What's the big deal about purpose, people?

Zappos has adopted holacracy, Bain Capital now owns 50% of the "Buy One, Give One" brand TOMS Shoes, and a CEO recently slashed his paycheck by $930,000 to raise the minimum salary of his company to $70,000. The Times They Are A-Changin' and purpose is increasingly becoming businesses' #1 priority.

Why the tidal shift? The numbers speak for themselves:

• The world’s 50 fastest growing brands are the ones driven by “high ideals." These “Stengel 50 brands” grew 3x faster than their competitors and resulted in 400% more profit than an investment in the S&P 500.
• Gallup estimates that disengaged employees cost the US economy up to $550 billion per year in performance, absence and recruitment costs. A common driver of this disengagement cost? Lack of "purpose-driven" opportunities.