What better time to talk about passion than right around Valentine’s Day.
Passion. It is a word that evokes an immediate response when you think about it. Most people will go straight to the more amorous connotation of passion, but keep thinking, and you’ll see that passion has a lot of everyday relevance too. You can be passionate about your special someone, your favorite sports team, your new 60 inch plasma TV, or even the driving skills of those around you on the road.
Point is, it is a feeling. Not just a feeling, but a strong feeling.
Passion is something that is also an integral part of the workplace. Heck, Monster and CareerBuilder were willing to spend $3 million for a 30 second Super Bowl ad to show people that were uninspired and hating their jobs. They had no passion for what they were doing. The ads implored people to come to their site and find that perfect job. Perfect is going to be different for each and every one of us. Perfection is subjective; it is you comparing your job to other jobs and companies around you. However, to be passionate about what you do is not subjective, it just is, and that is what makes it a very personal thing. Passion is all you; there is no comparison against anyone else.
Shame on companies that do not look for passionate people in the first place, and then work hard to make sure that they stay that way. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about hiring someone, evaluating employees, or just looking at your employees on a day to day basis. Any organization should want enthusiastic and inspired employees – passionate employees. If you have passionate employees, then their desire and enthusiasm spills over into other parts of their work. I am willing to bet that a passionate employee takes more pride in their work, is more innovative in their thinking, and is generally a happier employee. Don’t get me wrong, I am not putting the entire onus of job satisfaction and quality work output on the passionate employee. Passion can be quelled by bad managers, no recognition or reward, financial constraints, etc.
So, do something for yourself. Take a second and look at what you are doing and see if the fire is burning. Do you need to refocus? Do you need to take a step back and rededicate yourself? Be excited. Love what you do.
Passion. Is it in you?
Mr. Strecker:
I enjoyed your posting very much. I think your closing remarks hit the nail on the head. Be excited. Love what you do. That can be directed towards any component of ones’ life, including their career.
Nearly one year later, looking back on this article rings even more true into the new year!
Your lines –
“Any organization should want enthusiastic and inspired employees – passionate employees. If you have passionate employees, then their desire and enthusiasm spills over into other parts of their work”
– are spot on!
Passionate employees motivate others. They inspire and educate others. Passionate employees’ love for their work and dedication to it can sometimes be [b] so [/b] constant that it is often taken for granted or overlooked completely.
Employers should DEFINITELY strive to attain and retain passionate employees. You can’t put a dollar value on passion … someone who cares enough about their work to put in the overtime and the extra inches is priceless.
Folks like that can be hard to find even when they are right there staring you in the face!
“Passion can be quelled by bad managers, no recognition or reward, financial constraints, etc.”
Boy, you got that right, too!
Passion sure can certainly be quelled by many things.
But no matter what the setting is or the extraneous circumstances are that surround the passionate employees, you can’t take the passion out of the person. You sure can try, but passion isn’t something that can be faked or taken away from someone.
The passionate people will always prevail in the end, and their fires possibly “rekindled” some place else. For them and their future clients and co-workers, that’s a great thing! For those they left behind in the ashes of their fire that was snuffed out, not so much. Because once you extinguish too many of the passionate fires, it gets cold …. the energy drains, the lights turn off, the party ends, and the lingering smoke gets in your eyes.
So to quote more of your words:
“Shame on companies that do not look for passionate people in the first place, and then work hard to make sure that they stay that way.”
Hopefully, these words you have written so long ago are taken to “heart” and that you do what you can in your own role to reward or at least “encourage” and “appreciate” your passionate employees. A simple “thank you” and “you’re doing a great job, we value you” goes a long, long way.