Throughout life, everyone has a wide range of jobs, interests, extracurricular etc... that they go through.  Experience, maturity, growth, and development are all words described as someone gains their life story.  Those same words are often used to a person who is excelling at any particular task.  But what separates people who are “good” at what they do, or people who have “talent”, from the ones that make you say “Wow!”? Passion.

Now in some professions, passion is more easily seen and communicated.  Like in professional sports, you can see it on the field or court.  That excitement takes over an athlete’s emotions at times and leads to great achievements and success.  That raw emotion, true belief, and dedication to their work makes professional athletes like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky so popular and successful.  But why should it be any different in any other industry?

It shouldn’t, the same rings true off the field in the business world. You will see industry leaders simply radiate with passion, furthering themselves from their competition.  True passion cannot be hidden, nor should it be.  A genuine showing of passion for your work echoes a balanced combination of dedication, enlightenment, and desire to know more.  When passion is revealed to your customers, it can really make a difference in their experience.  A customer will be more willing to trust someone who shows that they personally believe in their business, almost as if you are doing your customer a favor.

Customers and clients these days are so informed, and so smart, that they can smell when someone is faking their words.   Customers are savvy enough to figure out whether Product X is really worth their time and money.  That is where passion is a differentiator.  The goal for business should not be to hire people who are good pretenders or actors, but find people who are excited to come to work, excited about the company, and excited about how they are positively affecting others.

Finding your passion is not something that happens in a month, day, or a year.  Some passions are innate, and some are grown with time.  The key is to find aspects of the business or product that drive satisfaction both the employee and the customer.  A common trait in highly successful people is their pride and passion for their work.  It is apparent that their enthusiasm spreads throughout the company and in through the customers, or else they would not be as highly regarded as they are. 

So my question is, what is your passion at work?  What gets you excited?  How would your customer or client answer the question?  Customer’s won’t pass on something that beams with passion, they will pass on that passion to others.