Hiding in Plain Sight – The Art of Passionate Leadership

Intense enthusiasm. Compelling desire. Eager interest. These are words that describe what passion feels like.

It’s curiosity + motivation set on fire. It's that urgent longing to know more, dig deeper, discover what's next, and be completely consumed.

Passion is hard to come by, and some never find it. But if you have it, you know you have it because it captures your attention and provides energy and excitement in a way that nothing or no one else does.

So here's a question for you: does being a leader invoke passion in you?

Don't be dismayed if you immediately feel like the answer is no.

The good news is that passion can be awakened at any time. That's right…you can BUILD passion into your life! There are a few key ingredients to the art of passion, and today we'll be diving into them. I'll provide you with some practical tips for developing a passion for your career and your role as a leader.

?The art of passion

Surely you know what passion feels like in certain areas of your life. At some point, you've probably had a passionate love affair or thrown yourself into an all-consuming hobby.

If it's been a long time since you've felt this way, think back to when you were a kid. There was something that excited you so much that you had a hard time getting to sleep, your stomach churning, head buzzing, filled with boundless energy to get back to something you loved - Christmas Eve, the last day of school before summer vacation, learning how to ride a bike, or making a new cool friend that you want to hang out with all the time.

As an adult, passion feels slightly more gentle, a little less hurried and frantic, but it can be just as motivating.

In my experience, passion is made up of four components:

• Curiosity
• Creativity
• Solving exciting problems
• Belief in an ideal outcome

When you discover a passion for something or someone, you have a burning desire to know more. It brings out lust for life and makes you feel like the colors have returned to an otherwise grey landscape of daily events. You want to figure out all the ins and outs of this thing, and you feel that your life is enriched by having or knowing the object of your passion. Finally, you see the beautiful potential for this thing or person, and you want to help create the world where its highest potential lives.

If we reverse engineer these components, it produces questions like this:?

• What is something that makes you feel curious?
• What is the highlight of your day?
• When was the last time you were motivated to solve an exciting problem, and what was it?
• What are you looking forward to right now?

Of course, the easy answers to these questions can come at first blush: lunch with friends, finally getting to take off your bra at the end of the day, binge-watching your favorite show.

These are small, simple joys in life, and of course, they make us happy.

But the art of finding and cultivating passion is digging deeper beyond your basic needs and desires.

And in relation to your trajectory as a leader, the answers to these questions can be the catalyst for a life-and-career-changing shift.

So, take the time to seriously consider these questions and dig deep for the answers!

Here's a hint: where your discomfort currently lives, your passion is waiting to move in.?

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How to discover and cultivate your passion for leadership

I'm going to say that last sentence again because it's actually the key to the castle:

Where your discomfort currently lives, your passion is waiting to move in.

When we're kids, we're less risk-averse. We're not as afraid of getting hurt. We want to do exciting things, sometimes dangerous, because the risk is worth the payoff.

We've developed a risk-assessment system by the time we become adults because we've been burned often.

We take the safe route. We prefer to follow the rules. We don't usually make risky bets.

Our risk-assessment system constantly screens for discomfort, challenge, potential awkwardness, and rejection.

And in the filtering out of these risks, we lose the opportunity to find passion.

I'm going to pose to you the previous reverse-engineered questions for finding passion in another way:

• What is something that keeps you up at night and makes your stomach turn to knots?
• In which situations do you frequently experience discomfort or a fear of rejection?
• What is a recurring problem in your life that you keep putting off dealing with?

If any of the answers to these questions have to do with your career, you've potentially discovered the source of your passion as a leader.

If this sounds crazy, it's probably been a while since you've pushed yourself to try something outside your comfort zone as a leader.

Believe it or not, the answers to these questions and the previous ones can become one and the same when you practice Courageous Leadership.

Courageous Leadership is the most comprehensive and immersive program available for leaders at all stages of their careers. For more information, visit my website or get in touch with me! I'd love to hear about your own journey as a leader.

Belinda Egan

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