What is passion? How can we harness our passion to help identify and pursue our purpose? What role does passion have in the leaving of a legacy? Should we, as many motivational speakers and writers suggest, prioritise the pursuit of our passions as a personal priority – even if that means changing careers?
I recently explored the role of passion in the contributions we make as leaders at a leadership conference hosted by Tasmanian Leaders. When I asked my audience to define passion, they came back with examples ranging from the uncontrolled emotion we see in the (mis)behaviour of tennis player Nick Kyrgios to the enthusiasm and love of life displayed by someone like current Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott.
In our work, the way we make sense of a topic like this is to use emotional health as a frame of reference. Thinking about passion in the context of the three centres allows us to look at it more holistically.
Each of us is capable of engaging the head centre, body centre and heart centre, however most of us tend to lean more strongly towards one of the three. This becomes our primary filter for perceiving our reality, and that in turn affects that way we make decisions.
In the context of the way we might make life or leadership choices:
- Meaning-making comes from the head centre. When are we are connected to this centre, we set direction through thinking and understanding by drawing on our previous knowledge and experience.
- Purpose comes from the body centre. When we are connected to this centre, we set direction through doing, with an emphasis on ‘making it happen’.
- And passion comes from the heart centre. When we are engage this centre, we connect through our feelings into what we love and what excites us.
Learning to access all three centres is a characteristic of a higher level of emotional health. In this context, it allows us to make more rounded decisions that draw on meaning-making, purpose and passion. Let me share an example.
It’s not unusual at some point in your career to find yourself dissatisfied with your work and wondering whether a change of scene, or even career, could be the answer. The grass is always greener on the other side (or, as they say in Japan, ‘the neighbour’s rice always smells better’).
I worked with a coaching client some years ago who was living this experience. In a very early session, I sensed that David wasn’t happy in his role and was wanting to move. After I asked him what he would do if he knew he could not fail, he told me (coming from the heart centre) that he would pursue his passion for horse racing, something that he had inherited from his father who was a racehorse trainer.
Exploring this together, I asked him what excited him most about the idea of working in horse racing. After a bit of thought, he realised that if he could not fail, money wouldn’t be a problem. This helped him recognise that it wasn’t about money anyway. Ultimately, after a bit more conversation, he was able to identify that the thing he really wanted to do was develop horses to be their absolute best. This was very clearly his passion.
I then took the conversation back to his current role, asking David whether there was any way this passion might be applicable to his job. He was quiet for some time before I could see a look of epiphany cross his face. Looking through the meeting room’s glass wall and out towards his staff, he said, ‘My God. I’ve got a stable full of horses out there!’
All of a sudden, David was looking at his current role with fresh eyes. Accessing all three centres, he was able to see the potential to apply his passion (getting the most out of people – or horses) with purpose (creating and enabling a development culture). Meaning-making had allowed him to put the pieces together and recognise that he could do this just as well or better with people, in his current organisation, as he could by making the very significant shift into horse racing.
David would ultimately go on to make a bit of a name for himself in the area of staff and culture development.
A similar thought process can be applied to those who lean towards the body centre or the head centre. For instance, it’s easy to get caught up in the doing (body centre) or the thinking (head centre) while feeling unfulfilled unless you can also bring passion into the mix and bring the three centres together.
Our experience tells us that around 75 per cent of people can practice their meaning-making, passion and purpose in their current role if they are able to engage all three centres – thinking, feeling and doing – in that role. In doing so yourself, you will not only make a better contribution but you will also make a meaningful step towards leaving a legacy when you ultimately move on.
Malcolm
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
