On Passion

A wise man once told me that you cannot buy passion. That combination of drive, desire and commitment that expresses itself as a powerful, compelling emotion is something that is found only rarely in nature. No classes, he told me, can teach it. No amount of money can create it. Passion, I was told, either exists in the individual or it does not. And more often than not it does not exist, he lamented. But, if it does exist, if there is that flame -- even a spark -- one can nurture it, shape it, and channel it to produce amazing results.

That, he explained, is true competitive advantage. A workforce passionate about a cause and sufficiently focused to unleash it every single day is an enterprise that cannot be beat. Find me passionate people, he instructed, and we can change the world.

And we did. At least the world of wine.

The sage? Robert Mondavi.

His words came back to me in a rush last week while attending the finals of La Copa de Sudamerica in Santiago, Chile. La Copa is South America's equivalent of our Super Bowl, but without the pregame flyover or, for that matter, reserved seating. In this case, the final match was played in the home of one of the finalists: La Universidad de Chile, which, despite its name, is a professional soccer club based in Santiago and affectionately know as 'La U'. La U had never won La Copa in its 84-year history. (Yes, Cal fans, there is hope.) So, imagine its fan base. Their excitement, their anticipation. Their frenzy. Now magnify that by, oh, a thousand and you'll begin to approximate what it felt like to be among them.

Talk about passion! The fans, 50,000 strong, began singing in unison more than an hour before game time and continued non-stop throughout the contest -- including during half time. Turn up your speakers and check out the fans before the match even began. The flares, fires (yes, fires) and fire workers are La U fans' doings and, apparently, their trademark.

While the video provides some illustration of the scene, the sound captures only a hint of the emotion. Imagine 50,000 hearts singing as one. For nearly 4 hours. The other team didn't stand a chance, which is precisely what La U fans had in mind.

Thankfully, La U won handily. Most believed the stadium and, possibly, the city would not have survived a loss. Such is the power of passion.

Say what you will, but I believe there is a vital, central role for emotion at work. Work should be important and people should care deeply about what they do at work and how they do it. And regardless of industry, it should be about achieving greatness. Because anything less is, well, boring.

I believe further that passion is the emotion that differentiates the best from the rest. This is not to overlook the importance of talent, of course. Show me a company filled with talented people who are passionate about what they do and I'll show you a winner. As a result, I have devoted a career to devising ways to infuse individuals, teams and entire companies with this freight train of all emotions. It is, without doubt, my passion.

So regardless of your interest in sports and/or South American soccer fans (!Felicitaciones, Clemente!), do consider the added value passion would bring to your organization. And then get in touch. We can show you how to go well beyond the singing-from-the-same-hymnal thing. We can get your people to sing in unison from their hearts and use that passion to drive significant performance improvement.

Your competition won't stand a chance. Which is precisely what you had in mind.