A few years ago I read the book Total Leadership by Stewart Friedman (2008), and in it the author makes a fantastic statement. He says, “Don’t settle. You’ve got to find what you love.” In the context of the book, the author is speaking of having the attitude that if you’re going to experience true and total leadership in your life, then you need to invest yourself in the things that really matter to you. Applied to your professional and leadership life, you need to make sure that what you do really means something to you and that the job you do is something in which you have an emotional stake, so that when you lead your team, they see a leader who is passionate and committed to the organizational mission. Taking it to the next step, if you aren’t sold out to what you are spending up to half of your day doing, then you need to think about changing what you do to what is really going to float your boat. You need to stop settling for a job doing something about which you don’t really care.
I have said for a long time now that life is too long to do something you hate doing. I believe that in both my professional and my personal life. I can do things I don’t enjoy for a short and temporary time, but long-term, I’ve got to love what I do. When I’m miserable, everyone around me is miserable. Just ask my wife! As a leader, I lead by passionate example. Those who follow me know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’m 100% in the game. I believe one of the main reasons people follow me is because I am so over-the-top about what I do and the mission we share. As I have chosen how to use my gifts and talents, it has always been from a standpoint of doing something I could be totally committed to. Whenever possible, I have been an “all in” member of whatever organization or cause I was serving.
In the book Lessons in Excellence From Charlie Trotter (1999), the biographer, Paul Clarke speaks of the importance that Chef Trotter put on doing exactly what will fulfill you most in life. He states, “He [Trotter] has to be doing his thing, and so do the rest of us. If we aren’t doing our thing, we’re dead in the water.” So, my challenge to all of us who lead others is that we must make sure that whatever it is that we do is the very thing that turns us on. I believe that people are drawn to leaders who are absolutely in love with what they do, leaders who haven’t just settled for a good job, and leaders who feel that they are doing the very thing they were put on this planet to do. It’s a tall order, I understand, however, if you really want to see your team step up to new levels of commitment and effectiveness, be one who leads from the highest levels of passion, enthusiasm, and focus because you haven’t settled, and you love what you do. I am certain that it will make a difference to your team.
Lead well.