Passion
By Paul Bridle © 2006 All rights reserved. Reprinted by Remacue with permission
This month I have had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting people who have been exciting and inspiring. The reason they have been exciting and inspiring people is because of something very simple that they have found within themselves. They have a ‘passion'.
Let me tell you about these people. In Dubai I met His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum who is the man behind A1 Motor Racing. This man is inspiring because of his philosophy about decision making and his desire to get on with it. His approach is; ‘get on with it and don't waste unnecessary time, take the calculated risk and achieve things that others are not prepared to do'. He is exciting because he believes in what he is doing and takes it seriously. At the same time he does not have all his ‘eggs in one basket' and he is looking for new opportunities not even related to motor racing. His passion for all the things he is involved in continually motivates him and the people who work with him.
I met Nayla Al Khaja who was a fellow speaker at the Conference. Here is a lady that makes films. This is a lady who is determined to use film to create a greater understanding of the Middle-East and the culture within this area of the world. She spoke with a conviction that excited the audience. Her approach, to what could be considered a delicate subject in this day and age, is inspirational because of the vision she has of the future.
I also had the pleasure of meeting a man who has developed a networking website, and who is considered the ‘king of networking' by many people. Thomas Power has a passion for meeting people and so he has developed a website that allows people to contact each other. This has grown into a major networking site with people from all over the world joining and forming groups to meet and exchange ideas. Thomas is so excited by connecting people and getting to know people that it is fascinating being in his company. He defined ‘passion' to me as an "obsessive love".
I met a friend who I have mentioned before in my Thoughts on Leadership, Guy Levine. Guy is only 27 but he is one of the most dynamic young people you could ever wish to meet. There are no ‘airs and graces' about Guy. He loves technology and the internet and that is what he wants to talk about. He is exciting because of the way he sees the world in terms of the internet and the future of technology. He is inspiring because he believes in the way the internet can be used so effectively in our society.
I asked Guy; how he described his passion? He said that it was something "burning inside you that gets you out of bed even when you are cold". I asked him about his background and whether he always had this passion or was it something he developed. He told me that "it is not something that you are born with but rather something that you have to ignite in yourself". I asked him how he did this and he told me "I write a list of 100 things I want and how I can achieve them".
I thought that was a great insight into someone's mind and approach to developing a passion within themselves. He told me that he believes that some people need help in finding their passion but at the same time nobody can do it for them. He also believes that people sometimes need help to sustain their passion and that is where a good coach or mentor can help.
It has been an incredible month. I have met some amazing people and it has got me thinking about ‘passion'. As you are probably aware, many times I have spoken about the importance of the leader having a passion and conviction for what they are doing. I have often said that your people will never have a passion higher than you and so you need to set your passion high so that you can give them plenty of room to develop their own passion.
My point this month is:
"A leader is also responsible for helping people discover their passion and even being able to sustain the passion they have".
I remember being told many years ago that "happiness is not something that you get out of life but it is rather something that you bring to your life".
Please take the time to read that again and let it sink into your mind.
If we demand happiness from life we will largely be disappointed. There will be times when we will be happy but overall these will be few in comparison. If we are seeking to find happiness we will notice more that can make us happy. The ownership has to be within ourselves.
Think about it in reverse. People who are miserable will notice reasons to be miserable and even justify their reasons. Does that mean that they don't find something to laugh about occasionally? No, of course they will laugh on occasions but those will be little points or highlights in their life at the level of being miserable.
They will even try and draw you to their level to justify how they feel.
The people I have told you about above, are people who have perfected the ability to bring happiness into their lives. They realise the importance of being responsible for their own state of mind and for managing the level of their enthusiasm.
I believe that as leaders we should be helping people to discover how to bring happiness and passion into their lives. It starts with managing people's perceptions about ‘what is happiness' that they need to seek to bring it into their lives and not sit back expecting it to arrive as a birth right.
I can use the same pattern of thinking to apply to many aspects of life. For example, job satisfaction is something that you get from what you put into your job and not from something you are given as a right.
In a different context I can say the same thing about food. It took me a long time to discover that very few foods do we actually like first time. Most foods we have to learn to like.
As leaders, the responsibility lies within us to help people understand and then discover the benefits, rewards and satisfaction we can glean from our work, life and relationships.
So this month questions are about how good are you:
Yourself:
- Do you know what you need to do to develop passion within yourself?
- Do you manage your passion and feed it with the necessary fuel to keep it alive and focused?
- Do you actively set the level so that others can feed off your passion and be inspired by it?
For your people: -
- Do you help your people recognise that their passion is their responsibility?
- Do you manage their expectations about happiness, job satisfaction and the rewards they get from their work experience?
- Do you help them develop a passion by finding out how to motivate themselves to be focused and inspired?
I implore you to consider your responsibilities in these areas.
Leadership in the future will require you to have focused and inspired people, if you are going to be successful and in many cases have a competitive edge on your competitor, your skill in this area will be vital.
Have a great month and best wishes
Paul
PS If you would like to know more about:
Paul Bridle is based in the United Kingdom and is a Remacue Community Member. He can contacted at www.paulbridle.com
This article was the February 2006 issue of Remacue Monthly. You can sign up for future issue here Sign up now
