The Gaze – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

Two ways of seeing potential

It is easy to talk about unlocking potential without any idea of what it means or what happens once you start. So what is potential? Where does it live? What does it look like? What does unlocking it depend on? These questions come to mind whenever I try to draw a map that makes the idea clear to me. When two or more people join forces to create something, it is because they trust each other’s abilities and believe that together they can build more. Those abilities are a clear example of the potential we see in others. Our view can be clouded when we are unaware of the tacit knowledge we already carry, knowledge that surfaces as we use it and reveals the opportunities within reach once we are clear on what potential means to us.

A simple example is a reservoir. It holds "potential" energy simply because the water is held back, and once the water flows it can become electricity. So what happens when our ideas start to flow? What do they become? This is where Ortega y Gasset’s line comes in: "we have ideas, we live in beliefs." Potential is intangible. It means looking toward the future, because that is where it lives, and sketching it until it becomes tangible and real. Everything we see was once a dream, an idea, a hope. It was potential released by a person or a team, a set of thoughts that later came to life. Our capacity to imagine is infinite, and so is our capacity to build. We are often unaware of the potential inside us, and will has little to do with it. It is more as if a veil keeps us from seeing it.

If potential lives in ideas and in the future, how do we bring it into the present? Unlocking it means stepping outside our beliefs and everything that limits us. Perhaps the hardest task, then, is spotting every filter through which we see the world. Here I think of how a child looks at things while playing: with pure eyes, seeing things as they really are. We have two ways of looking, one at ourselves and one at the world. How do we want to see ourselves? Like the best movie we could go see at the theater? Is that what the famous phrase "my best self" is about? And how do we want to see the world? As a place of opportunity or of adversity? Of adventure or of worry? The quality of our thoughts is directly tied to how we see ourselves and the world, and our thoughts hold the key to unlocking all the potential we carry.

So how do we unlock it? I believe we rarely make time to reflect, for the deep introspection that lets us take stock of everything we have lived and learned, everything still ahead and all we can become. Our life purpose, our team’s purpose or the purpose of the company we lead offers a great opportunity to 1) identify the potential of what we can become and 2) find the ways to get there. Anything in the way is just an obstacle, easily cleared once we are fully aware of who we want to become. What role does purpose play in unlocking the potential within us? We have as much potential to build as to destroy. Purpose always sets the horizon and the course. A person or an organization that follows its purpose unlocks its potential in tune with its essence and makes the best use of every resource it has.

Where are you looking?

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. I dedicate this post to my students in the Master’s in Project Management at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, whom I had the chance to get to know and share so many moments with. Congratulations on your effort and dedication, and above all on your drive to become better people and better professionals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you shared with me. We finished classes yesterday, and I feel truly honored to have met you. May life always let you unlock your full potential. A big hug and my very best wishes always.