Passion and Leadership

In this week's Business Week, Carmine Gallo writes about Chris Gardner, the man whose rags-to-riches story inspired the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, and explains how he harnessed his passion to turn his life around.

What is the one thing—the one secret—that helped him change his life? "It's passion," he told me. "Passion is everything. In fact, you've got to be borderline fanatical about what you do." Gardner says he was fortunate to find something he truly loved, something where he couldn't wait for the sun to rise so he could do it again. His advice to entrepreneurs and those seeking a career change? "Be bold enough to find the one thing that you are passionate about. It might not be what you were trained to do. But be bold enough to do the one thing. Nobody needs to dig it but you."

Passion is the emotion of feeling very strongly about a subject or person. What are you passionate about? What absolutely excites you to the point of timelessness?

Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz used the word "passion" throughout our entire conversation. But remarkably, the word "coffee" was rarely spoken. You see, for Schultz, coffee is not his passion. Instead, Schultz says, he is passionate about creating a workplace that "treats people with dignity and respect;" a workplace environment that his father never had the opportunity to experience. The coffee product offers the means to help Schultz fulfill his passion.

Passion makes you excited about getting up each morning. When you are following your passion, time stands still. Both Gardner and Schultz followed their passions which led to fulfilling their dreams. Are you following your passion? Or following someone else's script for your life?

Read the rest of Gallo's article in Business Week.

Live your passion,
Coach Carolyn