I’m taking my morning coffee to go for the first few days this week as I catch a commuter train into downtown Chicago to run a leadership workshop at The Data Warehouse Institute’s World Conference. 

The audience at this week’s conference is predominantly technical as you might imagine from the name, and my leadership session is often in competition with heady sounding programs on Master Data Management and Data Governance. 

And while a program on leadership and developing as a senior contributor might not have the cache of these deep dives into all things data for many of the attendees, the professionals that have the courage to sign up and attend this course never cease to wow me with their enthusiasm and passion for their own development and the development of their colleagues. 

The Power of Passion in the Workplace

The passion that a leader brings to his or her work is the secret sauce in a winning recipe for creating an effective working environment and developing a high performance team.

Good leaders understand their role, work hard on developing credibility, listen and ask questions and provide coaching and mentoring.  Great leaders do all of that and they infuse everyone around them with a sense of excitement for the adventure. 

Jack Welch in Winning indicated, “Leaders make sure that people not only see the vision, they live it and breathe it.”

The best leaders do this by using their genuine passion and enthusiasm to help turn the working world and all of its inherent headaches and challenges, into something that feels like a great adventure.

Think about those that you’ve worked for that lacked the special-sauce of passion for their work and the work of the team.  Thoughts of drudgery, boredom, compliance and escape jump to mind when I think of the manager that was clearly just marking time and cashing a paycheck.

Alternatively, when I’ve been on teams where the leader worked was committed in words and actions to the team’s success, and where challenges were viewed as future victories, it was remarkable to see the results that developed.

Keep in mind that passion is different than disingenuous cheerleading, which will only send people in the opposite direction.  The passion that you show must reflect the pride you have in the team and the importance that you place up on the work being performed. 

What type of leader are you?

It’s never too late to rediscover a sense of pride and ownership in your craft. 

Is this the week that you light the pilot of passion in your work and help your team develop that sense of adventure that is so powerful for all of us?