Tag Passionate

Where Passion Comes From

Steve Keating 7 Comments

I enjoy seeing and working with people who are passionate about what they do. Their passion and the enthusiasm it creates is contagious.

 

Passion can be a twin-edged sword however when it’s allowed to overflow into emotional outbursts. You should never use your passion as an excuse for losing control of your emotions. I’ve often heard people apologize by saying, “sorry I got upset and yelled, it’s just that I’m passionate about this.” When passion becomes an excuse it loses its power to make things happen.

 

But overall, I love passion. When people are passionate about what they do it shows in how they do it. Passionate people are the ones who make a positive difference in the lives of other people. It’s by making that difference that they make the world a better place too.

 

Passion comes from knowing. Do not expect people to be passionate about the things they know little or nothing about.

 

That little piece of advice in the last sentence helps keep me from being overly frustrated when working with people who don’t give a darn about their work, their company, their customers or their coworkers. 

 

They have never invested the time required to develop the empathy that comes from knowing other points of view. They have empathy for what they know and they only know themselves. 

 

While it’s frustrating to work with people who don’t care, especially when you do, you can’t make the mistake of allowing their lack of passion to suck the passion out of you. 

 

You will need to “re-dream your dream” from time to time. Consider where your passion originally came from and revisit that place often. 


Never lose your passion for what you do and the positive affect it has on people. Remember that when the positive passion goes out the door your positive attitude won’t be far behind. 

Is “Passion” Just an Excuse?

Steve Keating 10 Comments

Would you describe yourself as a passionate person? Passionate about your business, your industry, your job, or your people?

If you are, that is a good thing…. maybe.

I say maybe because too often people in leadership positions use “passion” as an excuse for losing control of their emotions. If you’ve never used the excuse you have certainly heard it, you know, the “sorry about losing my temper, but I’m “passionate” about this. Or, “sorry I called you an idiot but my “passion” for the project got the best of me.”

I’m going to say this as cleary as I can; Authentic Servant Leaders do not use passion as an excuse for losing control of their emotions.

When you lose control of your emotions you lose. You lose credibility, you lose trust, you lose productivity, you lose time, you lose respect. You may not lose them all but you lose at least some. If you lose them often enough you will also lose the ability to lead.

Let’s look at a very high level definition of passion and emotion. On the surface you are passionate about something; you get emotional about someone. But there’s a more fundamental difference between the two. Passion involves the mind; emotion, by definition, excludes mental judgments, at least sound mental judgments.

Passion drives people to action. A passionate football fan will be driven to study statistics, learn rosters, follow players on social media. They will devote significance time to knowing and understanding the game. Someone who is emotional about football might throw their beer at the TV when the quarterback for “their” team is intercepted late in a game.

Later, when shopping for a replacement TV it will be obvious that throwing the beer was a bad idea. However, at the emotional moment that it happened, practicing good judgment wasn’t even a thought. The guy explains the “unfortunate moment” to his wife by saying he is just a passionate fan.

It’s perfectly okay to be emotional, in fact, we have to be emotional to lead a full life. You need to be aware however that emotions often block your critical thinking skills. When you’re in a highly emotional state you’re thinking differently than when you’re not so emotional. That does not make you a weak leader, it makes you a human being.

The most effective leaders have passion. They also work to maintain control of their emotions when people around them are losing control of theirs. They allow a bit of time to come between their emotions and their decisions.

Authentic Servant Leaders do not make rash emotional decisions. Yes, they will allow emotions to “inform” their decisions but that is far different than making a raw emotional decision.

When you understand the difference between mindful passion and mindless emotion you will be more likely to positively influence the people you lead.

So go ahead, be passionate, be emotional and especially be aware of the difference between the two!