Knowing How to Act – ElPropósito5 min de lectura

A strategy for bringing our best to everything we do

"Acting with virtue, then, means doing things as well as we can, giving our best in every action, intending to act with excellence in every situation" (Pepe García, Siempre en pie). Yesterday I started a book that jumped the line on my reading list. It went ahead of new titles like Peter Attia’s Outlive, books I inherited like Jorge Lanata’s Argentinos, and one I try to reread every year, Sophie’s World, which always points me to great authors I have yet to read or should revisit. I had two reasons. First, it was a gift from one of my best friends. Second, its subject sits at the center of my life. So the call was easy, even though I am strict about my reading order. Which brings me to this week’s topic: knowing how to act.

I open with that line about virtue with a company, an organization and a person in mind. The sentence is final and forceful, almost an order: "in every situation." I think of organizations because they are made of people, whether they are a startup or a giant. So how do we get every person to bring their best to everything they do? Should we start asking how to teach Stoicism inside organizations? It doesn’t strike me as far-fetched. In fact, I see a real opportunity to learn a practical philosophy that can spread quickly through a company. Why? Because it starts quietly, with the essential pillars. First comes the dichotomy of control (any strategic plan should spell out what is in the organization’s hands to gain an edge or reinvent itself).

Second, Stoicism already offers a set of virtues, or values, if you will, tested over more than 2,000 years: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Picture for a moment a company that focuses first on what it controls and then lets a set of values guide its decisions and shape the ones still ahead. Over my career I have seen that the deepest organizational change usually comes from culture, from values and from the behaviors a company wants to see in its people. Some changes run deeper than others, and the one we need now touches who people are, with attention on the organization as a whole and on each individual at the same time. We need to build the kind of value that lives only in each person’s character, in every person who knows how to act in this world.

Bringing our best to every action takes individuals, organizations and teams with a clear purpose, in life, in business and as a team. When values come up, trust is usually the first on the list, and clearly we can’t work with others to do better without it. For trust to take root, though, each person has to know how to behave well, which means aiming for excellence in every situation. That only comes with steady practice and the conviction that good conduct does pay off. I say this because it’s tempting to believe that plenty of people behave badly and still do "well" (Epictetus would say they have wronged their own soul). Doing things as well as we can means owning what we do, with intention, with will and, above all, with the confidence to give without expecting anything back.

Let me close by returning to the company. You can have the best management tools in the world, on paper or in everyone’s head. Without people who aim to act with excellence in every situation, the company is unlikely to last another 100 years. Acting with excellence means telling right from wrong, what we control from what we don’t, and what fits our purpose from what doesn’t. Knowing how to act calls for meaningful changes that go deeper than learning to achieve more, more efficiently (which is good, of course). To make the changes we really want, we have to return to the foundations of every human being, revisiting our values, our purpose and our vision of the future, trust that we can change, and bring our best to every step of that new path.

A hug and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

• P.S. This week’s VELA:
• What I was watching: What Is a Woman? A documentary I was finally able to see, since it has been out since 2022. What stood out to me was Matt Walsh’s courage in making it and, above all, his wisdom in asking the best questions. It’s a controversial subject we need to understand better and better, and we need to know how to answer anything that goes against reason
  – What I was listening to: Husbands, Fathers, Warriors & Kings, from Jordan Peterson’s podcast. The highlight for me was the part on being a good father (the first part of my life purpose… to be the best father)
  – What I was reading: Siempre en pie (Always Standing). A gift from my friend Otto Velásquez that made my weekend. Thank you. Pepe García is a genius, and his podcast (El Estoico) is the gold standard. I find it funny that we both rediscovered Stoicism through Tim Ferriss, and as I have always said, I regret not paying more attention in philosophy class in school and at university. I must also confess that without Coaching (and all the good, wise, fair and courageous people, willing to give their best, whom I have met over these years and who stood by me in those very hard moments) and without Stoicism (and all its teachings, especially Memento Mori), I could not have endured the death of my son Juan Diego, or learned how to carry it for the rest of my days (Amor Fati). So everything Coaching and Stoicism bring into my life has always been good, and always will be. Thank you, Otto, thank you, Pepe… let us stay "SIEMPRE EN PIE," always standing. A warm hug
  – What I was learning: The ideal routine for more energy. From Dr. La Rosa’s channel, one of the best on YouTube, especially on intermittent fasting

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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