Passion and Leadership

What is the passion behind your work?

Recently I had some correspondence with one of my subscribers and she happened to mention what she loves about her work. What I found particularly revealing was that she found the results of her work with others to be the most gratifying part - not the doing or the earning. I think that is a very worthy passion. It gave me a good reason to reflect on my own passion, which led to thinking about the role of passion in leadership.

Let me start by telling you about my passion. The difference I have always wanted to make is to improve the everyday work life of employees while improving a company's overall business results so that that employee has a better chance at prosperous long-term employment and security. I find it very rewarding to help organizations learn how to transform themselves into businesses where every employee is working at peak performance most of the time and to give businesses the tools to succeed in overcoming new challenges.

Where does this passion come from? I believe it started when I worked in a paper mill to earn money for college. I worked with several men who took great pride in doing excellent work. It wasn't rocket science; in fact, the man I admired most at the mill had barely finished the eighth grade - but he was responsible for keeping steam running to all the paper machines. He did that job well, was admired for it, and from him I learned many life lessons. The most important lesson was that doing a job well can be a source of great satisfaction in itself.

Another lesson I learned in that paper mill was that leaders are determined by their followers and not by their job titles. Many are given positions of leadership but fail to be leaders. I like what John C. Maxwell has to say about this: ".job titles don't have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes from influence and that can't be mandated." This comes from Maxwell's book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership."

What Makes a Leader?

We've all met or worked with someone who is more knowledgeable or more competent than others in similar jobs and is admired for it. Often this person has considerable influence on the job. Others might go to this individual for advice or ask for an opinion of the latest memo "from on high" before forming their own opinion. These people are leaders. Others follow their lead. That's what determines a leader.

I worked with such a leader not long ago. He was one of several engineers with similar responsibilities but because he had a passion for his work, had a deeper and stronger knowledge of the field than anyone else, and because he was selflessly loyal to the organization, others respected his judgments. In his work with us on an Action Learning team, it soon became clear that most of the team members listened to his views and almost always followed his lead. Even though his boss was on the very same team, this man was the real leader on the technical part of the team.

Now, I realize that many of you who are reading this are in positions of leadership and may be wondering right about now what I am saying to you. First off, I'm not saying that it's impossible to be a leader if you're in a position of leadership. Far from it. In most cases, someone gets into such a position by having a passion for their work. What I hope you'll take away from this is the knowledge that your passion for what you do is an important part of who you are and it's an essential element in being a good leader.

Secondly, I hope you'll take a few minutes to think about those who work for you. Do you have anyone (or several) working for you who is influential due to his or her knowledge, skill, talent, and passion but is not a manager? Does this person want to take on management responsibilities? If so, maybe it's time to think of ways to help him or her grow into such a role. Here are two more thoughts from John C. Maxwell: "A leader's lasting value is measured by succession." And "To add growth, lead followers; to multiply, lead leaders."

Finally, as we near the end of the year it's a good time to do some reflection on what we have learned and on what we're going to do to leverage that learning for the future. I'd like to suggest that you also reflect a little on your passion for your work. In there you will find the foundation of your ability to lead.

I wish you well in your reflection and in your future growth.

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