The Power of Passion.
I can’t recall being around as many people with a passion as I was last week at PodCamp NYC. It was delight to be around such positive energy and so many friendly folks sharing ideas and information about podcasting.
In his visionary book, The Pursuit of Wow, Tom Peters describes why the only products with a future are those created by passionate people. A bold statement. And yet, in an equally fascinating book, How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success, by Lucinda Watson, it turns out that twenty-one of the country’s most successful CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and visionaries all share one powerful characteristic:
a passion for their work. There are dozens more books and articles with a similar theme.
According to former PepsiCo CEO, Don Kendall, “if you’re not excited as hell about what you’re doing, you’d better find something else. There’s no way you’re going to be successful if you’re not excited about what you’re doing.”
John Sculley, former CEO of both PepsiCo and Apple says, “I never really cared about making a lot of money. I was concerned about doing things that were interesting — things that would make a difference.” Adds Robert Mondavi of Mondavi Vineyard, “You must be passionate about what you do if you want to succeed and live a happy life. Find a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” After hearing testimonies like these, is it any wonder these people are successful?
If you look around it’s not hard to figure out who has passion, and who doesn’t. Those with passion exude a positive, attractive energy. Those who don’t, exude something quite the opposite — often a negativity which takes the form of rude behavior, arrogance, or plain boredom.
I’ve come to realize that a passionate person is also a powerful person. I’ll never forget a comment from ad guru, Tom McElligott, who was once asked the secret of his phenomenal success record in selling edgy creative work to clients. “It has nothing to do with selling,” explained McElligott, “it’s about passion.” He added, “Clients can sense if you truly believe in what you’re presenting, or not.” I have found the same to be true in my experience as well.
Whenever I meet new people I’m always curious about what they do. But I’m also curious about what they love. Rather than just ask the expected, “So, what do you do?” I often ask; “So, what’s your passion?” Try it sometime and see what happens. You’ll find that those unfortunate souls without a passion will give you a deer-in-the-headlights look before they suddenly excuse themselves for another drink. However, those with passion will light up and eagerly share their joy of traveling, or gardening, or Salsa dancing, or whatever it is they love doing. And, a lucky few will actually talk about their work.
Passion for your business or product certainly makes a powerful difference. But, it will mean little to your bottom line if you don’t do an exceptional job of attracting your prospects and getting them excited.