Lead Passionately!
I have been so looking forward to writing this article because as a leadership and life coach, one of my favorite clients to coach is the one who is trying to discover their passion. They’ve gotten “stuck” and want more from life. A great little Sunday afternoon read is called “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson. It is the parable of “Ordinary” who lives in the “Land of Familiar” and one day, he takes the adventure of his lifetime to discover and pursue “his big dream.” As a coach, it is such a thrill to walk with someone on THEIR journey outside their “Land of Familiar” and watch as they begin to not only discover, but also act upon their big dream.
We all get caught up in the routine of living, and I believe it becomes more about the “routine” and less about the “living.” I certainly am guilty of that. Last night, I watched a great movie called “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” [starring Dustin Hoffman, 2007] and in it is one of the best quotes…Mr. Magorium says to his protégée, Mahoney, “Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.” I believe that is the challenge to us all!
I truly believe that every person has the opportunity and responsibility to rise to their occasion, but as leaders, it is far more important. First and foremost, how can we lead if we have not yet risen to our occasion? Second, as a leader, by definition, others are following us and we owe it to them – to their rising – to give them a high standard to follow. And third, it is much more difficult to help another rise to their occasion and lead by walking along side them on their journey outside their “Land of Familiar” if you’ve not “fought the bullies” yourself. I am reminded of a comical quote that is often used… “do as I say, not as I do” …sorry, Leaders, but if you have not already discovered it – that doesn’t often work. They may follow, but it is most certainly out of a sense of obligation and not respect!
With all this said, we get down to the crux of the matter…how do you Lead Passionately? By first discovering what YOU are passionate about. What is YOUR big dream? For years, I had a quote taped to the inside of my Daytimer [in case you’re too young to remember what that is, it is a paper version of your PDA] that read “find what you love to do so much that you’d do it for free…then figure out how to get paid for it.” After all these years, I don’t even remember where I read it or who said it – and Google didn’t help – but I do remember what it said and have asked it many a time to myself, friends, family, colleagues, and clients. After 40 years…I do know and I am doing it!
The process to discovery is easy, but the journey may be difficult; and at times, long. For you see, as you begin to explore what your passion is, if you’re like most, you are faced with the challenge of balancing your current employment and job with this passion. I am not at all advocating that you go in tomorrow and quit your job! But I am encouraging you to begin to put some time into the process of discovery. Once you discover your passion, it becomes easier to pursue it and pursue it even within the confines of your current job. You could simply add a couple of tasks to your job (with your boss’s knowledge and blessing, of course) that will aid in the pursuit of your passion. You may find a way to volunteer at your passion. My best friend of 25 years absolutely loves live theater and he is quite talented in it. He also has a very good-paying job. How does he “marry” these two? He works his daily job and pays the bills to live, but enjoys living by being involved in several community theater productions each year. Will he ever leave the corporate paying world to give full-time to his theater passion? We’ll have to wait to see. Is he an effective leader because he is pursuing his passion – Absolutely! Both in the corporate world, as well as in other areas of his life – he lives and leads passionately.
If you believe that people, including you, do their best at and enjoy the most of that which they are passionate about, then discovering WHAT that is, will accomplish many things:
1. Allow you to “rise to YOUR occasion.”
2. Allow you to lead passionately, since you are LIVING passionately.
3. Most assuredly, allow you to make an impact on those around you; leave your legacy.
Last month, we talked about the importance of a “leadership audit” and I challenged you to take an informal attitude assessment of yourself and your leaders…how’d you do? What kind of attitude did you discover – I would love to hear your feedback on this challenge.
This month, I challenge you again:
- Discover YOUR passion and big dream. Read Wilkinson’s book “The Dream Giver.”
- As you are having those more intentional face-to-face conversations with your employees, begin to challenge them to discover THEIR passion and Big Dream. Then, find a way to help incorporate that into their current job. Let’s see if their work attitude improves.
- Do you want to discover your passion and Big Dream? Send me an e-mail and we’ll do a short book club with “The Dream Giver” at a local coffee shop. [Visit our website: www.InspiredToLead.com.]
