United Wills – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

The purpose of walking together

Many efforts stall halfway when purpose and goals aren’t clear to everyone involved. Moving in a given direction calls for conscious effort in line with a clear vision. One of the vital tasks of leadership in any organization is inviting people to share a vision of the future. Leaders have no crystal ball. What they can do is design and ground the future so that everyone can build it together. Building that vision takes a union of wills that seeks, beyond financial reward, to give meaning to what people do.

An organization is a table with four legs, mainly vision, values, goals and strategy, and purpose is the tabletop. As a metaphor, the tabletop is the platform where everyone involved can work freely and in tune, toward a union of wills. That’s one of the many reasons I say the heart of an organization will always be its people.

The deepest changes in organizations happen in any of those four legs. A change in goals, for example, basically turns the ship in a new direction. A change in strategy means we’re setting out for horizons or oceans we’ve never sailed. A radical change happens at the level of values, and it matters just as much as the others because it has the greatest impact on culture.

Finally, a change of purpose is impossible to put into words, because purpose is unique and doesn’t change over time. Vision, mission, values and strategy change, and purpose stays. So it’s clear, and very important, that everyone in an organization should 1) be clear on their own purpose, 2) share the organization’s purpose, and 3) see the organization know and spread its purpose. For leaders, talking about all of these ideas inside their organizations will matter more and more.

Purpose is the key for a union of wills to take shape and endure over time.

A big hug and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. This week’s VELA:

What I was watching: Querida resistencia (Dear Resistance). I admire Agustín Laje’s work (his books, debates, interviews, talks, lectures and more), and this great documentary is one of the best things I’ve seen in 2022. It’s especially valuable for understanding how change can be driven through culture. Congratulations, Agustín. I hope you come back to Guatemala soon and keep up the fight (below this VELA I’m leaving a quote I read this week by President Theodore Roosevelt)
– What I was listening to: While Failing to Save the Planet. A very interesting take from Dr. Peterson on energy use around the world
– What I was reading: The Odyssey. The classic of classics, which I set out to read before the end of 2022
– What I was learning: Guided breathing. For fans of the Wim Hof method, here’s the guided breathing from his YouTube channel
Source: http://www.worldfuturefund.org/Documents/maninarena.htm