Keeping people passionate about what they do is the single biggest challenge in business.
Passionate people breathe life into a company. They take it to new levels. But how do you make people passionate?
We’re in business
Inspiring staff is a difficult task. Contrary to the many hundreds of articles on the subject, business does not naturally lend itself to inspiration.
Most products and services being offered by companies are not going to save lives or feed the starving. They are not involved in progressing mankind.
A lot of people work from offices, and most offices look the same. The great inspirational speeches — from Shakespeare’s Henry V soliloquy at Agincourt to Winston Churchill’s battle cry — are rarely heard in the photocopying business. We talk about having a vision but surely the only people who qualify are the likes of Einstein, Van Gogh and Joan of Arc. Let’s put this in perspective: we’re in business.
Yet life’s achievements do not have to change the world in order to be great. Getting the simplest things right can be all the inspiration you need.
Life’s achievements do not have to change the world in order to be great
The key is happiness.
You can be passionate about selling photocopiers because you can be happy selling photocopiers. The reason is simple: it’s not what you do that counts – it’s how you do it.
What else explains why some rock and movie stars (who seem to have it all) seem so unhappy? This is also why there are some very happy people selling or repairing photocopiers.
The resentment within
Employing happy people is the key to employing passionate people, and it’s of paramount importance that they stay happy. This should always be at the forefront of the business; it should probably come first.
Some people, for reasons beyond your control, will never be happy. If the key to success in business (and in life) is to surround yourself with positive people, then you must be prepared to root out negative types. People are like buttons on an elevator: some will take you up and others will take you down.
When you’re building your business — big or small — you’d be amazed at the negativity you’ll encounter. I’m not talking about your competitors — they’ll probably have respect for you.
No, the biggest resentment may come from within.
Unless all your staff are aligned to the cause and feel that the success of the business is tied to their own personal success, you run the risk of carrying negative attitudes that could end up hindering the company. Unless your staff are positive about the business, it will fail, dragged down by the very people who should be driving it forward.
We live in a cynical world where it’s much easier to trash an ambition than back one.
As a business owner, CEO, football coach, movie producer, team captain, restaurant manager or head teacher you ask people to follow you. Sure, as a business owner, you’re paying them to follow you, but you’re also asking them to intellectually and emotionally back the aims of the organisation.
