The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low

89. Purposeful Leadership and the Business of Doing Good (Paul Dunn)

• Serena Low, Introvert Coach for Quiet Achievers and Quiet Warriors

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What if your business could change lives every single day? In this episode of The Quiet Warrior Podcast, I sit down with Paul Dunn, four-time TEDx speaker and chairman of B1G1 (Business for Good), to explore how businesses can create extraordinary impact through purpose and giving.

Paul shares how true leadership goes beyond profit, showing us how aligning business with social good leads to innovation, resilience, and deeper meaning. From redefining success to building a legacy of philanthropy, this is a powerful conversation for leaders, entrepreneurs, and quiet achievers seeking to make a real difference.

Discover why small, consistent acts of giving are transforming communities worldwide — and how you can be part of the movement.


What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  •  Purpose in Business: Why businesses that lead with purpose are the ones shaping a better future.
  • Leadership Redefined: How leadership grounded in service and impact inspires deeper trust and engagement.
  • The Ripple Effect of Giving: The extraordinary story of B1G1 and how small businesses are creating massive change through everyday transactions.
  • Philanthropy Made Practical: Why philanthropy isn’t only for large corporations — and how small, consistent acts of giving add up.
  • Social Good as Strategy: How aligning business goals with social good unlocks innovation and resilience.
  • Living a Legacy of Impact: Paul’s reflections on why the real measure of success is not what we accumulate but what we contribute.


Memorable Quotes

“When you put giving at the heart of your business, everything changes — your customers, your team, and the way you lead.” – Paul Dunn

“Purpose isn’t something you find. It’s something you choose and commit to every day.” – Paul Dunn


If this conversation with Paul Dunn inspired you:

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Make sure to download The Introvert Toolkit, my free ebook written to help you step into your quiet power and lead with confidence.


This episode was edited by Aura House Productions

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Serena Loh. If you're used to hearing that introverts are shy, anxious, antisocial and lack good communication and leadership skills, then this podcast is for you. You're about to fall in love with the calm, introspective and profound person that you are. Discover what's fun, unique and powerful about being an introvert, and how to make the elegant transition from quiet achiever to quiet warrior in your life and work anytime you want, in more ways than you imagined possible. Welcome. Welcome to the Quiet Warrior podcast. Today's guest is Paul Dunn, a senior fellow in one of the world's leading think tanks, who consults to and mentors leading-edge businesses around the world. A four-time TEDx speaker who has featured in Forbes magazine alongside Sir Richard Branson and whose programs are used by an estimated 226,000 companies around the world and he continues to push the boundaries. He's also the co-founder of B1G1, business for Good, the history-making global giving initiative that's already enabled businesses to create over 374 million giving impacts globally. Welcome, paul, to the Quiet Warrior podcast. It's great to have you here today.

Speaker 2:

Serena, it's my absolute privilege to be with you and, of course, to be with the people who are choosing to join in and listen to us right now. So, wherever you are, whether it's in a car or whatever it is, thank you so much for taking some time with us.

Speaker 1:

Paul, I'm very curious about your entrepreneurship journey and your decades of expertise. Could you share a bit with us about how you got started? Why entrepreneurship?

Speaker 2:

Well, it's interesting. In the question you used a very interesting word, which is the word curious. These days people ask me a slightly different question, but I'll ask that question and then I'll come back to your question. So people say to me very frequently well, what keeps you going? You know, what keeps you going in this? And the answer to that is curiosity. You know, it's like it's curious as to how things work. Sometimes it's really big things, you know, and sometimes it's really tiny things, but there's this curiosity. And of course, that curiosity plays out when you're meeting with someone. Right, it just plays out and I think it provides the curiosity, provides an interesting bridge, if, if you will.

Speaker 2:

But getting back to your question, um, yes, if you look at all of the stuff that you know we are quote unquote supposed to do, okay, we're supposed to have a thing called the hero's journey and where everything is like a mess and then you meet your mentor and then everything sort of opens up and then you go through the dark night of the soul and then you come right back. It's supposed to be quite challenging and when I look back on my life, I'm sure there were challenges. I'm sure there were, it's just that I don't see them. So I see, yeah, really I see mine as predominantly luck. I mean, you know, how lucky can you be? Seriously, just think of this. So I finished studying for and and telecommunication engineering that was my thing back then and so I was working in this company in london, just outside of london, and it was one of those companies where back then you had to have, you know, the right school tie and all of that kind of stuff. And then one day I got I mean this is amazing to me even now got headhunted by none other than Hewlett-Packard to be one of the first 10 in HP in Australia. And I mean that may not sound like a significant event, but it is a significant event because you know, I'm literally having breakfast with the people who founded Silicon Valley. They literally did found it, if you will. And I found that out through my chagrin in some ways, because after and I was there for quite a number of years, but eventually they said to me, paul, we'd like you to open the Brisbane office. And I said, oh, that's really nice, I'm going to get this nice big office and a nice big building. And they said well, now you may remember one of the values of HP was that Bill and Dave Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their business in Silicon Valley before it was called Silicon Valley in a garage. So we think that would be a really nice way to establish your office in Brisbane, seriously, seriously. And then from there I again got very lucky to realize that accountants not that I am one, although a lot of people think I am, which is a bit disturbing in some ways to figure out that, because I started to speak In 1981, when I went to see a guy called James Rohn you and I were talking about him before it really made me realize that for me it was like all of the stuff I was doing with HP was incredible.

Speaker 2:

I mean, it was really leading-edge stuff. But then when I saw this guy talking to an audience of 600 people, I thought that that's me. I remember it was like a sort of spiral and I was there with him. So then I decided that's what I would do and got very doing that, partly because and that was of course building businesses that was helping people build better businesses. And one day someone said to me, as I was mentoring this group of 400 people, they said you know, you're really quite crazy. And I said, oh really, well, you know why would you say that? And this guy said, well, I'm an accountant. And so here I am, this one person in this room of 400 people, and what I can do is uniquely leverage the skills you're teaching me, because I have all of these business clients right. And so then I thought, oh, that's interesting. Wouldn't it be interesting if I actually started working with the accountants? And then I got lucky again. You know, some 17,700 firms came through the process. We had called the accountants boot camp way back until when I sold all of that in 2000. And then I started mentoring again and you mentioned that nice number of people who are using the programs.

Speaker 2:

And then I had one of those moments and I think moments is a really interesting word, because someone once said to me and those of you joining us now you've probably had one of these where, in fact maybe many where something happens and you go, whoa, what just happened? Where did that come from, kind of thing. That's an interesting insight that I hadn't had before. Someone once said to me that where we are at in our life and in our businesses is nothing more or less than a reaction to the moments that life serves us, I thought, oh, that's an interesting way of thinking about it. And so that moment for me and, by the way, I'm hoping that this is a moment for those of you joining us that there are some insights in here where you go, oh, how interesting is that, when I met the person who's kind enough to call me the co-founder of B1G1, and that's Masami Sato, as you know and she did it, and this is really interesting for all of us, I think, to observe she did it by asking a question, and one of the things that I've learned match this with curiosity, right?

Speaker 2:

So curiosity opens so many doors, right? And, in other words, it's not knowing stuff, in a sense, it's asking questions to help, you know. And Masami knew that. And so here we are in this mentoring session, and she said to me in 2007, almost exactly 18 years ago actually, she said to me can we do different today? And I said well, what do you mean? What's so different? And she said well, you're my mentor, and so you're the one who always asks the questions. So I wonder if we could all of this in a lovely Japanese accent, and I wonder if we could change that up and if I could ask you the questions today, ask you the questions? I said sure, of course you can. That sounds like fun.

Speaker 2:

And she said well, my first question is really a what if? Question and they're really interesting questions, aren't they? What if questions? And she said what if we could create something where, every time business is done, something great happens in the world? Now just think about that question for a minute. What if we could create something where, every time business is done, something great happens in the world? What does that mean? What if we have a great meeting and, as a result, something great happens in the world? What if we send an email as a result of that? Something great happens by design, by the way, not by accident, and so on?

Speaker 2:

And that was the real start of B1G1, way back, as I said, 18 years ago. And then, as you very kindly pointed out earlier on, you know there's now well, you can see behind me, it's actually 375 million impacts now. And it's funny. You know you might look at that and go, oh, wow, that's really cool. You know I look at that and I go, whoa, think about the transformations there. And so when I think of that number, I think of, as does most people in B1G1,.

Speaker 2:

We tend to think about it as a smile, and so then you start to think about, well, what happens if 375 billion people started to smile together? And it becomes very interesting to think about that. That a smile just unlocks so many things, and it's one of the reasons why, as we were talking earlier on that, officially now I live in Japan, although I'm actually kind of like, as you know, a global warrior, kind of moving around to connect with so many people, and Japan is where I am now, or where I stay now, and that's because it is such a gracious, a gracious farming community it's. You know, I was, we were in New York recently and, as I think pretty much everybody who goes to New York goes, oh well, we have to go see Times Square.

Speaker 2:

Now, I've been to Times Square before, but here I am with Masami going to Times Square, and I remember walking through there, and this is perhaps not a very nice thing for anyone from New York to hear, but I said you know what, and perhaps it's an overstatement, but I said you know what?

Speaker 2:

I think this is what hell probably looks like in my soul. It's not a place where you could, where most people, I think, could feel comfortable, and I think there's a limit, isn't there, to the amount of, you know, quote-unquote stimulation that we can have. And, of course, when we're in that particular place, I mean think about this when we're in that particular place, are we going to make better decisions about things at that point, or are we going to make better decisions both for ourselves and for the people that we're privileged to serve when we're at this sort of calming level and I think you know calming level is the best place to be? Does that all make sense? That was a very long answer. Thank you for letting me go with the answer, but I hope it made sense.

Speaker 1:

I'm very intrigued by the mention of the calming presence as opposed to perhaps something that's chaotic and louder, because that also ties in nicely with the theme of this podcast and most of our listeners being introverts and quiet achievements who are?

Speaker 1:

also sensitive, I think, to the energy of the environment. So a lot of our culture at the moment is quite extrovert, biased in that the louder you are, the more dominant your presence. That is something to be admired, and if you are quiet, you may be called too quiet. Your voice may be labeled too quiet. Your voice may be, labeled too soft.

Speaker 1:

But you've just spoken beautifully about the Japanese culture and in a culture like that, to be introverted is actually part of, I think, part of the DNA of what makes someone Japanese is to be subtle, to be discreet, to be discreet to to be considerate, to be thoughtful, to be attentive to detail and not to seek to be in the spotlight all the time.

Speaker 2:

So that is quite a contrast, I think, to you know, for instance, time square and that kind of chaotic bustling, always on energy, the city that never sleeps yeah, yeah, or you know many podcasts that you maybe not podcasts where people are being interviewed, but podcasts where you know people have made a video to, as you mentioned, you know, sort of gather attention. And I happen, right now, I happen to be staying in a friend's house here in Singapore and this friend has a 19-year-old teenager who wants to be an entrepreneur, which is interesting for me to say right now, anyway, and he happens to be French as well, and so he was. I was saying to him, just to back up what you were saying. I said so his name is Lozano. So I said Lozano, what are you listening to? He said I've got this one over here and I won't mention the name of it, but it was somebody who has 5 million views on YouTube and it was supposedly about sales and it was done with this high energy and it was done with. And I said to him afterwards I said what did you get from that? And he eventually came out with well, it was me versus sales, the other person and I said well, leslie, just go figure how sustainable that is, what's it isn't.

Speaker 2:

But what if it wasn't that? What if it was us? You know, helping the other person see things in a different way. What if it was not a you know sort of that sort of thing, but was a together kind of thing? Wouldn't that be better for everyone involved? Wouldn't that be better for everyone involved? Wouldn't that be better for you? Wouldn't that be because you don't you know, you don't have to perform, want to go perform something, and of course it would be much better for the other person.

Speaker 2:

And when you're that level, when you're at that, as you described it a while ago, that calming level, then you almost can't help to build one of the most important elements between two people, and that is trust. We tend to trust people with that calming influence and that's an incredibly important thing in business right now. When you know, if you read all of the stats about what's happening in various businesses, you know you find, oh, that's at the lowest level, well, for all sorts of reasons that you mentioned earlier on. So if we can come in and be that as you have it, the quiet warrior or the you know, the quiet voice kind of thing, I think that's an enormous advantage. I really do.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad you mentioned sustainability, because that's something that becomes increasingly important the further we go in life.

Speaker 1:

The older we get, we suddenly realize, hang on, I don't have as much energy as I used to. How do I want to use the energy that I have? And that's something we always encourage our world. You know the introvert community as well. I like to remind them that you know we do really have a social battery. That's quite different from how extroverts operate, for instance. So the more we talk to people, the more that battery gets drained. So be very intentional about the way we put ourselves out there, because every time we do that expose ourselves, for instance some of that battery goes down. So who are we talking to and for what purpose?

Speaker 1:

Why are we being visible? For what purpose? So I just find those three words for what purpose? Extremely helpful for me personally, cutting through the noise.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, words for what purpose? Extremely helpful for me personally, cutting through the noise, yeah, and, and, funnily enough, with that young man, yeah, 19, yeah, young, 19 year old. I actually said him at one point what if it's not about you? What if it's not about you? What about if it's something you, you mentioned? What if it's about something bigger? I, you know, I like, I like the thought and I think you may have heard me talk about it before I like the thought of someone who we think was a sort of out there kind of guy, notably steve jobs.

Speaker 2:

But then again, when you look at him in all sorts of other things, you begin to question that. Right, when you look at his harvard speech and all of that kind of stuff, right, and at one point and interestingly, you know, as a, as a father, he didn't let his kids get on to. You know, on all of that stuff, right, and the reason for that, and uh, so at one point he he did, though, say this, and, and, umnily enough, when I was at HP, he was interning at Hewlett Packard at the same time. I was there, but I never knew. Oh, no one ever said, oh, that's Steve Jobs over there.

Speaker 2:

But anyway, when he went to Pixar and Pixar's really interesting right, because Pixar has this special ingredient and Jobs kind of captured it. And he said the storyteller is the most powerful person in the world. Now, let's you and I ignore that power word for a minute. Let's just ignore that. And let's look at the bit underneath that, where he said the storyteller sets the vision, the values and the agenda for an entire generation yet to come. Those last seven words, I mean, are the crucial ones for an entire generation yet to come, because when you get that, you realize it's as you, it's not about you, it's about something kind of bigger, in a sense, than you. And then, by focusing on where the other person is and focusing on their outcomes.

Speaker 2:

It's a sort of a transformative way of thinking about relationships. I think way of thinking about relationships, I think, and again, curiosity, I think, plays a really interesting. In fact, one of the people that I really look out for is a guy called Joe Pine, and Joe wrote a book way back in the late 1990s which was a very famous book. It was called the Experience Economy and how we should, you know, create great sort of service experiences for people who were the people that we were privileged to serve as entrepreneurs. And his new book, interestingly enough, is called the Transformation Economy and he really interestingly defines and I've been following you can follow Joe if you really like Joe and you're part of the community Well, now it's just all closed off, but very interestingly and he is very introverted, by the way, and he to the extent that every Thursday he lets us see what he's writing with the expectation that we can add or point out various things as he goes through, which is really interesting. Anyway, the book is to be published in February 26. But in the book he talks about the transformation economy and he talks about our role, our role as entrepreneurs, for example, our role being guides. I love that analogy, just being guides, you know I love that analogy just being guides, you know. And he actually says that he has discovered through this writing process what great businesses stand for, what the purpose of a great business is, and he puts it.

Speaker 2:

Can I just share with you this line that he says? It's a very interesting line. He says the purpose of a great company is to foster. These words are really interesting words that we don't hear a lot. He says to foster humanity flourishing. And I love that line foster humanity flourishing. And he doesn't say fostering humanity flourishing in a particular way where we're all sort of out there. It just says fostering humanity flourishing. And to me it's a and then if you see your role as, for example, a leader and all of those sorts of things, and then you kind of get that's why you're here I mean it's a role in the sense that you play on the podcast you bring all these people together with a particular purpose to see things in a very interesting way, in a way that people feel comfortable with. So it's not a stressful thing. And why would it be stressful if we're going to say you know, we have to live it every day, so wouldn't it be nice if we could do that calmly through the day, wouldn't that be nice?

Speaker 1:

Definitely. If only we have more calm spaces, and this is one of them. The idea I love that idea that you keep mentioning about it's not about us, it's about something bigger, it's for all of us and funnily, you reminded me of a song that I heard recently, and the lyrics were again about that.

Speaker 1:

This person was saying every time I walk, every time I run, everything I do, it's always for us. And I think that concept of for us is something we need so much to get back to, and we talk about it theoretically, but then again, by actions, we seem to go the opposite way and we start doing things for ourselves, at the exclusion of others, and then we need people to remind us it's for us, it's for us, you know, that there is less division.

Speaker 2:

It is, and you probably know, I mean when you said that you just opened up a little channel for me, because you may know that when I started maybe if I go back to 1981, when I saw James Rowan, I started speaking and someone who was kind of like a key mentor to speakers in Australia at that time he's no longer with us, but his name is Ron Tacky and Ron sort of took me under his wing a little bit and said hey, paul, you know, I think you're going to be great, so on and so forth. And he said can I ask you a question? I said sure. He said do you ever get butterflies when you speak? And I thought, oh, I better tell him the truth. I can't say, oh no, you are really tough. So I said, of course. And he said oh, I'm really glad to hear that, because now that you get the butterflies there's a really interesting thing you can do. And I said what's that? He said you can do something to get the butterflies flying in formation. I thought, whoa, it's such a cool thing.

Speaker 2:

And for years, years, just you here, you, you, a moment ago, using two words, they just triggered something with me, because for years, in fact until five years ago, whenever I would take the stage, um, there would be, or, for that matter, podcast. When we used to do that, or you know virtual things, I would find a shiny object it could be a spoon, it could be, or you know on virtually, I'm sort of looking at myself anyway. So, and before as I'm being introduced, I did it today as, as I'm being introduced, I'm saying something under my breath, I'm watching myself, and if we were doing this five years ago, I would have been saying them, them or them, or them, them to get it off me. Does that make sense? And then, one very rainy sunday in singapore, I happened to flip on the tv. Very sunny sunday morning, it was pouring rain and we had planned to go out, but kids switched on the tv and there was this from a nordic country I cannot remember which Nordic country it was, but I do remember it was Nordic and it had these beautiful visuals where there was this woman.

Speaker 2:

It started off with this woman surrounded by a white infinity screen, if you know what I mean. And then, in the background, over her left shoulder, was this biker. I mean the ultimate rough, tough biker guy. You know, like rings coming everywhere ears, nose, mouth. You know all of that sort of stuff and you know really. And this beautiful woman who was at the center, just turned around, saw this person. It was clear she didn't know him, but just walked over and held his hand and I thought, well, that's pretty interesting. And then someone from the other side who was dressed kind of interestingly you would notice this woman if he passed you, but she had it was like a soft tone dresses and things and she walked over and stayed there in the middle and then she saw the other two and then they all held hands and so on, anyway, and then this just went on and the whole message from the Nordic government was diversity is great. That was the whole message.

Speaker 2:

And that day I remember that afternoon I flew to Bali to give a speech in Bali and I would normally have said for them, for them, for them, for them, for them. And then I realized, as well as that commercial, that by saying for them was actually putting a barrier between me and them. Does that make sense? And so that very afternoon became for us, for us, for us, for us. So that was a really interesting trigger that you gave me right there and it's a good way. It's a good way to think about it, isn't?

Speaker 1:

it. Yes, yes, I just love how these you know how these dots join up in such a divine manner.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

So back to what you said about butterflies, because that's really important for our introverted listeners, the ones who are deathly afraid of speaking, and public speaking in particular, to know that it's normal to have butterflies before you speak. In any kind of visibility work we do, any form of putting ourselves out there, there is that little moment where you feel unsafe and you're not sure of yourself. But you said, the butterflies can fly in formation.

Speaker 2:

You can do things which gets them flying.

Speaker 1:

Yes, to get them flying in formation, which is a beautiful image to hold on to, and also the idea of that it's not about me, it's not that I'm going to be. It doesn't have to be performative. I don't have to be perfect, I don't have to speak perfectly.

Speaker 2:

No, you don't.

Speaker 1:

And it's not even for them, it's for us. So for them it's already one level removed, as in. It's a Jim Rohn and Mr Stoff kind of analogy. Yes, it is, yes, it is Putting it on someone else, but then when you think it's collectively, I'm a part of this collective, we all are, we're all in it together, and what you're doing yes, what you're doing in speaking, is adding to the collective wisdom, and so you're doing something good. You are planting a seed.

Speaker 2:

You are indeed. And I had a circumstance where somebody you know was standing next to me who frequently suffers from what would, I think, mostly be called imposter syndrome, and so what the heck am I doing here, kind of thing. You know, I'm looking around and the organizer had this person, masami, as right. Masami was next to me and she had been speaking from a table it was one of these things where everybody could get in and then the host pointed at Masami and said Masami, we'd love to hear your view. And so Masami said you know whatever Masami said. And then, you know, maybe a quarter of an hour later we were leaving and the host said oh, masami, that was really, really lovely. And Masami said oh, are you sure? Because you know being in this company, meaning the company of people there.

Speaker 2:

She said I have to tell you, the moment I walked in I had imposter syndrome. She said I have to tell you, the moment I walked in I had imposter syndrome. And she said it not quite as fortunately she was saying I had imposter syndrome, no-transcript. And she said well, yes, I did. And he said what did you see? And she said well, people were sort of leaning in and they seemed to be enjoying where I was going and all of that kind of stuff. And he said next time when you think you have imposter syndrome, just make a little note not to take that outcome from the people that you could have been speaking with. I thought again so powerful.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and that's a very good one for not just introverts, but anyone who at any time has felt that they didn't belong in the room or didn't belong in that meeting, at that table, because they thought everybody else was superior to them in some way. And perhaps it is a sign of modesty, humility, perhaps taken a little bit to the extreme, to think that I don't deserve to be here, I'm not as smart as, or I'm not as competent as, or these people are way more experienced, have a longer track record, and so on. But one thing that has also helped me in thinking about imposter syndrome is also that if somebody credible is telling me that I've done a good job and I'm saying no, no, no, done a good job, and I'm saying no, no, no, I'm sort of disagreeing, or rather I'm making them wrong now, which is not very, not very polite or very respectful of me either.

Speaker 1:

I'm saying that I their opinion is not accurate and I'm going to hang on to my opinion that I'm not good enough. So when I thought about it that way, it was easier to let go and not focus so much Again. Thinking of for us actually helps with the imposter syndrome too, because I think people find people who are imperfect very relatable, people who make a little mistake here and there.

Speaker 1:

Yes, who just show their human side and reveal a little you know little imperfections here and there. It makes other people relax too. They can take a breath and say, ah, you know, if they are taking the stage and they are like that, well you know, I'm okay, it's okay.

Speaker 2:

And I think that can be taken to a very good extreme. You know extremes are sometimes regarded as like bad things, but that's why I say good extreme, Because if let's go back to the whole kind of in-your-face thing, that is the opposite of what we're talking about.

Speaker 2:

People really don't like being in the face and let's just say well, let me just put it this way If you're in a position of needing help for example, let's say, needing help to build a business, needing help to do whatever it was, needing help with a's say needing help to build a business, needing help to do whatever it was, needing help with a speech, needing help to meet with someone needing help, all of those sorts of things Then when you think about it people, are you listening to us now and showing your life? We are all more likely to want to offer help to somebody who kind of I wouldn't say is crying out for it, but someone who clearly has a good idea but maybe needs that little extra bit of help that we might be able to provide, able to provide. And so you know the, the whole idea of sort of pumping yourself up and all of that, it's I, I. I think that's not. You know what? What do they say? The whole fake it till you make it thing. No, I, that's. That's very definitely not authentic, and authenticity is something that is really, really valued. Why? Because it actually links to trust. You know, know, I cannot trust you if I think you're not authentic, I can't. The two just go together.

Speaker 2:

So that's one of the reasons why I thought it was actually important to you know, have the privilege of talking with you today and perhaps opening up some thoughts that maybe don't necessarily get opened up all that often and be able to put them in a way that people can relate to and, as a result, have some moments that really matter.

Speaker 2:

And, by the way, way just on that, um, I'm not sure whether I've I've mentioned to you that, with these moments and someone and and this whole thing around performance and all of that kind of stuff that we've been talking about, someone once said to me that because when we, when we quote unquote, do in some way, or when we kind of let ourselves down or what, or we think that's what happened right, that that memory is is really not a very good memory.

Speaker 2:

And so this friend of mine some years ago he said to me, paul, he said always remember that when your vision becomes more powerful than your memory, your future becomes more powerful than your past. And so it's that vision of where we are going and where we can actually take people on this journey as guides that becomes very, very important in making our world a better place that made me really think for a few moments, there, where your vision becomes more powerful than your memory, and then your future becomes more powerful than your memory, and then your future becomes more powerful than your past, of course, of course forward-facing.

Speaker 1:

So we learn from the past and we create something better for the future. Which then leads me to ask where to next for B1G1, and what do you see it becoming in the next 10 years?

Speaker 2:

Oh, what a great question that is. Well, when Masami, in 2007, after that question, she asked me she had been pondering B1G1, as it turns out, which for quite some time, but this is the first time she released the idea, you might say, the idea, you might say. And so she said uh, what this is all about, she said, is creating a world that's full of giving. And I remember saying at the time oh, that's, that's a pretty big thing, the world that's full of giving. And I think maybe people will look at that and go well, that's very nice to have, but it's impossible, you know, and maybe that way, people may not sort of realize where this can go, but and the more I think about it, I think more and more people are realizing that that is in fact where we have to go. You know, the world is the only way I can describe it as an interesting place, right, and there's so many things going on that we look at and we go. How on earth could they think that? How on earth could they think that?

Speaker 2:

And someone else I was at a meeting in London, and this is the real answer to that, by the way, and this poet, her name is Sophia Saku, and this is like three years ago and she's a black poet and she came on this stage where there's 150 of us in the room and it's a pretty high-level gathering. If I could name drop for a minute, I'm sitting next to Elon Musk's business partner. On the other side is the director of operations at the BBC, and then next to her is someone who said to me oh you probably know, sir David, don't you, sir David, who? And she said Attenborough, and I said, well, I'd love to because I watch everything. And she happened to be his producer. So, anyway, it's a pretty interesting gathering that would meet to try and figure out where the world is going.

Speaker 2:

And so on the stage, if you looked at the stage in London, in london, central london, at the barbican, actually in central london, so on the, as you look at it together with me now, you, you look on on on our left hand side and and you see this guy on a minute and producing incredible choral music and you feel like you're at the center of the universe and it's, it's amazing. And then you see the on the right hand side, this cello player with this, these beautiful deep strokes and things right. And then in the middle, you see these two women, one of both of whom are dressed in long flowing robes, and as the music plays, one of them starts to sing these choral things, which just puts you at the center of the universe. More right then this black woman comes out and she has a microphone stand sorry, a music stand mixer. So I think she's going to, you know, do some sort of song.

Speaker 2:

But then I realize it takes me a couple of lines for me to get it that she's actually reading from a specially commissioned poem that she has written, and she gets to the third line. Here's the third line, delivered in this beautiful, rich voice, and she says and this is a message for all of us, it really is for, she says, and the reason it's for all of us, it really is for all of us. She said, and the reason it's for all of us, by the way, is we all have moments like this, we do. She said have you ever noticed when things break, they open. Isn't that such a brilliant way of saying? There's always something somewhere that's brighter or not more brighter is perhaps the wrong word but that you didn't see whilst you had this thing here. You know there was nothing, but all of a sudden you just see different possibilities as a result of what's going on. So I think that a lot of us are seeing those things every day.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and you've reminded me, perhaps it was I think it was Leonard Cohen that said the cracks are where the light gets in.

Speaker 2:

There you go.

Speaker 1:

So when something breaks, it opens. It opens up new possibilities, it opens up a new perspective. Maybe it creates some space, some air for something else to come in something else to grow, and that is a very optimistic way to finish off our conversation today. And how do people connect with you and find out more about your thoughts and find out more about B1G1?

Speaker 2:

Oh, yes, yes, yes, okay. Well, they can go from a B1G1 perspective, which is a good place to go and a good perspective to have. That's at B1G1.com. And if you just search for me, paul Dunn, up there on LinkedIn, I'm not the Mormon minister that I think is sort of mescaline. I'm a different Mormon minister. That I think is sort of masculine. I'm a different border. So go have a look there and I'd be thrilled to connect with you in whatever way you feel appropriate. So let's do that.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, paul, for coming on the Quiet Warrior podcast today. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the Quiet Warrior podcast and leave us a five-star rating and review to help us reach more introverts and quiet achievers around the world. See you on the next episode. I'm so grateful that you're here today. If you found this content valuable, please share it on your social media channels and subscribe to the show on your favorite listening platform. Together, we can help more introverts thrive To receive more uplifting content like this. Connect with me on Instagram at Serena Lo, quiet Warrior Coach. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me. See you on the next episode.