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Passion - The Great Differentiator

Written by: James R. Lucas

Article Overview: Imagine that there is a cornerstone on which all performance-driven organizations are built. A cornerstone that–if you placed it–would ensure that your team or organization relentlessly delivered top-tier results. What would that cornerstone be? Based on "The Passion Principle: Designing a Passionate Organization", the first book in the "Passionate Lives and Leaders" Series, this article will show you that there are many components of success, but only one that’s not optional: Passion.

Passion - The Great Differentiator

Imagine that there is a cornerstone on which all performance-driven organizations are built. A cornerstone that-if you placed it-would ensure that your team or organization relentlessly delivered top-tier results. What would that cornerstone be?

There are many components of success, but only one that's not optional: Passion.

You can have great ideas, terrific people, plenty of money, a sound strategy - but still fail if there isn't enough passion to succeed. And you can be short on some of these other materials but still build an outstanding organization, if you have enough passion to maximize the opportunity and minimize the deficiencies. Passion is the Great Differentiator, in both individuals and in organizations.

Imagine the difference. Suppose we have two competing organizations, each of which employs five hundred people with equal educations, experiences, talents, and skills. One organization finds a way to unleash the passionate commitment of its people-and the other does not. At Luman International, our 25 years of experience and research with hundreds of organizations tell us this: when these two organizations meet in competition, the one with passionate commitment will destroy its competitor.

This is the power of passion.

The Passion Principle

Passion is not a mere frenzy of emotion or activity. Passion is a choice. It's a fierce commitment to adding value. It's the intense creativity summoned to achieve a worthy goal.

Passion goes far beyond commonplace ideas like "satisfaction" or "engagement"-the obsession of many organizations and the advantage of none. Passion exists at the core of meaning and purpose: Why am I working here? What are we trying to accomplish? What difference will it make? What can we do that no one else can do? What legacy can I leave behind me?

Passionate organizations have passionate people acting together toward a vision that stirs them. Passion gives people focus and drive, credibility and persuasiveness. Passion is contagious, elevating everyone's game to a much higher level.

Organizations desperately need leaders who will clear out the illusions, control, rigid structures, and pettiness that too often stand in the way of passion and commitment.

A senior leader from Boeing told us, "Passion for most organizations is a black hole. They know that they need it, know that they don't have it, and don't know how to get it." The CEO of one of the largest North American railroads admitted, "My biggest worry is that I don't know how to win the hearts and minds of our people."

Passion says, "I believe in this. I own this. I think about it even when I'm not on the clock. I know we can do this better than anyone else can. I hate mediocrity, ‘good enough,' dead meetings, and the lowest common denominator. I want work to be more than a paycheck and benefits and a place to wait for weekends, vacation, and retirement. I want to be totally committed to something worth doing."

It doesn't take long to detect passion. It stands out like a rainbow in a dull gray sky.

Defining Passion for Yourself

Before we get any further, take a few minutes and jot down a few sentences or key words that define the word "passion" for you.

How Prevalent Is Passion?

You've perhaps had the thoughts: "This organization isn't passionate. My team isn't passionate. The people around me aren't as passionate as I am."

Passion and commitment are critical for success, but we don't see much of either one in most organizations.

Think about this: in a joint survey of 755 organizations by Luman International and the American Management Association (AMA), respondents rated the levels of passion in their organization. Here's what we found:

Passion Level by Position

Respondents rated only 60 percent of their senior leaders as highly passionate. Is it a wonder that so many organizations flounder and go out of business? How can any organization succeed if its senior leaders aren't even passionate about it?

The numbers drop off the cliff as we go deeper into the organization. The most telling point? By the time we get down to front-line workers, only 6 percent are rated as having a very high level of passion. In most organizations, this is where the mass of the people reside! This means that 94 percent of our people could take us or leave us.

Importance of Drivers of High Performance

In the same survey, these respondents were asked to rate the biggest drivers of high performance in their organizations. They were given an array of items to rate.

Strategic planning came in second to having a committed workforce. Over three fourths of the respondents rated a committed workforce as "Very High" in importance, while less than two thirds rated strategic planning as "Very High" in importance.

To put it bluntly, most of these respondents believe that a committed workforce is not just a nice indicator of our leadership style or our relationships with our people. A committed workforce is the difference between high performance and mediocre performance-or disaster.

How people rated their own organizations on these drivers is stunning. Just over a third scored their organizations as "Very High" on building a committed workforce. Only a fifth thought their organizations were doing a great job of strategic planning, and less than that on setting goals with measurement. The terrible numbers on two motivational standbys-reward/recognition and compensation/ benefits-should finally put to rest the illusions so many have on how well these are being used. After all of the years organizations have spent building these programs, less than 15% of people in these 755 organizations saw their reward and recognition programs or their compensation and benefits as contributing to high performance.

The lesson is clear: Focus first and foremost on building a passionate, committed workforce.

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Article Tags: competitor, cornerstone, deficiencies, differentiator, driven organizations, educations, emotion, five hundred people, frenzy, intense creativity, legacy, luman, obsession, outstanding organization, passionate commitment, power of passion, principle, sound strategy, talents, worthy goal



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