Brain Rules (John Medina, 2008) 8.0/10
How We Decide (Jonah Lehrer, 2009) 8.2/10
How The Mighty Fall (Jim Collins, 2009) 6.7/10
World Wide Rave (David Meerman Scott, 2009) 7.2/10
The Element (Sir Ken Robinson, 2009) 8.2/10
Jeff Immelt and the New GE Way (David Magee, 2009) 5.0/10
The Talent Code (Daniel Coyle, 2009) 6.5/10
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Robert B. Cialdini, 2007) 7.0/10
The Ten Commandments for Business Failure (Donald R. Keough, 2008) 7.3/10
The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets (Peter D. Schiff, 2008) 5.2/10
The Brand Bubble (John Gerzema and Ed Lebar, 2008) 6.0/10
A Sense Of Urgency (John P. Kotter, 2008) 6.5/10
Who (Geoff Smart and Randy Street, 2008) 6.8/10
Reality Check (Guy Kawasaki, 2008) 7.2/10
Tribes (Seth Godin, 2008) 4.7/10
Talent (Edward E. Lawler III, 2008) 5.8/10
Business Stripped Bare (Richard Branson, 2008) 7.8/10
Call Me Ted (Ted Turner with Bill Burke, 2008)
Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell, 2008) 6.0/10
Winning (Jack Welch with Suzy Welch, 2005) 8.0/10
Tuned In (Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott, 2008) 7.2/10
Inside Steve's Brain (Leander Kahney, 2008) 6.0/10
Yes! (Robert Cialdini, et al, 2008) 6.7/10
The Answer (John Assaraf & Murray Smith, 2008) 7.2/10
Six Disciplines Execution Revolution (Gary Harpst, 2008) 4.0/10
The Future of Management (Gary Hamel and Bill Breen, 2008) 7.3/10
Meatball Sundae (Seth Godin, 2007) 7.0/10
In a couple of previous posts, I wrote briefly about how Sir Richard Branson made choices doing his career (life) here; and I wrote about how we should “focus” on the essentials gravitating all aspects of our roles together here.
If we know that making a choice is vital to our present and our future. If we know that we need to keep our roles in harmony, we have families, friends, and communities. So, how should we choose our career?
…
It happened yesterday when I talked to my girlfriend and she asked me what career should she take after her master’s degree.
I said: “None, stay home”
She angrily said: “What?! I should be good at something!”
I said: “Nothing, you don’t want to work hard and you want to be equally rewarded. That’s not going to happen.”
She said: “But I can do many things, decently”
I said: “But you won’t give a hundred percent. And that, you will be just average.”
We had a small argument there.
…
In the evening, I talked to her on the phone and I told her to stop talking because my head was going to burst.
I did that a couple of times in the past and she was furious that I stopped her from talking about…
A trip itinerary.
16 months in advance!
…
There! I thought and told her “That’s it, that’s what YOU should do. Become a tour organiser or a trip manager.”
I conclude it here that you need to take a career that..
make you talk about it all the time and never shut up.
…
There’s only one word that you need to look for. And it’s not “ability”, “competency”, “experience”, “interest”, “opportunity”, “advancement”, “salary”, “reputation”, “reward”, “environment”, “culture”, “lifestyle”, etc, etc.
You might already guess it and you probably guessed it right. It’s passion.
You might probably think “If only I know what my passion is”
or “my passion will not make money”
…
Firstly, everyone has passion, big or small, expressed or unexpressed; we all have one. Passion drives your soul. Passion gives meaning to your life. Don’t mistake passion with fashion. Fashion or fad or interest make you excited for a period of time and it’s gone.
Secondly, don’t confuse passion with hobby. Hobby or your favourite recreation are just activities. Passion is the root of your activities. Some hobbies might make money, some won’t. Passion is not a thing you do; passion is what makes you do things.
Moreover, passion does make money. If it does not make money; it’s the fault of things such as an ability to fulfills your passion or just a bad business model.
Of all the components of successful business, passion is the most difficult and yet, the easiest component you can achieve. You cannot just say, “Let’s develop passion for the next two quarters”. Unlike other intangible assets you possess like “creativity”, “intelligence”, “initiation”, “communication”, etc; you cannot intentionally develop passion. Yet, passion came out of nowhere. Moreover, passion has no limit. Sometimes, we have trouble to push beyond our current “creativity” level or our “communication” skill. Passion, on the other hand, can rise higher and higher without barrier. And good news, the more the better.
I’ll take an excerpt from the book I read recently: “The Future of Management” by Gary Hamel and Bill Breen where they talked about Management Innovation. They stated the “capabilities” that contribute to value creation in an organisation which are; Passion, Creativity, Initiative, Intellect, Diligence, and Obedience.
From 100%
Obedience: 0%; Rule-following employees are worth zip in terms of competitive advantages they generate
Diligence: 5%; Diligent employees don’t take short-cuts but they are not likely to contribute much to the value creation
Intellect: 15%: Most companies work hard to find intelligent employees but they are now commodities in this flat world
Initiative: 20%: Employees who don’t wait to be asked and don’t need to be told.
Creativity: 25%: Inquisitive and irrepressible employees; they are important for value-creation. They are people who always said “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”
Passion: 35%: “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested” E. M. Forster, English novelist
Nevertheless, there are far too many people trying to make themselves more intellectual by getting degrees after degrees. Those same people often neglect passion. Many people studied hard for a degree in finance to be an investment banker. Do they really CARE about other people’s investment? Many people studied hard for a degree in marketing. Do they really CARE about the soap, shampoo, digital camera, or cars they are trying to market?
If not, then, they are in deep… trouble. Because the furthest they can contribute is merely 65% by the theory of Gary Hamel and Bill Breen. Actually, they have just achieved (maybe partially) 10% of the capabilities (intellect) from their degrees.
To quote the words of Charles Handy I got from Tom Peters’ slides from his blog:
“Passion was what drove these people, passion for their product, passion for their cause. If you care enough, you will find out what you need to know. Or you will experiment and not worry if the experiment goes wrong. Passion as the secret to learning is an odd secret to propose, but I believe that it works at all levels and at all ages. Sadly, passion is not a word often heard in the elephant organizations, nor in schools, where it can seem disruptive.”
…
One suggestion: “If you are living you life out of your passion, you are heading the wrong way. If you work without passion, get out, fast.”
…
My belief is that we don’t need to keep our passion alive. Because it’s already living. It’s breathing and it’s burning. It’s our job to find it and live it.
Live your life with, by, from, and for your passion.
November 20th, 2008 at 1:16 am
[...] want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!A couple of days ago, I wrote about “passion.” You need to find your passion for your career. Without passion, your job will be just a [...]
November 24th, 2008 at 1:14 am
[...] choose you career” in different aspects. - You have to choose it with your passion in “How Should We Choose Our Career?” - You have to choose it with your strength in “Matching Personalities with Your [...]
December 18th, 2008 at 6:18 am
[...] How Should We Choose Our Career? [...]
December 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am
A simple thank you note is what I wanted to leave you
You have highlighted that essence, that crux and sweet spot - the one thing which makes everything, and the lack of which guarantees the collapse of a thing. Passion is something so simple and straight forward and all natural, yet it seems to be such an elusive ingredient. This is of course a result of social conditioning and resultant perceptions. We all look for the magic ingredient outside of ourselves, instead of lookign within and seeing what that flame really burns for.
Thank you for a fabulously written article - I will certainly be passing the link on to a fair few friends who, I am convinced, will thoroughly enjoy the message!
December 19th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Tina,
Thank you so much for the comment and the praise! I could never describe my half-baked post as “fabulously written”, that’s a huge huge compliment you gave me. And please excuse my shallow English writing skill
And yes, Tina, I did not think of the word “natural” and passion is indeed natural. The strange thing is like what you wrote “instead of looking within and seeing what the flame really burns for”. Passion does not come from outside, it’s inside. And what makes that passion burning? Who knows?
Unlike happiness or other positive and extreme feelings which stem from an event, passion comes from the whole series of many things; events, experience, beliefs, values, etc.
Did you find yours?