Key Points – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

How it all connects

There comes a moment when everything starts to make sense. Ideas, actions and daily life settle into a rhythm of their own. Decisions are still complex, just no longer to the point where we never start or keep putting things off. There’s a point where we feel backed in everything we do, where we feel accompanied even when we’re sailing alone. There’s a powerful light that brightens the darkest nights and gives us the north we need most. That point is called purpose, and it’s part of who we are. We’re born with a purpose, and finding it is essential work. Many organizations are born with one too, sometimes unnoticed by most, sometimes crystal clear to the founders. The most important thing for any organization or person is to know their purpose. What can we gain by discovering it?

Everything we do has a consequence, an effect. Does that effect serve a purpose? When what we do gives meaning to how we act, we begin to sense that something is worth pursuing. The question is: is there something guiding me to keep doing what gives my life, or our work, the most meaning? Values are a clear example of what can guide our decisions and our conduct in different situations. Values create an environment, a culture, that tells us whether we’re acting in line with them. Purpose goes further. A purpose always sets the course. It’s the distant star we can always steer by, the light that, once found, guides our steps.

One fascinating side of purpose is the ability we can develop to reach a state of flow. In Stealing Fire, Steven Kotler writes about flow and describes four signs that tell us whether we’re in it: effortlessness, selflessness, richness of information and timelessness. One way to experience flow is by doing what we’re most passionate about, what we love most, what gives our lives the most meaning. You can see it in a truly committed team guided by a purpose, with clear rules and well-defined goals, where every member identifies with the team and feels secure belonging to it. They share a rare feeling: there’s no better place to be or to grow as a professional.

The best opportunities are born at the peak of creativity, often in an instant, and all those points, those intangible tools, are connected: values, vision, purpose, mission, objectives, plans, goals, resources and so on. They share a key point that links them together. Our job is to work out how each one gives us what we need to succeed at whatever we set out to do. One of the great strengths of leadership is spotting the key points that connect the most intangible tools and turning them into concrete results. Another is aligning many people’s purposes toward a single purpose (where it applies). And perhaps the most important trait of any leader is knowing their life purpose without a doubt and living in tune with it.

Warm regards, all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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