more about Garner’s mission.

This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us.

About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience as a Founder and CEO. While attending Ohio State University, he launched his first company, Choice Recovery, Inc., a nationally recognized healthcare collection agency — twice ranked the #1 workplace in Ohio. In 2013, he founded [re]start, helping thousands of people find meaningful career opportunities. After selling both companies, Chad shifted his focus to his true passion — leadership. Today, he coaches founders and CEOs at Built to Lead, advises Authority Magazine’s Thought Leader Incubator.

---

Valentina Gissin of Garner Health On How to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.