Do you recognize this situation: you are watching someone who is completely in the zone, doing what they love, and it’s mesmerizing? Or you listen to someone enthusiastically talking about a subject, and you are unable to turn your head away because it sounds as if this is the most interesting subject on the planet?
This is passion in action!
In this blog post, I will explore the importance of passion at work and why leaders should seek to understand their employees’ passion, and how to unlock their best performance.
I personally find that understanding and talking about passion at work, is one of the most underrated things and we are not spending enough time to dig into the reasons we and others in our team get excited about when getting up in the morning.
We all have our unique passions and sense of purpose which we each bring to the table. We may experience a sense of connection, when we share a passion with someone and get a conversation going about the topic that both excites us so much.
Passion fuels motivation and creativity, driving employees to go the extra mile and overcome obstacles. A passionate workforce is more engaged, innovative, and adaptable, which translates to increased productivity and growth for the company. In contrast, a lack of passion can lead to burnout, high turnover rates, and subpar performance.
When employees feel a sense of purpose and excited about what they are doing, they are more likely to enjoy their work and be committed to the organization’s goals. This fosters a positive work culture, which not only benefits the employees themselves but also attracts top talent in the industry.
“Passion is the difference between giving up and sticking with it!”
Here is a short summary of why leaders should understand their employees’ passions:
- Improved communication and collaboration: When leaders understand what drives their employees, they can better communicate with them, set meaningful goals which align both with the employees drivers and the organization’s objectives. This leads to stronger and a more empathic collaboration and ultimately to more effective teamwork.
- Increased employee engagement and retention: Employees who feel that their passions and purpose are recognized and valued by their leaders are more likely to stay engaged and remain with the company long-term. This will retain the expertise and know how in your team, reduce turnover costs and ensures a stable, motivated workforce.
- Enhanced innovation and problem-solving: Passionate employees are more likely to come up with creative solutions to challenges, think outside the box, and take calculated risks. By tapping into the passion of their workforce, leaders can foster a culture of innovation that drives the company forward. Side note here: this goes hand in hand with creating a safe environment in the team, where mistakes and failure are managed well. If someone has a passion for solving problems, and I can speak from my own point of view here as I am one of those people, an environment where improvements and solutions are encouraged, is crucial for these employees to thrive. If someone who is passionate about solving problems is discouraged to improve things and just go along with dissatisfactory ways, because “this is the way it was always done” or “there isn’t anything we can or want to do about it”, you can be sure that these people will get frustrated real fast.
“Imagine passion as a scale: on one end there is performance – on the other frustration.”
- Personal and professional growth: When employees are encouraged to pursue their passions, they are more likely to seek out opportunities for growth, both personally and professionally. This not only benefits the individual but also contributes to the company’s success by providing a pool of skilled and knowledgeable talent.
How is passion connected to performance?
Strong performance in any field is about dedication, repetition and hard work. Yes, I know there may be the occasional lucky punch. But in 99% of the cases, strong results are about doing something many times, proactively try and get better at it and over time create experience and skill in doing it.
There are man studies that confirm a good paycheck, a title and other perks may motivate you to constantly go the extra mile for a few months. But what makes a person go the extra mile over and over and over again? You guessed it: being passionate about something!
So it’s a no-brainer really: if you understand what someone is passionate about and manage to connect that to their job and their performance – you’ll have yourself a winner.
And that is why putting in the time and empathy to understand the passions and sense of purpose of your employees is an invaluable leadership skill in todays time. Because it will ensure results, for both your employee and your company.
