Author: Clear Purpose

Sisters Andressa and Patrícia Novais learned to lead the school founded by their family. Now, looking at the future of education, they built a project to encourage students to appreciate this environment and learn how to relate to each other

The school environment is remarkable in any child and adolescent’s life. But for sisters Andressa and Patrícia Novais, it was much more than that. The school principals of Interação Modelo School, where they studied in São Paulo, Brazil, were their own parents. For them, life at school was an extension of the family routine.

When they were at their teens, the idea of ​​taking part in this family project was already in the sisters’ minds. They helped their parents in different areas– at human resources, school events or inside the classrooms – and always watched how they ran the institution. “I helped my mother in school since I was 11 years old”, says Andressa, the older sister, who is 28 now.

But it doesn’t mean that this path was without obstacles, especially for Andressa. She never had any major difficulty or disciplinary problem, but she hoped that the school years would end soon. “It didn’t make sense to me the things that I was studying. I didn’t know what I was going to use it for.”

Six years younger, Patti spent her teenage years at school at a time when her sister had already graduated. Unlike Andressa, she really enjoyed her high school years. She loved her relationship with friends, the school events and the experiences. “I think I would go through it all again, without a problem,” she says.

Despite the different perceptions, Patti agreed with her older sister on one point: the experience at school could be much more interesting. “We talked about these new classes possibilities for students since I was 13, and Andressa was 19”, Patti says.

How to make school a nicer place?

Andressa was never satisfied with the limits of the traditional educational system and always wanted to change that. She had the main tool already – the school itself –, so she prepared to work at the family business aiming to take it to a more innovative path. “I grew up and realized the importance of the work that is done at school. So I would take part at it, making sure that I would believe in the work that was being done.”

When Patti graduated, she partnered with her sister on the purpose of renovating the school. Gradually, they also increasingly gained the trust of their parents, who let them accept more responsibilities within the institution.

With the acquisition of a new building in front of the school, Andressa and Patti realized that they could finally consolidate an extracurricular classes project, which would help to transform the school into a nicer experience for students. But when they sat down to talk about their ideas about that project, the lack of alignment between them was evident.

“We started to fight, actually. It was my opinion against hers”, sums up Andressa. The ] sisters, who have always been partners in various activities, knew that this was not what they wanted.

Looking at what the students needed

In that same period, Andressa discovered the Clear Purpose Framework and realized that it could be a perfect tool to help her find the best format for this new project at the Interação Modelo School. But her biggest question was: how could they do it together?

She thought about the possibility of inviting Patti to also go through the framework. And since their processes were directly linked to each other, they asked: why not go through this framework together? It was a chance to make sure that they were really aligned.

The sisters agreed to undergo the process together and received unexpected help. “When my parents heard that we would go through a process that would clear our purpose, they not only supported it but also offered it to us, as a gift. That was very important”, says Andressa.

This project of extracurricular classes started to take shape and became the Clubin, a space that will be built in this new school building and will offer children and teenagers artistic activities, sports and workshops of all kinds. “Basically, these are classes that you can’t take during normal school hours, as there is a curriculum that we need to comply with, by law”, explains Andressa.

But their intention is not restricted to learning new skills. In fact, the Clubin will be just a tool to encourage students to develop a greater relationship with each other. “Basically, this is what they want. They just didn’t learn how to do it, because school has never been an open space for them to relate to each other”, says Andressa.

“The idea is to build a place where they can express themselves and learn to be independent and free in their choices. So we imagine a format where the students themselves are the Clubin monitors, without this hierarchy of coordinator, assistant, monitors, as much as possible “, says Patti.

In addition to benefiting high school students, the sisters intend to offer the Clubin to children and teenagers of the local community. Another idea, still under development, is to establish partnerships with other schools to use the space. “We know how much schools need to focus on the pedagogical side and can’t think about other possibilities. They want to be a nicer place, and the Clubin can help with that,” says Andressa.

Learning to relate and delivering it to the world

While they were undergoing the Clear Purpose Framework and developing the Clubin project, they discovered that they could work together with the same purpose on mind and realized how much their relationship has improved.

“Right at the first meeting of the framework, everything became clearer in our mind. We were looking from a very individual place before. Today, when we have an idea, we ask ourselves if it is something that we want to defend or if it is something that the Clubin really needs”, says the younger sister.

“The Clear Purpose Framework was very important in developing the Clubin and our own relationship. We improved our professional relationship a lot”, says Andressa. “And we realized that thinking about people is way better than just thinking about us.”

With a clearer knowledge about what relationship really is, they hope that the Clubin will help students to see that they don’t need to be afraid to relate to each other – and take this knowledge to the rest of the world.

“If students deliver this to the companies that they work for, for example, it will make teamwork a lot easier for them. If they are less afraid to express themselves freely and practice a philosophy focused on relationship, empathy, respect and care, this will change any environment. It’s what the world needs”, sums up Patti.

How can we use art and therapy as a way to achieve a state of greater pleasure? Samantha, actress and psychologist, brought together a group of people to discover how these universes can come together – Play our Episode #3 (subtitled in English)

Samantha Pires has always shifted between the worlds of therapy, where she graduated as a psychologist, and art, as an admirer and artist herself. These two environments, in some way, took her to a state of observation and openness to communication during her 28 years of life.

While Psychology appealed to her as the professional path, art was the place where Samantha broke down her personal barriers to discover a more spontaneous and free expression, in addition to being closer to people.

“The experience of art, as an actress and also as an art consumer, is part of my daily life. Is a place where I can be in a relationship with people. If I’m listening to music all by myself in a room, I do not feel alone. I am in contact with someone, with who composed that song”, she says.

At first, the connection between therapy and art, however, was not evident to her – in fact, they seemed to be two different paths, even irreconcilable. But when she realized the therapeutic potential that art had in her own life, she started to think about how she could bring these two areas together.

The traditional methods that merge art and therapy were not exactly what she was looking for, although she recognized them as important in their contexts. She names, for example, the use of music therapy in patients with mental health problems. “It is a work of momentarily relieving a patient’s anxieties, which is something valid. But I wanted to take this to a more serious and deeper place, and I didn’t know how to do it.”

She had many sketches in her head, but nothing concrete. “I thought that it would take 20 years to implement this project”, she says.

A new group is formed

While she was wondering what project could come out of these sketches, Samantha discovered the Clear Purpose Framework and decided to go through the process. “It was perfect, because the framework helps you to organize the resources, potentials, ideas and projects that are already in your mind, and start putting them into practice.”

The first question in the framework did not involve art or therapy; it was about state of presence. “Presence is a fashionable word, but I don’t think that people understand exactly how a state of presence happens. It seems a distant, mystical place. Our idea was to explore how human beings, as a culture, understand and exercise presence, and what art and therapy have to do with it.”

This connection between art, therapy and presence became the guide of her process in the framework, and also of her newly born project. In the context of social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the possibilities were limited, and a specific idea emerged: a study group formed by artists and therapists to discuss this subject at online meetings.

“It was an idea that came from my confidence that I am not the only person who wants to build a bridge that connects art and therapy. Whoever had the same interest in doing practical and theoretical research on this topic would be able to find a means for that.”

Samantha started to invite friends who might be interested in joining this debate, and they also invited their friends. The group gathered around 25 people, who meet every 15 days – the number of people at each meeting varies. “And the cool thing is that, as the meeting is online, we have people from all over the world – Brazilians from several states or different countries”, she says.

Presence means cure

The first meeting started with a question: what is presence, and how art and therapy connect to it. In the end, the group ended up with many more questions, which became the agenda of the second meeting, and this scenario repeated in the following weeks.

In addition to their insights, the members realized the bond they felt with each other, and the therapy was already happening right there. “It is a way of exchanging experiences, creating a bond and realizing that we are not alone, even now, in the era of social distancing. It has been incredible. People are glad for this time together, looking at each other, enjoying themselves.”

In addition to what the artists and therapists have experienced in the meetings, there is already a practical learning experience being taken to the world. The group says that their insights reverberated in their routines of artistic production and patient care, or simply in their relationship with other people.

When Samantha is asked about where this project is going, she thinks for a while. “We may create a theater company, or the psychologists could develop techniques and experiences using art as an instrument. Maybe we will create something together.”

“But, regardless of the format, I hope that we will contribute to a world where art is being used consciously as an instrument of healing, liberation and therapy. That’s the only thing I want from this project.”

In Samantha’s view, a world that understands art as an instrument of healing will also be a world where people will experience a true state of presence. “Let people know how natural, desirable, pleasant and spontaneous it is to be alive at all times, not just at specific moments. This is, for me, a world that we can call ‘happy’.”

Gabi worked in HR at several large companies until she realized, on her father’s business, a way to make work environment more enjoyable.

Last year, Gabriela Correia asked for help. She no longer wanted her relationships to be in turmoil and asked that her interactions with people were driven by love, everywhere. It was just the beginning of a life-changing journey.

Do you want to know more about Gabi? Listen to her episode on the Clear Purpose Podcast and discover more about her story and vision.

A psychologist, with years of experience in HR of companies and organizations, Gabi also ventured into working in small businesses. At the end of last year, she had a specific reason to do it: her father needed help with his pizzeria in Santo André, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

At the time, the restaurant went through a period of changing employees, and suddenly she was invited to help her father with management and service. What she saw was nothing different from other small businesses and large companies: an environment that faced demotivation and hard work. “I looked and thought: there is no chance that someone could be happy here”, recalls Gabi.

This happened a few months after the request for improving the relationships. And she decided to start it right there.

The importance of listening

This period of working in the pizzeria coincided with the beginning of her experience at the Clear Purpose Framework. She realized how much she was interested in people, and how the everyday routine at workplace could be more pleasant.

Furthermore, the framework made her realize that she could act directly with the staff, seeking a relationship based more on trust and less on hierarchy. In the pizzeria, the idea of listening to employees came up; first, in meetings with the whole staff, and later, in individual conversations. “They’ve never had a staff meeting before. So, they could let us know about their pain and discomfort,” recalls.

She went to the pizzeria every day, which helped her to know the employees better and the details of each one’s routine. It was in this process that she also found out about the story of Miro, the man responsible for making the pizza in the restaurant 15 years ago, since when Gabi was just a teenage girl – the daughter of the owner who went there to have dinner with her family.

In one of these conversations, she perceived that becoming interested in the other could be a very important skill for the staff. “The listening was a passionate experience. It was wonderful to meet him. He had a history of dedication and courage”, she says.

Less protocol and more interest

Despite the peculiarities, what she saw in the pizzeria was not very different from large companies. “All these years working in HR, I experienced many tools and methodologies. These things, usually, become just a protocol, and people are not taken in account.”

In both a large company and a small business, she realized that the difficulty of time management was the same. “Many leaders do not know the skills required to be in leadership. The work cannot be limited to hiring, firing and promoting; the leader is the reference for the staff.”

Through the Clear Purpose Framework, Gabi realized that she fits into a role that can be called designer of teams, or designer of circles, based on the structuring of the teams in circles and offering people notions of self-management and autonomy. “And”, she highlights, “based on the recognition of everyone’s importance”.

Returning to the pizzeria, all these conversations and meetings brought her closer to the employees, and the atmosphere was transformed. She sees a gradual evolution in the environment after eight months working with the team.

Even with the scenario of difficulties generated by the pandemic, including the closing of the hall and the restaurant restricted to delivery service, the pizzeria managed to find a place of stability again. And this state of peace also reached the person who asked for her help in the first place.

“Last year, my father was discouraged, thinking about when he was going to sell the pizzeria. Now, even in isolation, he is much better. He is taking online courses, participating in online conferences and planning the future of the pizzeria: a renovation, a brand transformation, a modern app. My father came back to life. “

Listen also in: Catching The Next Wave Podcast

What propels you to do more? What brings you satisfaction in life?

Earlier this year, Joana Mao, Aga and Lukasz Szóstek had a conversation about living a fulfilling life and finding your deeper purpose. In the sense, that purpose goes beyond your own goals and desires. Once this purpose is surfaced the magic of inner alignment will happen.

This is the book Joana Mao recommends at the end of the episode:

Skillful Means: Patterns for Success
by Tarthang Tulku

Text by: Veja SP

On June 8, 2020, SEBRAE along with the Cidade Criativa Cidade Feliz project received CLEAR PURPOSE to hold an online event: 1 hour of practical exercise within the CLEARING PURPOSE FRAMEWORK process.

Through the practical exercise of CLEARING PURPOSE FRAMEWORK, individually, you will be able to look at the context of your project, enterprise or organization and in 1 hour, it will be possible to raise your state of perception in order to achieve a clearer vision. In this brief 1-hour exercise, you can experience the benefits of this structure. It will be possible to organize thoughts to find meaning and a sense of accomplishment.

Timeframe:

• 10 minutes – Presentation and Principles.
• 45 min – Framework process
• 5 minutes – Consolidation and final remarks.

The CLEARING PURPOSE FRAMEWORK is a process that originally takes 8 weeks and generates clarity of vision, implementation and in-depth leadership practices at 4 levels (1 – Purpose, 2 – Vision, 3 – Meaning and 4 – Impact). This 1-hour Online Workshop format is a great option to learn and briefly experience the principles of the framework.

Why SEBRAE?

What we are experiencing today in this pandemic, was not foreseen in any strategic planning for 2020. Given this change, how can we understand with more organization what we are experiencing? How can we understand more deeply how to undertake something new and more sustainable? How can we have more security to invest from now on, in something that really motivates us and that can be an effective change shared and implemented? The answer to all the questions above is: reflecting to clarify our purpose. Clear Purpose was born with this goal: to help leaders organize their thoughts so that they can make their vision actionable and shareable.

To bring the practical exercise to your team, contact us: contact@clearpurpose.global

Gustavo realized that getting in touch with the environment can help people to improve their mental state and see the beauty that is right in front of them

One day, Gustavo Vedana arrived at work feeling very tired, but not because he caught traffic or had to jump in a crowded bus on the way to the agency where he worked. He arrived there walking, and it took only 15 minutes.

His tiredness, he realized, was mental.

“It was a nice 15-minute walk. It didn’t make any sense for me to feel so tired. And then I realized that I was tired of thinking during that walk. Thinking about what I had done, or what should have been different… thinking about everything”, he says.

Gus, as he is affectionately called by his friends, saw that day as a revelation, and started to train his mind to be quiet during that morning journey. He started to arrive at work feeling much lighter.

Moreover, he came into contact with things he had never seen on this path. The buildings, houses, cars and, above all, the plants and flowers, which have always attracted his attention since he was a child.

“I had to get out of my head to look at these extraordinary beings who share life with me. I clearly perceived the beauty of the world and the importance of using this posture as a source of well-being, pleasure, rest and, besides that, as a source of creativity, repertoire and inspiration.”

The next step was: how to share this experience with other people so that they could also enjoy everything that is right in front of them?

Focusing outside

After discovering Clearing Purpose Framework, Gus – now 29 and with a career as an audiovisual content manager – selected to go through the process in search of a way to deliver his talent to people.

The framework fitted this purpose, and Gus got in touch with his full potential and his willingness to serve people. His vision became clearer: to help people to contemplate, see the beauty and, with that, leave a state of self-centering.

“Every exercise in caring about and understanding the environment is something that invades us and we never forget, because it is very pleasant,” says Gus.

To make this happen, Gus would use all of his skills with decorating and creating environments, as well as his knowledge about plants and flowers, to stimulate people to maintain a sense of calm and well-being.

Taking care of the flowers and extending it to all relationships

After many tests and studies within the framework process, it was time to get practical. First of all, he designed a project, aimed at companies, to make the offices greener. “In addition to creating a sense of well-being, a greener environment may lead to greater productivity,” he says.

But his job is not about placing more plants or flowers in the environment. What Gus wants to stimulate, above all, is contemplation. Therefore, nature becomes a tool for people to leave an agitated and disturbed mental environment and enter a more relaxed state, with the perception working at another level.

From this observation, he got the idea to start ​​another project: the delivery of flowers and plants, on a subscription model, for people at their homes during selected periods.

“We prepare a composition of seasonal flowers, selected by flower and plant producers, and send it to the customers, along with information about them. People will be able to understand them better and increase the level of relationship with them, knowing how they were grown and where they can be used at their homes. “

When he concluded his process, with a final vision about the impact he was bringing, Gustavo saw that his goal was to demonstrate that this closer relationship with plants and flowers can be expanded to all kinds of relationship.

“This practice of caring and observing plants and flowers, seeing every day how they are, what has changed, understanding how they are living, if they more water or light… this is a practice of relationship and it can be extended to everyone else. People will leave the thoughts inside their own heads to look and care, in all situations.”

Text by: Veja SP

Making plans for the future may have already seemed like a good thing to do. When uncertainty and chaos are established, however, on what basis is it possible to plan?

“It is no use having the expectation that things will not change. They always change,” says Joana Mao.

Strategic designer and author of the Clearing Purpose Framework, she was the guest for episode # 44 of the Jornada da Calma podcast hosted by Helena Galante.

“Replace the concern with planning with the relationship”, adds Joana.

In order to make this transition and take a leadership role, Joana brings philosophical issues to the center of the focus.

“What values ​​do we bring to lead our projects?”, He asks.

Whoever thought that the conversation includes the term “purpose”, got it right! But not exactly in the way it is usually approached.

“Trying to find your purpose will make finding it more difficult”, warns Joana, who explains why she sees a single purpose for everyone, only manifested in different contexts.

“We are at a time when we can do a lot for each other. This recognition fills people’s hearts with meaning, ” she says.

 “We have an unquestionable importance in each other’s lives. Enjoying this interdependence is what gives a sense of purpose. ”