Passion and purpose
Throughout my career, particularly when I was responsible for hiring new staff, the single most important characteristic I always looked for in potential employees was passion. Passionate people don’t just go through the motions. They care too much. When people are passionate about their “purpose”, they feel compelled and driven to deliver. In my experience, passionate people are…
1. More productive
Passionate people don’t watch the clock. They love what they do and so they just want to do as much of it as they can. They get in early, work through lunch and stay late… because they want to, not because they have to.
2. More engaged
Passionate people tend to be more emotionally engaged. Emotional engagement is when an individual does what they do because they truly believe in their product/service/employer/value/boss. They don’t see it as a means to a pay cheque. They see it as their “purpose”.
3. More motivated
You don’t need to throw huge amounts of money or other perks at passionate people to keep them happy. They are more than happy with verbal recognition for a job well done. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t pay these people what they are worth. You absolutely must! Because they are hard to find and worth their weight in gold. But they aren’t motivated by money per se.
4. More difficult to manage
And here’s the rub. Passionate people don’t need close management because they are self motivated and self engaged. However, they will demand a lot of you and those around them. They expect excellence. They expect timeliness. They are intolerant of people who “just go through the motions”. They will fight on a point of principle.
But what a small price to pay. Give me passion and purpose every time. Please!