Leaders,
Nothing great has been and nothing great can be accomplished without Passion.
G.W.F. Hegel (1770 – 1831), German philosopher
Passion is a key topic with all my coaching clients at some point in our process. Professionals require passion to be able to inspire and motivate themselves and their teams. And by doing so, they create engagement, commitment, and direction.
What is passion?
For me, passion is a very strong feeling about a person or a thing, an idea, hope, dream, or possibility that your mind naturally gravitates to. It’s positive affinity towards something or someone that creates enthusiasm or unusual excitement. In the workplace, passion can provide you with a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment.Over-emphasizing your passions, e.g. by becoming a workaholic, can lead to obsessive behaviors and painfully impact your relationships. Not enough passion can lead to a state of indifference and a lack of sense of purpose or meaning. Regular challenges and skills to confront a challenge are required to cope with negative feelings like stress, disappointment or dejection.Passion is a state of mind. An adequate level of passion at work helps manage exhaustion and prevent burnout, directs you toward your purpose and gives your career direction.
When did you last feel your passion?
Of course, this is one of my favorite questions for clients. The spectrum of their answers keeps amazing me. Often times, my next question is: Where did it get lost?
Passions are irresistible. Right now, it seems like the whole world is passionate about the soccer world championship in Brazil. Aside from coaching, one of my greatest passions is dancing. Even after a day of bureaucratic, administrative work, that I do not enjoy at all, entering the dance floor rockets my energy level. If you are interested in ‘Leadership Lessons from the Dance Floor’, you might want to immerse yourself in one of my previous articles.
Do corporations have passion?
Once you have a profound sense and awareness of who you are, what derails you or gets you off track, what your strengths and weaknesses are, passion can serve as the engine to bring all your assets to life. Inspired Executives are passionate about collaborating with other coaches in the leadership field.
And it was another awesome experience to work with Mary Burns Hoff on the “Executive CHIPs Card” – a tool that we have developed to be used in the early phase of the coaching process to create a profile of our clients. During the process, the “Executive CHIPs Card” can be used as a dashboard that reflects the client’s progress.
CHIPs is an acronym that describes five categories:
1. Characteristics – traits, typical behaviors, values
2. Hazards – derailers, stressors, risks
3. Integration (of strengths and weaknesses)
4. Passion – the very essence that you bring to something, that drives you
5. Strategy – the way forward, e.g. a development plan.
Mary and I met during our coach education in 2010. We share a passion for coaching, dancing, cooking and language. Mary is based in New York and Pennsylvania; her clients are not-for-profit leaders and coaches. Mary’s greatest passion is communication. Mary loves Dr. Seuss’s quote, “I like nonsense. It shakes up the brain,” as it helps her clients look at the hard work for their next steps with humor and passion. Mary can be reached at mary@maryburnsinc.com.
Laurie Lawson is Mary’s and my mentor coach (www.eljny.com) who invited us to her TV show “The Coaching Game”. Laurie is a Transition/Re-Invention Coach whose philosophy is Coaching is a life-changing business that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun doing it! We are introducing the “Executive CHIPs Card” for the first time on Laurie’s show:
There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784), French philosopher
What ignites your passion?
Exuding a task with excitement is a little like falling in love. What turns you on? What is your personal credo on passion? How about “follow your passion and unlock your potential”? Or “follow your heart and not the crowd”? Share your motto with us and win a free coaching session.
Inspired Executives use the coaching game “Points of You” referenced in the TV show for individual clients or teams. It is one means to (re-)discover your sense of excitement, anticipation and energy. Contact us for further details.
Greetings from Frankfurt, Annette and the Inspired Executives Team.
