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Passion
ENCOURAGE IT

Ponder this: Do you know what gets them up every morning?

What do your talented people love most about their jobs? And what are you doing to help them do more of the work they’re passionate about and less of the work they dislike?

Passion for work means that people find what they do to be so exciting that it sometimes doesn’t even feel like work—so exciting that it brings exhilaration, a “high.” Granted, even those who have this passion seldom have it every day, but they do know that feeling, and they know when they lose it.

Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

—Confucius

People Are Passionate

Do you know what your employees are passionate about? When we asked dozens of people about their work passions, here is some of what we heard:

• “I love creating something new, something no one has ever seen or even imagined before.”

• “I get a kick out of working on such an elite team. There is so much brilliance here.”

• “I love drawing, welding, building something.”

• “I love numbers. I’d rather work with them than with people.”

• “I really get excited when I discover a new rule in math.”

• “I love to help someone get better at something and get happier in the process.”

• “I love managing others. What a kick it is to motivate and guide a team to do great things.”

• “My passion is turnaround—taking something that is broken and fixing it.”

• “I love being part of a great company that is doing important work.”

A common theme surfaces among these diverse answers: When people are doing what they love, they are at their best. If you help connect your employees’ passions to their jobs, you and they will reap the rewards.

Passions are wired into the real world more directly than our workday routines are. If you love something, you’ll bring so much of yourself to it that it will create your future.

—Francis Ford Coppola

Uncover and Discover

So what can you do to help people find work that engages them deeply? First, ask. Ask several ways because people respond differently to different words. Try, “What work do you really love to do?” or “What are you passionate about?” or “What gives you the greatest thrill or kicks at work?” or “Are you doing what you choose to do?” (This question came from a colleague in Singapore, where the word passion doesn’t quite capture the concept.)

As they answer, dig a little deeper. Then think creatively about how you might put their passions to work.

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Each month, our country leaders meet virtually and brainstorm—the idea is to re-create the passion and fanaticism we had when everyone could sit around one table. Each leader is responsible for communicating what we’ve discussed to his or her group and for kindling their enthusiasm, too.

—Founder, international pharmaceutical company

When was the last time you pulled your team together to ask for their ideas and to encourage them to build on one another’s creativity? When did you sit down with one of your own team members and think together? Employees love the opportunity to think aloud with their managers; they want to “blue sky” occasionally. Do you know who wants this most? Who is most nourished by this kind of interaction? Have you made time for it? Have you made time for them?

When one manager had the “passion conversation” with his employee, here is how it went:

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Marta was feeling pretty bored with her job. She’d been doing the same work for years, and the thrill was gone. She had even been thinking of leaving. She poured herself into the new project, teamed with colleagues, and turned out a first-rate newsletter. Her teammates and boss praised her and were astounded at her accomplishment.

Since that event, Marta has expanded her job to include multiple graphic arts projects. Her boss worked with her to restructure her job so that some of her former duties went to other people. Marta’s energy and productivity have soared, and she wakes up eager to go to work. The key to her renewed enthusiasm is that her boss collaborated with her to uncover and then capitalize on her passion.

What if passion lies outside work? Some people are more passionate about skiing or about their children than about their work. What do you do then? Think about how the workplace might allow them to do more of what they love. Telecommuting, flextime, and on-site daycare centers are all strategies that support people’s passions.

I can’t imagine leaving this job. The day-to-day work is good and the team is great. But one of the best aspects of my job is that some of us go skiing most Fridays. We work hard all week to get the work done. We sometimes work evenings and even on the weekend when necessary. Then we take off. Skiing is my passion and this job allows me to enjoy it every week. How many of those jobs are there?

—Accountant, software company

This highly productive employee will continue to produce for his boss and team. That’s the payback for his manager’s flexibility.

Passion Igniters

Most managers need a little help building passionate teams. Here are a few passion igniters to consider:

Hire for Passion

Why not select for passion in the first place? Find out if the candidate has a passion for making a difference or for your company’s product or service. What about a passion for the work your unit does, or for working on a team? If you build a team of passionate people, they’ll not only produce for you—they’ll actually help retain each other.

Show Your Passion

Share the passion you have for the work with your team. Your actions model what you expect from others.

The leader of a fast-growing financial corporation spoke to his regional leaders at a recent conference. When he walked into the room, he received a thunderous standing ovation. His talk was about the challenges and successes of the company—and focused largely on the role of people in the success equation. Midway through his speech, he said, “It’s all about product, processes, and people. Without the people, all we have is an empty building—nothing else.” In his closing remarks, he said, “I love this company. And I love the people in it!” The place exploded.

This leader feels passionate about his work and the people he leads. And he’s not afraid to show it.

Share a Meaningful Mission

What if you shifted from maximizing profit to maximizing purpose? What if you could help employees fall in love with your company’s agenda?

Speaking of agenda—what is yours? Why does your team or organization exist? What is your mission? Share that mission with your employees. Then, clearly link employees’ work to the mission. Tell them how their work contributes to it. Tell them how critical they are to you, to the mission of the team, and to the organization.

I’ve been the janitor and maintenance expert here for 30 years. We take care of older people who need nursing care and help with their daily living. They deserve the best after all they have done and given in their lives. I love my work. I help make this building beautiful and safe for the people who work here and the people who live here. The director here gave me an award for my service and told everyone how critical I am to serving our residents. That award hangs on my wall at home.

—Maintenance expert, nursing home

This man is crystal-clear about the value of his work. The mission of the organization is the reason for his being there, and it inspires him.

Passion Busters

Sometimes the fire is there at the beginning, and it just plain goes out. People with passion can burn out if someone or something smothers their passion. They can also move to a place where their passion can be rekindled!

Organizational Constraints

Which organizational constraints prevent you from giving your employees different work or more of the kind of work they love? The list is often lengthy. Some people just call the constraints “reality.” You might think that in reality we don’t have enough of the following:

• Time—We barely have time to do our jobs, let alone help our people find work they love.

• Money—The organization just slashed budgets again. We have no money for extras.

• Staff—We laid off the human resources expert who helped me match employees to meaningful community outreach projects. I don’t know how to make those links, even if I had the time.

• Management support—My manager is in the same spot I’m in: not enough time, money, or staff.

• __________________________ (fill in the blank)

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These constraints may be real. But remember, if you don’t help your talented employees find work they love in your organization, you will lose them. Do you have enough time, money, and staff to deal with their loss and replacement?

People Change

Think about it. Do you love the same things you loved 10 years ago? Or do you have some new passions?

Sometimes passion stops because people change. I have a collection of unread books on topics I used to be very interested in—and am not now. Passion found another avenue for expression.

—A reviewer for this book

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This is why the “stay interview” is so important and why you need to have these conversations regularly, with anyone you hope to keep on your team. Their passions might change; and when the thrill is gone, they could be, too. Ask your talented people what’s new. And then explore together what could be new!

Self-Interest

When you help your best employees uncover and pursue their passions, they may need to leave you to pursue those dreams. Out of self-interest (sometimes team interest), you might tend to avoid the passion discussion. Yet, your odds of keeping those people are better when you collaborate with them to find exciting, meaningful work right where they are.

My passion was the volunteer work I was doing in my community. I spent evenings and weekends with a group that was working with inner-city kids in Los Angeles. We were mentoring them and providing safe playgrounds and educational opportunities. At work I honestly just showed up, did the minimum, and then shot out of there at 5:00 p.m. sharp. I sat down with my boss one day and described the volunteer work I was doing and how much it meant to me. He had a brilliant idea. He said that his boss had told him that the organization was committing to some new community outreach programs and that they were thinking of creating a new role in the organization. The next thing I knew, I became the director of community projects for our corporation. My work and my passion are now one and the same. As long as I can do this, I will never leave this organization!

—Director, entertainment company

The boss lost this employee from the team (it was inevitable) but saved him—and his passion—for the organization.

In the closing remarks of his book What Should I Do with My Life? Po Bronson tells the story of being invited by Michael Dell of Dell Computer to participate on a panel at a gathering of the Business Council, a group of more than 100 CEOs from some of the biggest companies in the country. The panel was asked a great question: “What do employees want? What would it take to get more commitment out of them, more ideas out of them, more value out of them?”

Bronson answered this way:

They want to find work they’re passionate about. Offering benefits and incentives are mere compromises. Educating people is important but not enough—far too many of our most educated people are operating at quarter-speed, unsure of their place in the world, contributing too little to the productive engine of modern civilization, still feeling like observers, like they haven’t come close to living up to their potential. Our guidance needs to be better. We need to encourage people to find their sweet spot. Productivity explodes when people love what they do.³⁸

Bottom Line

People who do what they love usually do it very well. If passion is missing at work, your best people may not bring their best to work. So collaborate with them to uncover and discover what they love to do. Link them and their work to your mission, and help them remove the barriers to doing what they love. You’ll gain enthusiastic employees who will stay engaged and productive—and on your team.