Passion… what is it? Where does it come from? How do you recognize it? Do you have it?
Systems… what are they? Where do they come from? How do you recognize them? Do you have them?
The new paradigm of leadership is forgetting about the 1-man show. It is about each and every person leading, regardless of position. It is about moving people beyond a “job description” and into a “pursuit description”. It’s about finding what makes a person rave and telling them to fix, build, or promote it. It’s rooted in releasing people and their passion. It’s about challenge, it’s about development, it’s about purpose, and most importantly it’s about people!
The problem lies in what we see as passion and how we think about getting passion out of people.
Passion without systems is hot air. Systems without passion is death.
This is going to be a 2 or 3 part post over the next several days so I want to challenge you to really read and confront yourself with the following material.
Lets start by “defining” passion. I’m not as concerned with the actual definition of the word, as I am in how we define a person’s passion. I define people by their passion, therefore it is very important to me that I be able to “read” what their passion is.
So how do we do this? I certainly believe that their can be a component that is directly tied to a “spiritual” connection and ability to read people, but I want to focus on physical and practical ways for defining a person’s passion.
The first thing to ask is … are they passionate? The following is a list of things to look for that should tell you if a person is passionate.
Do they ever get angry about something? A person who never gets angry is a person who has no passion. If I truly value something and am passionate about it, I will be gutsy enough about it to pay the price of being angry about it. There will be some part of me that is determined to “take on the world” over it if I need to. Think of it this way; have you ever seen a good husband who just let people call his wife fat in front of him? Of course not, because he is passionate about the fact that he finds her beautiful, and he will quickly let you know that you are wrong… because he is passionate about her. So what makes you and those you lead angry?
Secondly, do you think they are cocky? I find that people who are passionate about a thing, are not afraid to take ownership of it. Therefore, they will come across to most people as cocky and arrogant. People will call them brash and arrogant. Passionate people ooze a intimidating confidence in the things they are passionate about. So do people call you and your team cocky?
Finally, passionate people seem “hard to approach”. I am yet to find a passionate person who is “easy” for a random person to approach. It doesn’t mean that they are hard to talk to or even hard to reach, it means that their dedication to their cause scares most people. We think that we can only talk to passionate people about their passions. Because we aren’t passionate about the same things (if anything) then we find them distant. Their passions dominate their time, therefore, if you aren’t passionate about the same things that they are, then you will think they are avoiding you and that they always have something else to do. You will think they run away from you and avoid relationship, when really they are consumed by their passion.
We’ve just begun to touch the tip of the iceberg on this. We’ve just started to discover the characteristics of a passionate person. I think this is going to end up a 3 day post. Tomorrow we will talk about how to identify a person’s specific passions. Then on Monday, I will try to conclude by discussing systems for releasing passionate people (who knows… this may not fit on one day either).
As far as comments go, you know that they are always welcome… try not to get too far ahead… leave your comments on what has been posted today and any thoughts it has sparked, but know that more is coming too. On the last day if you have further questions that are lingering (which I hope you do) feel free to blast away!
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8 comments:
Why should I care what someone is passionate about? Why should I bother to "read" them? IF they are really passionate, then it will be obvious. I understand that as leaders we must be able to recognize passion in our teammates, but other than that...why?
Your criteria for being passionate is rather narrow. The most passionate person I know is not cocky, or hard to approach from my point of view.
How do you define passion? And who are you to define passion? Can't passion be displayed in a variety of ways? How do you know the way that you personally display passion is the only way?
I have another question also, why do you define people? "...but I want to focus on physical and practical ways for defining a person's passion." What is the purpose of defining people? I understand respecting someone, seeing their gifts, drawing things out of them, but why would I get to define someone???
I want to see the other posts, but I really wanted to ask these questions. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself... and maybe you are.
Wow, let me start by saying thanks for the great comments so far. Some are stirring future posts that will reflect more but I will try to give at least a brief answer here.
I am sensing from several of you that it is "wrong" for me to define someone. I think that to lead people effectively you have to be willing to do this. Not that I am saying that is all they can be, or all they will be, but open, honest, and robust dialogue about where those I"m leading really are is a key piece to me leading them. For two long we have tried to be politically correct and culturally sensitive and it has led to institutions where we beat around the bush and never treat people with reality. It is crucial that I be able to "read" a person and their passions. I will talk more about "fake passions tommorow", but real passion cannot be hidden. The fact is that what most people think of as "obvious" passion isn't neccesarily passion but can be performance.
Secondly, understand that the way I descbribe passionate people is based on the common was people see those words. For example... I don't think passionate people are truly cocky, I think they are confident, however everyone else will describe them by their standards as cocky. I DO think that anger is a key to passion. These people don't go around angry all the time, but they aren't afraid to get angry about their passion. I"m not excusing rudeness, but I will redefine it. There is much more to come in the future on this, but most people deny who they are really designed to be under the guise of "politeness" and political correctness.
I hope this at least gives you a start... Stay tuned for more!
I definitely agree that there has been a facade for way too long. And I see where you are coming from as a leader, you need to define people sometimes. But for the most part, I try not to walk around in life, categorizing everyone by my limitations for them. My job, as a leader, is not for ME to define someone, but to help them define their selves. "Self-discovery." And once they discover the person they really are, then they can move beyond that.
I do agree that anger is an outward expression of passion. But I still do not agree that every passionate person seems "cocky" or "hard to approach."
I am excited to see you post today. I know it will be good.
Think of someone who is passionate that couldn't be characterized as being cocky. I'm not saying that they are... I'm saying they are "called" cocky. Anyone who is passionate is secure in some way. Because they have backbone, then people say they are arrogant and hard. They say that they are cocky. The truth is that they can back it up, so it really is just confidence, but in most people's eyes it is seen as cockiness.
As far as being hard to approach, it is the same way. Confident people radically intimidate others. Not intentionally, but insecure people become threatened by a secure person. Therefore a passionate person who is willing to pay a higher price than someone else WILL distance themselves through their committment to their cause. Sometimes this distance is even real! Think about leaders such as John Maxwell or Tom Peters, they are extremely hard to approach. Not because they don't like people, but because most people are willing to be as sold out to their cause as they are. Most people won't stay up every night to write a book, most people won't endure the criticism of the entire business world to make a statement, most people have no backbone and because of that the ones who do are so far away from them that they are "distant" and people say that "they can't relate".
I know leadership in my life is "cocky" and "arrogant". And I value the fact that they have enough evidence in their life to come across that way. They often feel unapproachable to me, because their level of committment scares me. However, it is overcoming these feelings that will create the pursuit neccesary to become like them. To me, anyone who can't be classified by someone as "cocky", may be successful but not passionate and their is a big difference.
What do you do when you have silenced the passion inside of you for so long that a pain arises to the point you cannot subside it anymore? I have lived in fear that I may not be liked or may not be approved of but then something arises in me that can not be contained it can not be silenced any longer. If one has a passion inside them that is so strong it will rise above everything else, and it will not matter who or what but you will rise you will make room, Because when you are truely passionate about something nothing can stop you. It can only be hidden for a period of time and then there will be a point of no return.
Good argument for your case. I think SOME passionate people appear to be "cocky" and "hard to approach". I am just unwilling to accept that EVERY passionate person has to be that way. I even think that I am perceived that way, alot of the time. (Hard to approach, mainly.) And I know that I am passionate. But if I try to fit every person in my life into those three categories for being passionate, then I believe I am limiting myself and them. Maybe I am wrong? But I do not think you can break "defining passionate people" down into three categories, put it into a nice, neat box, and present it to everyone.
Seems to me that there is some discretion between BEING passionate and APPEARING passionate. I think that's where I'm confused.
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