Managers Guide Passion

Talking about "passion", especially in the workplace, can create passionate debate.

No one is against the idea of being passionate about one's work. But Managing Leadership's Jim Stroup has this thought:

Passion for work is generated by the value of that work - not by a mindless "passion" gene or character trait. As a result, the responsibility for generating passion should be placed back where it belongs - on managers, or even on directors and owners, not employees.

Managing Passion Creates Engaged People

Although passion may be an individual  experience, in the workplace it's the manager who is the perpetrator of passion.

Matching the right tasks with the right people breeds the kind of productive experience that offer satisfaction as a result of accomplishment. That kind of matching means that managers have to know their people well enough to know what their individual talents are--then use them accordingly. This does at least four things (you may want to add more):

1. It offers the opportunity for the company to benefit from the strengths that it supposedly hired.

2. It shows the employees that their talents are, indeed, recognized, and that they (the employees) aren't just "human" resources.

3. It shows the employees that their managers know "who they are and what they are all about."

4. It offers a genuine chance at a reality of "excellence" rather than "excellence" as a buzzword.

Maybe we should start referring to this as "managing passion": understanding the best of what people bring to the job and  managing  more deliberately  to help people become productive in satisfying ways.

Note: Look, there are tasks that all of us have to do, regardless of the work we've chosen. We not only aren't passionate about them, we don't like them. It's part of life and being an adult. Managers aren't there to "make people happy." Happiness is a personal choice. But managers get paid to produce excellent results. They can't achieve that goal without bringing about excellence in their people. And I don't think I've ever heard anyone express disappointment at the opportunity to excel.

Management Engagement

That's what has to happen to make all of this a reality: management engagement. Employee engagement implies that there are vast numbers of workers malingering on the job--and we have to "get them engaged."

I would suggest that there are vast numbers of managers who don't know their people well enough to orchestrate work in ways that lift people's desire to engage. There are too many mismatches going on out there.

It ends up being, in great part, a relational issue.

Managing is not an easy job to do well. But it's impossible if a manager doesn't take the time to build relationships that allow insight into individuals' strengths and desires when they show up for work.

The employment agreement is a contract: We, the organization, need to accomplish this; and we're hiring you, the employee (regardless of level), because you bring this to the organization

The manager's job is to orchestrate all of the "this".

I like the idea of Managing Passion.

Photo source: roberts-playground

Comments

[peter vajda]

...assuming that, of course, managers are passionate about what they are doing...perhaps one reason for so many of the disconnects...

if we view some employees as the "latent force and possibility" not unlike the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark...what happens when the shock of the iron is lacking or deficient?

who then is the perpetrator of their passion? Hmmm

[Wally Bock]

You hit something important, Steve, when you talk about managing passion. But you also note that in order to manage passion you have to know your people well enough to understand their passions and their skills.

[Frode H]

Hi Steve.
Yepp, great minds think alike :) Managing passion, or leading passion is what it is all about. One of the best way to succeed is to accept that all the others should be better than you. As you stated back at my blog, my obligation is to make them grow.

Great work Steve! :)
Enjoyed reading it.

Frode

[Lynn M]

Think about it...there are people who come along once in a while who are SUPERSTARS. They have the talent, they have the drive, they have the charisma. Yet, it often takes someone to notice them to send them on their way to greatness. Being good at what you do isn't enough alone because most people can't promote themselves without others. When a manager takes an interest in employees and is passionate about the management role, he or she can really make a difference in an individual's performance and what that person can do to help the company exceed. When people "make it big" the benefits flow to everyone around them, so good managers know the investment is worthwhile.

[Amy Trueblood]

Organizations have the ability to combat disengagement by proactively engaging staff members with a recognition award program. Engagement award programs recognize both managers and employees for reaching various goals designed to increase staff engagement.

Managers who participate in an engagement award program tend to be given goals that encourage them to recognize and reward their employees, meet or exceed budget guidelines and are rewarded for reaching anniversary milestones. These goals will help to increase the recognition culture of an organization, empower employees to budget wisely and increase management retention.

To read more about what engagement means and what organizations can do the engage staff members, please read my related blog on the topic: http://www.awardsnetwork.com/blog/2009/07/what-is-employee-engagement-em.html.