Recently I have been in meetings that have been discussing starting, growing, and reinvigorating a company. I found it interesting that in each case, the word passion came up over and over again. While it may seem obvious that passion is critical, what was important to discern was the way that people refer to passion in this context.
It used to be said – “Do what you love and you will be successful”. I for one, have never ascribed to this belief. Why? Because I think it is often misinterpreted. I think often people think the “What” refers to the product or industry. I think what is lost is that the true “what” in this statement is about finding something you can be passionate about and you can attack fueled with this passion. It may be that the passion here is not about the product or service but is in helping people to grow as professionals or in making deals and transacting business or in finding ways to make companies and organizations more efficient or – even simpler – in solving problems that are difficult to solve. Whatever it is, it is the passion that drives people. I look at people like Chris Brogan and people often ask me – “how does he do it?”. My response – “Passion”. I talked with someone the other day about sportscasting and asked him why – his answer – “passion”.
Maybe the statement should have been “Do something and do it with passion and you will be successful”. Then I think there can be no doubt about the truth.
Can you find passion? Can you find a way to be passionate about some aspect of the job you are doing and the team you are working with? Try it. Focus on that. See the difference it will make.
