Promises – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

Commitments with purpose

What is the biggest promise we have made this year? For the end of this decade? Our biggest promise in life? Two or more people come together around an idea to find the ways and means to build it. Yet is it only the idea that unites them, or is there something more? The value that bonds two or more people is trust, a value much talked about and little understood. Trust is in fact the vehicle for making a promise we can then work to keep. It is no coincidence that political speeches are full of promises, or that promises are what we hear most in politics day after day. Promises are made on the strength of the trust one or more people deposit in us, and we in them. Have I broken my promises? How many have I kept? What does keeping them depend on? These and many other questions are the ones I ask myself to understand what keeping a promise depends on, or better yet, how I can commit to something I know I will deliver.

How would we define a promise? First of all, it is a voluntary agreement between two or more parties in which everyone understands that a certain effort and work today will produce a result in the future. A promise therefore creates obligations among those involved. I say voluntary because that is where the spark of freedom and trust lies: we are free to accept and to give promises, and whenever we do, we are ultimately being held up by trust. One factor that clearly shapes whether a commitment is kept is how the purpose of the promise is defined. It is a key element that is often forgotten and may be the biggest trigger of whether something gets done. Let me explain. If the outcome we have in mind is a strictly financial gain, we are looking at an objective. A purpose defines the reason for the promise, and it goes beyond a mere financial result. A promise with purpose has a nobler aim. I have nothing against financial results; on the contrary, I am all for them and pursue them myself. My point is that any promise, to be kept, must be backed by several mechanisms that are not always made explicit when the promise is made, values for example.

Besides their vision, purpose and values, many companies also make a brand promise. They commit to delivering a given service or product to their customers with very clear specifications. Why would a company even need to promise something? In the end, it is a reference point everyone in the organization can look back to and ask: does what I am doing help keep my organization’s promise? It provides answers. Anything that works against the promise should not be done or pursued, because it will waste resources or betray the organization’s moral standards. Promises therefore carry an ethical and moral component, whether it is a personal promise between two or more people or an organizational promise in which a company commits to its customers.

Keeping our word has come to be seen as something that makes no difference either way. Of course there are still people, and I count myself among them, who keep what we promise. So what comes of keeping a promise? Before answering, I want to reflect on what I see in someone who does what they say. First, order and discipline. This is someone who does the same things all the time (habits), whether or not they feel the willpower, the drive or the laziness. They are so committed to what they set out to do that, come hell or high water, they always end up doing their part. Someone who keeps a promise also knows it is daily work, so there is no room for gloom, and this may be another fascinating value or behavior tied to promises: joy. Whoever makes a promise does so in the hope that the final result will bring harmony and happiness.

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. I dedicate this post to my wife, my princess. Today marks twelve years of civil marriage, built on a promise with purpose that has given us three wonderful cubs and a partnership, a team still under construction, thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. I love you, princess.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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