HAVE PURPOSE AND PASSION

IN our current pandemicstricken times, being passionate and purposeful at the workplace is no longer just desirable, but an absolute necessity if you want to remain employed.

Earlier this week, I was conducting a training programme for a group of managers from a large conglomerate in Malaysia. The essential problem they all had was with their staff and the lack of engagement.

And, coincidentally, I have been invited to speak to 300 government employees next week on embracing change and getting engaged with their jobs.

Every employer I meet right now needs “engaged” staff.

As belts tighten and companies streamline their operations by concentrating on efficiency and value-added services, they have finally realised that they actually have employees who are simply coasting along and acting as though it’s business as usual.

Our unemployment rates have soared to unprecedented heights. There is supporting data from the Statistics Department showing that the numbers are at the highest in decades.

Businesses and employers quite simply need purposeful and passionate people at work now!

If you exhibit purpose and if you can bring to the fore your passion, you are more likely to retain your job or secure a new one if you have been made redundant.

Business owners know that only energetic and impassioned team members guarantee continual performance gains for their companies. Visionary leaders understand that these types of employees have the resilience necessary to withstand constant market challenges and disruptions.

And in recent memory, there has not been a graver disruption to our way of life and work than the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some years ago, I wrote in this column about why you should be passionate at work and what it brings to you and your employer. I think now is an appropriate time to revisit some of those reasons.

Passion brings focus

Being passionate is really a state of mind. If you are passionate about your job, you will be interested in the outcomes of your work-product. Consequently, you become more focused. And this helps you function effectively and accurately while executing your tasks.

Passion brings creativity

Working with passion ensures that you have more highs, rather than lows. It increases your engagement levels, which results in you being more creative. This allows you to generate better ideas, and solutions.

Passion leads to excellence

When you do your work with passion, you will want to succeed at everything you do. You become invested in excelling at your tasks. And when this happens, you will always be performing at optimal levels.

Passion gives energy

I know that when I wake up in the morning, and I am working on something I truly like, I get a tremendous surge of energy. People often ask me how they can sustain high levels of engagements while being part of multiple ventures. There’s no secret formula here. I just share my own experience. I only have energy when I feel that I am emotionally engaged with what I do. This connection turns into positive energy that sustains me all day long.

Passion manages stress

If you have passion at work, you tend to be less stressed out. Passionate people really like the work that they do. When they encounter problems, they are able to deftly navigate around them. They do not get bogged down, and don’t wallow in self-pity. As a result, they manage stress far better than someone who is dispassionate about their work, and feels like a victim.

Passion fuels achievement

Ask people who have ever achieved anything significant in their career, and they will tell you that they have had to fend off all kinds of problems and obstacles. If you look back at your achievements, I am certain that you will remember moments when you have had to dig deep into the reservoirs of personal resilience to overcome problems. It is your passion that kept you going because it fortifies you against pressure, and fuels achievement.

Passion brings upskilling

When you are motivated by passion, you will keep learning new things. Your ability to upskill is based on your desire to learn. And being passionate about results helps you understand that you get paid only for your skills and knowledge. This will motivate you to become serious about learning.

Passion augments attitude

The most successful people I know care deeply about their work. They have self-imposed benchmarks about what results they need to deliver. This type of passion ensures that your outlook is founded on purpose. And this directly affects your attitude towards everything.

These are the things that happen to you when you are passionate about what you do.

And these are the very same things that businesses and employers who are struggling to make ends meet actually need.

Your employer has to see the value in keeping you, and a potential new employer must feel that hiring and nurturing you will be exponentially valuable for them.

So, reconnect with passion!

Business owners know that only energetic and impassioned team members guarantee continual performance gains for their companies.