Passion Doesn't Guarantee Performance. So What Does?

There is a lot of talk these days about the importance of passion in one’s success.  I’m a big believer in passion.   I developed a keynote address and subsequent seminar called The Power of Passion some years ago.  I think it plays a big part in one’s overall satisfaction with a chosen career, hobby, or other pursuits.  If one is passionate about those pursuits they are likely to stick with them.  Even though I’m a proponent of passion, I’m also a myth buster.  The myth is that Passion alone will make one successful.  

The truth is Passion alone will not cause one to achieve one’s goal.  An astrophysicist must be a wiz at trigonometry to build a rocket ship; he can't build it with his passion.  A musician doesn’t win a Grammy because he’s passionate about music but because he’s talented as a musician.  If a student is passionate about learning but doesn’t complete homework assignments or show up for tests, she will likely not do well in school.  When our passion is coupled with performance we have a proven recipe for success.  And in order to achieve high performance one must have skills and knowledge. 

A family member shared with me that he learned this earlier in life when he decided to replace the brakes in his car – himself.  He was passionate about doing it and he did it.  He didn’t realize, however, that he had missed a crucial step until he slammed into the rear end of another car.   He learned that even though he was excited and confident about completing this repair, he didn’t have the know-how.  He hadn’t taken the time or spent the effort to learn how to do it.  

I have had people tell me “Angela, I got the job I have today because my employer saw passion and potential in me.”  I don’t doubt that.  But, I tell them, if you kept that job and became good at it, you had to live up to that potential at some point.  You had to transition from potential to results.  One of my colleagues is currently struggling at work because her passion will no longer be enough to sustain her.  Her boss, who hired her a year ago because of her passion, has moved on to another role.  Her new boss expects high performance from her.  She’s going to have to step it up -- do more and prove more. 

 

Can passion lead you to make greater effort and try harder?  Can it motivate you to be tenacious and dedicated?  Sure.  That is, after all, the role of passion in your success!  It’s doesn’t replace or override all else.  Most people know that Michael Jordan wasn’t successful at basketball the first time out.  But he stuck with it and the rest is history -- he was passionate.  The six championship rings he has, they were not given to him because of his passion, they were rewards for performance.