Passion is one of those words that many people love to use but very rarely do they actually demonstrate it themselves. Passion can easily be the reason for almost any person or organization's success. Passion fuels everything good about a person or an organization, so why is it so hard to find people that are passionate about their jobs or the product or service they sell? In most organizations every leader can name a few of their great employees or leaders that have immense passion and will 100% of the time state they wish that all of their employees would have that same passion. The same can be said in which many employees wished their leader had more passion. Although not everybody can be passionate about their job or their business because some people just do not follow their passion (rather they follow a paycheck), as a leader one should strive to have most (if not all!) employees passionate about what they do. This is not an easy concept, but most things that make people and organizations great are not easy-that is why they are great.   There are a few things that individuals and leaders can do to make passion a mandatory part of their culture.

Do something you love:

A person once said that you couldn't really do what you want and will probably never get a job you love so just find one that pays well and try to learn to like it. How sad and the single worst advice spoken. There are millions of ways to make a living in this world, so do something you love or love what you do. The way you can determine if one is making a living doing what one is passionate about is that a person's passion will create value thus revenue from a customer or organization (just by being excited, the customer gets excited and wants to be a part of it). When a person does something they are only passionate about but does not create revenue, well those are called hobbies. In some or most cases a person may not be passionate about the actual product or service they sell, rather they are passionate about the task of selling or helping customers or having personal success. Being passionate has very little to do with what a person does and everything to do with why a person does it. Every decision we make in life can be based on a person's emotions- hiring decisions, buying decisions, career decisions. Every person and every leader must find the passion in their jobs and careers or they should find a new job. People work for money, but when a person has passion for their work, they will gain a lot more than just money.

Make passion a job requirement:  

If a leader wants their entire organization to be passionate about their job, they must make it mandatory. Mandatory means it is a firing offense, and yes this will make most HR departments in any state nervous. Some could argue that passion and attitude are subjective and cannot be measured or fairly managed and in some cases that could be true. Most leaders can look at their team and easily identify the members that are passionate about their career and the organization, and in almost every case the ones the leader identifies are the most successful. Leaders need to meet with the employees that do not have that passion and show them examples of how they don't have the passion, and then how to change it. Trust me employees know it, but don't want to admit it as they feel it might cost them. The leaders job is to help those without passion find their passion in their current role or help them find a job they can be passionate about. If a person is not passionate about their job or career- it is their own fault and they should take action to find something they are passionate about (and can generate revenue). If a team has members that are allowed not to be passionate- that is the leaders fault and will reflect in the amount of success (lack thereof). How serious is a leader about making passion mandatory? Would a leader fire their top performer if they were not passionate and did not have a desire to be better regardless of their results? In most cases they are not, but in time that top performer's results will decline as the results catches up with their lack of passion (not to mention the poor role model they are demonstrating to others). Any top performer that is not passionate about their career was passionate about it at one time and the results are a lingering result of their previous passion.    

Find what makes one passionate:

A leader's job is to identify and address that person's passion before the results catch up. Passion is not an emotion that is taught, rather it is the result of a person doing the right job or having the right career. Leaders don't necessarily have to mandate passion out of each person like being told to get to work on time, but they have to recognize those individuals that lack the passion and understand why (thus help them find the passion). In today's economy it is not enough to do a good job or know your business; a person and organization must have the passion to pass on to others. Passion is the fuel for an organizations success no matter what industry, region or economy one is in.