This is going to be one of my (hopefully) rare curmudgeon posts. Apologies in advance. I just had an attack of the Victor Meldrews this week.
I get very cross when I hear people talk about ‘passion’ in business. Either in mission statements (e.g. Microsoft: “your potential, our passion”) or in CV covering letters (e.g. ‘I’m passionate about the insurance industry’).
As a top salesman put it last week: “you can be as passionate as you like but if you’re not making your numbers it won’t help you.”
C’mon people. It’s just silly. It’s inflationary language. It’s also just the wrong word.
The dictionary definition: “the suffering of Christ … the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces … an outbreak of anger … an intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction … sexual desire…” These are not appropriate or relevant in the work place.
Passion, like solution and mission, is just a placeholder for people who can’t think of a more accurate word. Here are some alternatives which would be much more useful, descriptive and precise. Use them and you’ll stand out from the herd of Apprentice-wannabes who are just giving it 110% as they step up to the plate and all that other crap.
- Commitment
- Enthusiasm
- Energy
- Persistence
- Diligence
- Friendly
- Loyal
- Knowledgeable
- Hard working
- Expertise
- Experience
- Determination
- Resilience
But the best thing to do is to shut up and do a really, really good job.
PS the best song with a list of good words is Philip Glass’s Forgetting with lyrics by Laurie Anderson. Although Tom Lehrer’s The Elements needs a shout too but for different reasons.
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A-fecking-men! Thanks for finally saying it.
I used to only work for things I enjoy and have passion in, otherwise, I get bored easily and will not perform 110% all the time. And on my CV, I just say, I will get things done. And because of my beliefs, I now have started several companies as I prefer to do it my way, rather than following the bureaucracy that kills my love for the job.
Oh the people saying they are passionate are usually anything but. It’s like people who say they are “authentic”. shudder.
I kind of take your point about ‘passion’ being overused but I don’t see it’s inflationary when even the (unreferenced) definition you quote from allows for ” an intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction”. There are plenty of people in business with real passion (by that definition) for their work, product, mission or company.
It may be reasonable to question between ability to make money and having passion in one’s work, but I don’t think you’ve demonstrated that there’s no causal link, much less a correlation. Strong silent leaders? I’ve not heard of many of them.
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