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The Passionate Organization

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: Book Review -- Igniting the Fire of Employee Commitment by James R. Lucas; AMACOM, American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019; May 1999; 240 pages

The Passionate Organization

What gets you into the office every morning? What stokes the fires of inspiration in your staff? What makes you and your people go the extra mile for your management, your client?

A paycheck?

If that’s your answer to all of these questions your organization has a problem, you’ve got a problem and your staff has a problem.

In the past six months there has been a rash of articles on a new trend we’ll call soft-touch management. They contrast the dictatorial styles of HP’s Carly Fiorina with the softer styles of GE’s Jeff Immelt, IBM’s Sam Palmisano, EMC’s Joe Tucci, Pfizer’s Henry McKinnell and Baxter International’s Harry Kraemer. They wonder aloud if she can bridge the chasm between the executive office and employees.

If you read Business Week’s and Fortune’s analysis of top 100 or top 50 companies in the past six months you’ll notice major emphasis is being placed on soft management attributes like open communications, availability and building trust.

The shift drove us to examine some of the new wave of management guidance books. The best we’ve seen -- in our opinion -- is Lucas’ Passionate Organization.

These books are must reading for PR people because they will help you counsel and support your management. Along the way they can help you reinvigorate your enthusiasm and commitment to your organization.

Lucas’ advice is to use influence rather than authority to accomplish corporate goals. His reasoning is that the kinder, gentler trend is needed because it is becoming obvious that even with great products, capital resources, reputation, skilled employees and planning companies fail. They fail because they lack passion.

Lucas points out that there is a difference in an employee showing up or work and one that is committed to focusing their minds and spirits to the company’s goals. To motivate people you have to go beyond performance reviews, employee manuals and monetary rewards.

One of your key challenges in the years ahead will be advising and helping your management harness the passion of employees…to lead rather than manage. It’s important because no one likes to go to a workplace every day that is bland, one that is stagnant or worse yet one that has the stench of death hanging over it.

It’s important today because employees have options. There are opportunities galore for those people who have the fire in their gut to contribute. If they can’t do it in their present organization they’ll go elsewhere because as we all know the most valuable asset a company has today is its human resources.

In the book, Lucas explains how a committed, passionate workforce can:
- make shifts and leaps that strategic planning can’t envision
- fight to achieve the organization’s mission
- bring continuous improvement, creating and innovation to their work
- enjoy a more fulfilling life -- personally and professionally -- by committing to something greater than themselves.

Passion makes it fun to come into work. Passion can help drive company teams and individuals to achieve even beyond their own normal abilities. Passion will beat out a smarter and better-financed organization. Passion delivers the success that everyone in the firm can share and enjoy.

Lucas does an excellent job of inspiring the reader. When you finish the book you want to share it so every manager you work with knows the key to making the company succeed.

We’ve gone through the search for excellence cycle. We’ve outlived the Six Sigma efforts. We’ve surpassed the management by objective period. We’ve reached the point where corporate management has come to understand that involved employees have a sense of ownership for the business. They want to win!

If you want to develop the competitive advantage for your company -- and yourself -- The Passionate Organization will help you turn your firm’s and your strategic plans into tangible results. This is a book that’s not only enjoyable to read but is also enjoyable to share with people in your organization -- especially your CEO who might be groping for the magic key!

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