March 2004
What about passion?
"What about passion?" said a woman in the back of the room after I had given a presentation called The 5 Secrets of Business Success. Obviously ‘passion' was not one of the secrets and she thought it should have been.
There have been many books written on finding your passion and clearly when you work in an area that you are passionate about, the work seems easier and more fun. So why wasn't it one of the 5 secrets?
There are two reasons. First the word ‘passion' connotes a very strong emotion. To be passionate about something means you are really fired up about doing it. Some people are put off by that word. There are people who find the word describes an emotion that is too over the top for them. One attorney I worked with who had a successful practice told me she wasn't sure what she was ‘passionate' about. So at least in her case she was able to run a successful business without identifying her passion.
For me however passion seems to be a double-edged sword. With it you are excited about your work. But at the same time it can also envelop you so that you become blinded to the realities of your business.
As Michael Gerber says in The E-Myth Revisited every business must have someone who is the entrepreneur (the visionary), someone who is the manager (the practical one) and then someone who is the technician (the doer) For a sole practitioner one person functions at different times in all of those roles. The entrepreneur has the vision of where the business is going, the manager does the planning and creates order, and the technician does the work of the business (i.e. practices law, sells giftware, makes jewelry).
For those who are passionate about the work, the other two functions may be pushed into the background. If the owner wants only to do the work he/she is excited about doing, then who will run the business? Who will decide on the prices to be charged? Who will market the product/service? Who will collect the money for the product/service? Who will pay the bills? Who will keep the records for the business? Who will make sure the work gets done consistently month after month?
The owner can certainly hire people to do some of this work but then he/she must manage those people. No matter what there are multiple tasks for the business owner not just the one he/she is passionate about. Of course if the person is passionate about all facets of running a business then there is no problem!
So what does a person that is passionate about something do if he/she wants to have a business? One way to launch a business around that passion is to create a vision of your business that includes your doing all the business functions and realizing that to do what you love you must take care of the business. In a business there are always tasks that the owner isn't eager to do. The motivator then must be an exciting vision that is compelling to the owner. "Have a vision" is one of the 5 Secrets of Business Success.
What can a person do if he/she doesn't really have a ‘passion'? Start with your strengths and skills. Find out what really gets you moving! It might be a variety of activities grouped together that you enjoy or a method of operating that you are good at. Again the vision is important. Close your eyes and imagine yourself doing the work of the business. Does it get your juices flowing so that you are willing to do the some tasks that are not exciting but are necessary? That is the test of a truly motivating vision.
Take Action
- What is the vision you have of your business?
- Close your eyes and imagine you have your dream business. Envision
yourself in the business doing all the tasks necessary to make
the business flourish. Connect with the feeling you feel knowing
that you are truly successful. Describe the feeling.
- Find a signal in your surroundings that gets you back to the
vision quickly and easily. (Some people use a collage of pictures,
others use a single picture or a logo to access the excitement
of the vision.)
- Read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.