Rethinking Resolutions: The Balance of Discipline and Passion in 2025

A Quick Note...

Register for our upcoming Webinar, Find Your Passion: The Hidden Accelerator in Leadership Development.

?Research from 4,164 leaders, reveals that passion significantly impacts performance across 17 out of 19 leadership competencies—transforming how organizations develop talent.

Key Learning Objectives:

- Uncover the direct correlation between passion and leadership effectiveness

- Explore how passion varies across age groups, genders, and organizational levels

- Gain actionable strategies for identifying and nurturing passion-driven talent

As we step into 2025, many of us find ourselves at the familiar crossroads of New Year's resolutions and personal development planning. This year, instead of defaulting to the traditional "fix everything" approach, let's consider two distinct paths to growth that could shape your year ahead.

Two Paths to Development

The first path, which we might call the "Discipline-Driven" approach, aligns with typical New Year's resolutions. It emphasizes structured commitments, clear metrics, and unwavering determination. This is the voice telling us, "This year, I'll develop high competence in every area through dedicated practice and persistence." It's the foundation of many January gym memberships and ambitious skill-building plans.

The second path, the "Passion-Driven" approach, offers a refreshing alternative for 2025. Rather than starting with a list of "shoulds," this method begins with self-discovery. What naturally energizes you? What aspects of your work or life bring genuine enjoyment and fulfillment? The core belief here is that excellence flows most naturally from authentic interests and enthusiasm.

The Perfect Resolution Myth

As we craft our 2025 development plans, many of us still carry an underlying assumption: the belief that we need to improve everything. While few openly pursue perfection anymore, the start of a new year often triggers anxiety about our perceived shortcomings, leading to overwhelming resolution lists.

However, research examining exceptional leaders reveals a surprising truth. Among thousands of leaders evaluated on crucial competencies, the most effective (top 20 percent) weren't uniformly excellent across all areas. Instead, they demonstrated exceptional skill in just three to four competencies. More importantly, these areas of excellence varied among top performers. Some excelled in relationship building, others in communication or delivering results. While they avoided major weaknesses, they didn't pursue perfection in everything.

The Science Behind Passion-Based Development

To understand the power of passion in development, we studied 4,164 leaders who selected six competencies they found most energizing and fulfilling from a list of 19. Using 360-degree feedback with an average of 14 raters per leader, we discovered that in 17 of 19 competencies, leaders received significantly higher ratings in areas where they reported having greater passion.

Three Areas Where Passion Makes the Difference

As you plan your 2025 development goals, consider these three competencies where passion plays a crucial role:

1. Developing Others: Some leaders find deep satisfaction in mentoring and facilitating growth. If this energizes you, it might deserve priority in your 2025 plan over other traditional resolution areas.
2. Inspiring and Motivating Others: While many leaders excel at driving results, fewer master the art of inspiration. If you naturally bring positive energy to situations, this could be a key focus area for the year ahead.
3. Building Relationships: If you naturally gravitate toward deep connections with team members, this might be more worthy of your development energy than forcing yourself to excel in areas that drain you.

Planning Your 2025 Development Strategy

As you craft your development plans for the new year, consider these three principles:

1. Start by identifying your areas of natural energy and enthusiasm. These aren't just preferences—they're indicators of where you could achieve excellence in 2025.
2. Rather than spreading your development efforts thinly across many areas, invest heavily in these passion-aligned competencies. This could be your year to develop truly distinctive leadership capabilities.
3. Maintain basic competence in other critical areas, but channel your primary development energy where passion and potential intersect.

A New Approach for a New Year

This research suggests a more effective approach to New Year's development planning. Instead of the traditional resolution list targeting improvement in every area, consider focusing your 2025 development efforts where your passion naturally leads you. While discipline can build competence, passion creates excellence.

For organizations planning leadership development initiatives in 2025, these findings suggest moving away from standardized development paths. Instead, help leaders identify and amplify their natural strengths while ensuring they maintain threshold competence in other critical areas.

As you begin 2025, remember: the most successful leaders aren't those who force themselves to excel at everything, but those who recognize and strategically leverage their natural enthusiasms. This year, let your development plan reflect not just what you think you should improve, but what truly energizes and inspires you.

-Joe Folkman

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