What Are We Looking For? – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

Which questions really matter?

Photo by Ian Parker on Unsplash

Yesterday afternoon a question hit me: why do I write what I write, and is it useful to me and to anyone else? It wasn’t easy to land on an answer, especially when I feel, as I think we all do, surrounded by so many answers already. I firmly believe the most meaningful guidance comes from within, from our conscience and the inner voice we carry. That doesn’t mean I ignore advice. One of the most radical changes I’ve made in my life was trying to talk less and listen more (I haven’t always managed it, for the record, and it takes real work). That change has taught me to take the best from others and, above all, to notice that the questions we ask ourselves most often point in one direction, toward whatever gives life meaning. It also convinced me that the answer about that meaning never comes from outside. It may be one of the many reasons I’m drawn to write about purpose.

What are we looking for? A compass, something that tells us whether we’re on the right path. But who can answer that besides ourselves? Our senses capture part of reality, and how we interpret it shapes how we feel. Reality is one, and the consistency of our thinking leads us to read it either in our favor or against us. In that search for meaning we lose the horizon, or reality itself, when we look past our own borders, past who we are today, who we want to become and what we have to get there. The frustration along the way comes from a lack of self-awareness. You see it, for example, in companies that chase a vision and never invest in building their capabilities.

We need to search well, and that starts with asking ourselves the right questions. I think the first big question is the one that gives meaning to what we do, the one that switches on our GPS. We usually look outward, to other people and the world around us (and there’s nothing wrong with that). The fundamental question I mean, though, leaves no room for the outside world. Its answer is born within, for a person and equally for a team or an organization. No answer from outside will ever replace what we are truly looking for. The answers come into focus once we dare to ask the questions. Often we can’t have the most powerful conversations, the most valuable ones and the ones that best secure our future, simply because we’ve never dared to start them.

A big step is building awareness, the kind that shows us there’s an opening for what we’re after. None of the answers we seek is complicated. What’s complicated is inaction, blaming someone else for not having the answer, letting the daily grind swallow us while we pretend everything is fine. The best teams I’ve worked with, and work with today, are open, honest and hardworking, with clear values, goals and purpose. Above all, they dare to have the hardest conversations to get the toughest answers.

When we live with full transparency, we can make our best changes. When we face the most basic questions with full transparency, we can find what we are looking for most.

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

This week I’ll sum up my VELA this way:

A big thank-you and congratulations to the new class of INCAE coaches, who finished just yesterday. I’m so glad you’ve taken this big step, colleagues. It has been an honor to share so much in so little time with people of such character and human quality. May life keep rewarding you for the excellent coaching you’re known for. I’m always here for you. A very special thank-you to Kelly, Karol, Cynthia and Jhonatan, because I always learn something new from you, above all how to look after your friendship. Thank you, Adri and Geovanny, for all your support these past months, and a very special thank-you to Patricia and Alfonso for always showing me what it means to be a friend, a team player and a true professional. That’s what I Watched, Listened to, Read and Learned (my VELA) this week. A big hug and all the best to every one of you.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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