In the complexities of our high-tech, global and cross-cultural world, understanding the fundamental role of leadership can be daunting. Most leaders rise through the ranks as a result of technical expertise with little leadership development. Leadership is one of those important but not urgent tasks, which gets pushed further and further down the list as more pressing matters demand our attention. When I poll executives and managers in my workshops, most say they spend less than 1% of their time a year consciously developing their leadership skills.

What is the role of the leader in creating a passionate workplace? And, more fundamentally, what is passion in the context of a workplace? Hopefully, most of us have had at least one passionate work experience; a time at work when we were so completely engaged that we felt blessed to be in that situation. For many of us, these times are rare; for some of us, more common. Regardless of how often we’ve had this experience, could we explain what gave rise to this strong emotion?

Passion has long been desired. For example, Howard Schultz, the Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, often speaks of passion. Starbucks' advertisements have often focused on passion. Schultz’s book, Pour Your Heart Into It, references passion, on average, once every three pages. He is very clear: “Passion is, and will always be, a necessary ingredient. Even the world’s best business plan won’t produce any return if it is not backed with passion and integrity.”

It’s clear that most of us desire a passionate work experience and, as leaders, want to support others on that journey. But do we know how to create this for ourselves and for others? Our research, carried out over the past ten years, has clearly shown that there are two main drivers of passion in the workplace: Meaning and Progress. Emerging from this research, is our definition of passion: “Passion is a strong emotion that happens within each of us when we are doing meaningful work at a pace that feels like real progress.” 

To create passionate teams that generate highly-satisfying results, leaders must become Managers of Meaning and Progress. There are many ways to manage meaning and progress. Any manager can find her own path by simply asking herself: “How can I make the meaning in this explicit? How can I provide a context for progress?” Leaders need to constantly promote how the work is meaningful; and, if it is devoid of meaning, then leaders need to stand up for change. Leaders also need to be a bridge between the past and the future and provide a context for progress, articulating from where we have come and pointing forward towards our destination, to stimulate further action.

Life is not obliged to have a purpose; however, the human spirit is a wonderful entity. It craves meaning in the form of purpose, values, and desired end results. It also must see the fruits of its labor. When action does not beget forward movement, the spirit is bruised. Leadership plays a fundamental role in uplifting the spirit by connecting and re-connecting people to their aspirations and encouraging them to take actions to serve that which matters most. When leaders manage meaning and progress in this way, extraordinary things happen.

Know Your People  
When people feel their work has purpose; when people are able to take actions in service of this purpose; and, when signals of progress ensue from these actions, passion is the by-product! Individuals each have their own unique drivers of meaning and signals of progress. When these are both present, a magical thing happens … passion! Leaders can make a tremendous difference when they know the unique drivers of passion of those serving them. Understanding an employee’s unique drivers, enables you to help create the conditions in which others will thrive!  Here’s what you need to know:

What Stimulates Meaning in Each Team Member?
Meaning comes from two sources: the product of the work and the process of the work. For some people, meaning is fundamentally derived from the actual output of their work: a financial report, a consumer product, a consulting service, etc. For others, meaning is primarily derived from how the work gets done; for example, collaborating with others, working creatively, or functioning autonomously.

When people feel that what they produce at work matters to you and others, they feel that their work is meaningful. When they feel that the processes they use to accomplish their work are excellent and make a difference to others, they feel that their work is meaningful.

• We all want to do work that generates results of which we feel proud.
• We all want to work in ways of which we are proud.
• A sense of pride comes from feeling that what we produce at work and how we produce it makes a real difference.

The products and processes that create feelings of meaning in one person do not necessarily have the same impact on others. It is important to become clear on what stimulates meaning for each of your team members in their work.

What Stimulates Progress in
Each Team Member?
Meaning alone is not enough to create passion. Each of us also looks for signals of progress. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are constantly scanning our environment for signals of progress. When we are actively pursuing a meaningful goal, for example, we are looking for signs that we are advancing towards our desired end result.

Along our journey, we look around us for evidence that we are getting somewhere. For example, some of us might look to our leaders for recognition; some of us might view client feedback as a signal of our progress; others amongst us look at the hard numbers to confirm forward movement. Signals of progress come in many forms but at the end of the day, they all serve the same purpose which is to tell us that we are on track towards our meaningful goals.

When people feel as though they are moving something important forward, they feel progress. People need progress to experience passion at work. It is important to become clear on the signals for progress your team looks for at work.

Although we need to know our people as individuals, we also need to create a culture which creates shared drivers of meaning and progress. The following story exemplifies how this might operate:

A Story of the First Lady
The leader’s role is to think of ways to keep meaning explicit and the signals of progress visible to all who come into contact with the organisation. How might this be done? A recent article about Michelle Obama in TIME magazine (June 1, 2009) provides an excellent example. The article describes a meeting held by Michelle with her staff two days after the inauguration. The purpose was to introduce her two teams to each other. “ ‘This is my team that came with me from Chicago,’ said The First Lady, pointing to her communications staff and policy people. ‘This is my team who works here already,’ she went on, indicating the ring of veterans around the room [that included kitchen crew, ushers, plumbers]…. And so the two groups formed concentric rings and spent the next hour or so making sure that everyone had a chance to meet everyone else. ‘I want you to know that you won’t be judged based on whether they know your name’, Michelle warned her advisors. ‘You’ll be judged based on whether you know theirs.’ ”

Standing in concentric circles, without formality, communicated the equality with which she viewed her two teams and signified the moment they were to become one team.  She also created a measure: to know each others’ names, a built-in signal of progress. By creating shared drivers of meaning and a shared signal of progress, the first lady laid the foundation for a passionate work experience.

Passion is not elusive; it is not a mystery. As a leader, it is up to you to demonstrate through word and action what holds meaning and signifies progress for you and for the organisation. When people have lost sight of what is meaningful, it is the leader’s job to refocus all eyes on worthy goals and aspirations and encourage their hearts in further pursuit. When people cannot see the fruits of their labour and cannot identify progress, it is the leader’s job to reframe the events for what has been gained, even if it is lessons learned following a disappointment. Leaders make a difference when they engage deeply in managing meaning and progress – they create the conditions for passion, through which others can attain a fulfilling work experience.

As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, states: “Nothing great can happen without beginning first with passion. If you’re not passionate, you can’t possibly make it great!”

The following programme organised by SIM Professional Development, will be conducted by either Jacqueline Throop-Robinson or Magdalene Sik:

- PassionWorks!™ - Building a Passionate Workforce on May 11 - 12, 2011

For more information, please contact Kelly Ko at (65) 6248 9417 or email kellyko@sim.edu.sg