That “P-word” is so obvious in some companies that when you walk into their corporate office foyer, you don’t need a dictionary to understand how to spell it, nor a thesaurus to interpret what it means, you can just sense and feel it. Yes, that “P-word” is “Passion”.
No, I’m not talking that form of “passion” where you see employees drooling over each other in lustful scenarios that may embarrass the observer. I’m referring to that enthusiastic and contagious behaviour that permeates within an organization that has that right mix of employee engagement and a personal and committed belief in the future growth of the business.
In the September 2014 edition of The Australian Financial Review “Boss” Magazine, there is an article that lists “The Best Places to Work”. As you read about each of these top 25 companies, the word “passion” is very apparent and is a consistent underlying theme in all of them.
So, how does one achieve “passion” in business? To me, it’s quite simple. Forget all your HR and other detailed analyses of employee engagement strategy pontification, let’s just focus on the basics.
According to the Free Dictionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/passion):
Passion: A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger
The key in this definition are the words “powerful emotion”. When you are really passionate about someone, your have an intense and powerful desire to be with them, to see them, to have them continually in your life. The experience benefits you and you want more and more of the encounter. It is a bit like a drug that you want to continually consume.
Unfortunately, many employees don’t have any passion in their jobs and want to get out of the office as quickly as possible. So who is the blame for this passion abstinence? No, in the majority of cases it’s not the employee, but the employer.
Most corporate organizations have the best intentions in trying to motivate and inspire their employees. However, employees seem to have an inbuilt “Bollocks Meter” that measures whether the senior management team are sincere, walking the talk, or just going through the motions with yet another passing fad that will soon diminish with time.
Corporate passion can’t be bought. It needs to be lived and exemplified in all activities of the business. The passion crux is when employees want to be at work as they believe that it benefits their own well-being, those around them, and their customers. If the business is just transactional, then passion has minimal hope in succeeding.
Yes…..it’s all about the passion!
Thoughts that might just be useful in the future 
Tammy Livers
/ September 13, 2014Reblogged this on crashtheglass and commented:
Very true! Passion and Persistence are written on the golden ticket.
boxologist
/ September 14, 2014Hi Steve, I agree that passion is a learned and imitated state of mind. To be imitated it needs to be seen in all aspects of daily life including how business is done and how the business reacts to adversity. If passion is seen all the time there is no need for a manual or PPD (passion personal development).
Steven Cramer
/ September 14, 2014PPD….I like it!!
Liz
/ September 25, 2014Agreed! That one word is the reason I do what I do. And we’d all do well to follow our passions 🙂
Looks like you’ve been busy, Steven. I have some catch-up to do!
Steven Cramer
/ September 25, 2014Thanks Liz, great to hear from you! Love your recipes btw!