Ever feel like your team is checking boxes but missing the point?

If people on your team are asking “why are we doing this again?”, you’re likely facing a silent killer of culture and momentum: purpose drift. In this episode, Dave Garrison returns to unpack how organizations unintentionally disconnect from their deeper purpose and how to fix it before it costs you your people, productivity, and performance.

In Part 2 of the Buy-In Blockers Takeover Series, George Bryant welcomes back leadership expert and bestselling author Dave Garrison to tackle one of the biggest hidden challenges in business: purpose drift.

When teams lose connection to the “why” behind their work, even the best strategies can fall flat. Dave breaks down how to identify when purpose drift is creeping in, why it’s so dangerous, and the simple tools leaders can use to bring purpose back to the forefront.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What “purpose drift” is and how it quietly erodes team performance.
• How to reconnect your team to purpose in just 3 questions.
• Why purpose must be co-created, not just declared.
• The subtle signs of disengagement and how to respond.
• The power of modeling purpose in daily decisions.
  

Key Takeaways:
✔️Purpose drift happens when people lose sight of the “why” behind their work.
✔️Co-creating purpose drives deeper engagement than top-down declarations.
✔️Purpose must be repeated and modeled daily to stay alive.
✔️Ask: “How is our work making a difference?” to bring clarity and buy-in.
✔️Use 4-6 word phrases to clarify your company’s living, breathing purpose.

Timestamps & Highlights:
[00:00] – Intro to Part 2: Facing the “purpose drift” blocker
[01:28] – What buy-in really looks like and why it’s rare
[03:00] – Four major blockers to buy-in explained
[04:00] – Defining purpose drift and how it shows up in teams
[06:00] – Signs your team has disconnected from the bigger picture
[08:00] – The cost of unclear or forgotten purpose
[09:30] – The power of co-creating and repeating compelling purpose
[10:45] – 3 powerful questions to ask your team
[12:08] – Outro from George + how to get Dave’s resources

Connect with Dave Garrison:
Book: The Buy-In Advantage
Website:GarrisonGrowth.com
LinkedIn: Dave Garrison
Email: engage@garrisongrowth.com

Your Challenge This Week:
Shoot Dave a message on LinkedIn with the words “Leadership Sprint” and your podcast takeaway to get free access to a special training!

• Reflect with your team using Dave’s 3 questions and start the conversation around your living purpose.
• Share your biggest insight from this episode on Instagram and tag @itsgeorgebryant for a chance to be featured.

Join The Alliance – The Relationship Beats Algorithms™ community for entrepreneurs who scale with trust and connection.

Apply for 1:1 Coaching – Ready to lead with clarity and culture? Let’s build your business from the inside out.

Live Retreats – Get in the room where transformation and momentum happen. See all upcoming events at mindofgeorge.com/retreat

What if the key to your next level wasn’t doing more, but getting radically clear on who you’re doing it for?

In this powerful episode, George sits down with podcast strategist and business coach Traci DeForge to unpack the most overlooked reasons people stay stuck and how clarity, energy, and aligned intention create momentum that scales.

Traci DeForge brings decades of experience in media, content creation, and business strategy to this high-value conversation. Together, she and George explore the deeper purpose behind podcasting, the energetic foundation of marketing, and the clarity needed to build a sustainable brand with impact.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why most podcasters struggle and how to fix it
• The critical importance of clarity in messaging
• How to create content that converts without selling
• Why podcasting is an “energy exchange,” not a megaphone
• The business blueprint for building brand trust and momentum

Key Takeaways:
✔️Clarity attracts, confusion repels. Your podcast isn’t for everyone, and that’s the point.
✔️Podcasting works best as a relationship-building strategy, not a broadcast platform.
✔️Every episode should deliver value and direction, whether or not there’s a pitch.
✔️Treat your podcast like a pillar of your business, not an accessory.
✔️Energy matters: your tone, intention, and delivery shape how your content lands.

Timestamps & Highlights:
[00:00] – Intro and George on how Traci shows up with full presence
[03:26] – Traci shares the most common podcasting trap
[08:49] – Energy exchange vs. content creation: what really builds trust
[13:17] – Podcasting as a business strategy, not just a platform
[19:45] – Clarifying who your podcast is really for
[24:01] – Why podcasters quit too early (and what it costs them)
[29:33] – What consistency actually means in your brand
[34:08] – Podcasting + brand building: how they intertwine
[41:02] – Monetization models that don’t rely on ads or downloads
[46:27] – Final lessons: presence, preparation, and purpose
[53:11] – What Traci sees as the future of podcasting
[59:34] – George’s wrap-up and action challenge

Connect with Traci DeForge
Founder of Produce Your Podcast™ | Podcast Strategist

Website: https://www.produceyourpodcast.com
Personal Instagram: @tracideforge
Instagram: @produceyourpodcast
YouTube: @produceyourpodcast
TikTok: @ProduceYourPodcast

Your Challenge This Week:
What landed most for you in this episode?

• Share your favorite insight and tag us on Instagram @itsgeorgebryant
• Leave a review to help others discover the show
• Share this episode with one person who’s starting or scaling a podcast

Join The Alliance – The Relationship Beats Algorithms™ community for entrepreneurs who scale with trust and connection.

Apply for 1:1 Coaching – Ready to build your business with sustainability, impact, and ease? Apply here

Live Events – Get in the room where long-term success is built: mindofgeorge.com/retreat/

If your team ever says “yes” in the meeting and then silently drifts back to business as usual, this episode is your wake-up call.

George hands the mic to leadership expert and bestselling author Dave Garrison to launch a powerful new 5-part series on what’s really killing your momentum: the lack of buy-in.

In this kickoff to the Buy-In Blockers series takeover, Dave Garrison introduces the core difference between surface-level agreement and true buy-in. This episode lays the foundation for understanding how culture, not compliance, drives execution, performance, and leadership longevity. Dave unpacks the cost of disconnection and introduces the four biggest blockers that silently sabotage your team’s follow-through.

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, managing a small team, or scaling into leadership, this episode gives you the language, lens, and tools to spot what’s keeping your projects stuck and how to change it.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What true buy-in actually means (and why most leaders confuse it with agreement)
• Why people say “yes” in meetings but don’t follow through
• How poor culture silently sabotages performance
• An overview of the four buy-in blockers
• Why purpose, connection, and conversation are non-negotiables for execution
  

Key Takeaways:
✔️ Buy-in isn’t about agreement, it’s about aligned commitment and shared ownership
✔️ Compliance drains energy and erodes team trust over time
✔️ 50% of employees are disengaged and the cost shows up in missed targets and low morale
✔️ Culture beats strategy when it comes to actual execution
✔️ The four major blockers to buy-in are:

1. Purpose Drift – losing sight of why the work matters
2. Blind Tasks – doing the work without context or alignment
3. Lone Wolf Leadership – operating in isolation
4. One-Way Communication – broadcasting instead of dialoguing
   

Timestamps & Highlights:
[0:00] – George introduces Dave and the Buy-In Blockers series
[1:36] – Dave explains what buy-in actually looks like
[3:05] – The cost of low buy-in: disengaged teams, missed goals, and resentment
[5:00] – Culture vs. strategy: why you can’t “fix” execution without alignment
[6:42] – What buy-in looks like in healthy, high-performing teams
[8:30] – Buy-in doesn’t require fancy tools—it requires intention
[9:14] – Introduction to the 4 buy-in blockers that crush execution
[11:30] – Teaser for the next episode on Purpose Drift
[12:45] – George’s closing message and call to connect with Dave

Connect with Dave Garrison:
Book: The Buy-In Advantage
Website:GarrisonGrowth.com
LinkedIn: Dave Garrison
Email: engage@garrisongrowth.com
Join the Leadership Sprint: DM “Leadership Sprint” to Dave on LinkedIn for exclusive access

Your Challenge This Week:
Share this episode with your leadership team, mastermind group, or anyone who’s felt the sting of projects that stall. Then head over to George’s Instagram, @itsgeorgebryant and tell us: Which buy-in blocker have you seen most in your world? Let’s elevate leadership together.

Join The Alliance – The Relationship Beats Algorithms™ community for entrepreneurs who scale with trust and connection.

Apply for 1:1 Coaching – Ready to lead from alignment and build a team that follows through? Apply for 1:1 coaching with George.

Live Events – Get in the room where long-term success is built. mindofgeorge.com/retreat/