The Passion to Thrive The strongest may survive but it is the passionate that will thrive. Whether I’m speaking to an NFL team, school principals, or leaders of world class organizations such as Southwest Airlines, Dell, and Publix Supermarkets my core message is the same: If you want to be successful today you must load your "Energy Bus" with passionate people... and most of all you must be passionate yourself. In the past you could be lukewarm and mediocre and still be successful. Not anymore. Now, in today's competitive environment, your passion and your purpose must be greater than your challenges. You have to be willing to work harder, run faster, drive further, study more, practice longer, lead better, sweat more, love deeper and this requires passion. Passion wakes you up 30 minutes earlier. It dials your phone one more time to make one more sale. It rallies your team together when times are tough. It moves you to see one more patient after a long day at the hospital. It inspires you to help a struggling student. It provides legendary customer service. Passion transforms workplaces, powers champions and fuels winning teams. But what about someone who has a low paying job or who is in a job that quite frankly is hard to be passionate about you might ask? I get this question often and my answer is: It's not the job or the money you are being paid but the passion that you bring to your job that matters. After all, I've met bus drivers who are more passionate about their jobs than professional athletes making millions of dollars. Sure, I realize that not everyone is going to be passionate about their daily responsibilities associated with their job, however, in these cases you can be passionate about the organization you work for. You can be passionate about your team members and helping your team improve, grow and succeed. You can be passionate about your mission and customers. You can be passionate about making a difference. Leaders, you must also foster this passion in your organization and make passion an essential element of your culture. Stop sucking the life out of your employees and wonder why they aren’t delivering the results you want. Instead create a team that is passionate about their mission, driven with purpose and energized by working together. Inspire your team with passion and they will drive The Energy Bus for you. If your people aren't passionate about the work they do and the people they work with, and if they aren’t passionate about your brand and mission, then you need to let them off the bus so they can find another bus where they can live their passion. This is good for them and it's good for your team. By letting disengaged employees off the bus you make room for those who are passionate about your team and organization - and with a bus filled with passionate people you will thrive while others merely try to survive. Are you living and working with your passion? How can you start today? - Jon
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