Passion and purpose

Last year, I started a new program called the Leadership Square*. Modelled after the concept of a Mastermind Group, the Square is a monthly-ish virtual gathering to talk about leadership, work, balance, and all manner of topics. I provide a topic and some suggested reading, and then those who are interest gather in the virtual square for discussion.

The topic for February’s Square was passion and purpose.

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As described in this article, passion is about what you love to do while purpose is about the meaning of what you do. Passion is about you, while purpose is about others. Passion is about getting – feelings of enjoyment – while purpose is about giving, leading to the feeling of contribution or achievement. While the pursuit of passion can be unending, purpose has, well, a purpose and so can somehow be completed.

Many readings about career path work, including guidance for coaching and mentoring, talk about finding your passion, work that “feels like play”, as the path to happiness in work – that passion will lead you to your purpose. There are a few challenges with such an approach.
First and foremost, what if you’re not good at your passion? Ultimately, a career path should somehow (among other things) pay the bills, so if you’re not good that that thing, will anyone pay you to do it? Or perhaps you are good at it, but no one pays much or anything for what you do. As a career path, there needs to be some value associated with what we do, otherwise it’s not a career path, it’s a hobby or at best, a side gig.
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A second challenge is the capriciousness of passions throughout our lives. Something we absolutely love doing today may be less interesting next week or next year, especially if the doing of it becomes harder. (see also “The Dip”). At the same time, passions can be endless, so there is no sense of accomplishment or completion. And since passions are our own, it can be difficult if not impossible to find others with the same passions.
 
On the other side of this question is purpose, the why of what we do. This is connected to our vision for ourselves and our careers and lives, and is perhaps more consistent and easier to identify or describe than passion. Because purpose is directed outside ourselves, it taps in to our desires as humans for connection with and contribution to others. Purpose also contributes to our vision – where see ourselves in our future. Purpose is the pathway, and vision is the destination. As a counter to “follow your passion”, some believe that purpose fuels passion.
 
The Square discussion was lively and dynamic, with some key takeaways for me:

• Since passions change through our lives, we should consider the effect of generations (i.e. Gen-X vs. Gen-Z) on where someone’s current passion and purpose are. There is emerging information that purpose is a big driver for Gen-Z, something that also contributes to their flexibility and resilience in a gig economy.
• Many pointed to the need for balance between passion and purpose, and that they will likely not be in balance at all times. When discussing, "how much passion is sufficient?", someone pointed out that there can also be too much passion, resulting in "toxic positivity". 
• We also talked about whether it was reasonable or realistic to satisfy your passion or purpose entirely from your work or career. Someone asked, “how much passion from your job is sufficient?” This might be a variation on the concept of balance and where we find our passions or purposes satisfied. One person described “outsourcing your passion” in the form of volunteerism outside of work.
• Leaders need to have passion and a clear purpose to inspire confidence in their teams (as someone said, "passion is contagious"). At the same time, too much passion or purpose without "walking the talk" was seen as problematic. Essentially, passion and purpose are necessary but not sufficient for good leadership - there needs to also be some substance and integrity to back it up.
• In talking about engagement, being aware of and trying to create a path that aligns to someone's passion and purpose is a shared responsibility between the leader and a team member. The leader should try to learn about the person to see opportunities for development in line with the person's vision, while the person needs to be clear with the leader about what their vision is.

Ultimately, passion, purpose, vision, and priorities are individual things based on each person's background and goals. Passion doesn't have to be part of your job. For some, it's just a bonus when it is. For others, it is separate from work. Regardless, it is important for leaders to be clear to and with themselves about their passion and purpose, both to model that good behaviour with their teams and to be able to help them navigate those important considerations in their own development.
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Post-script: For fun, I asked ChatGPT, "what's the difference between passion and purpose?" It gave a scarily good answer: 

* The Leadership Square is available to subscribers. An annual subscription is $99 (including GST), and includes access to all Squares for a full year.

Some additional reading on this topic:

• Is your burnout from too much work or too little impact? and Why success doesn’t lead to satisfaction. From Harvard Business Review
• How meaning transforms work and Life is about more than happiness. From GapingVoid.
• Longer read: Screw finding your passion, by Mark Manson.

 
Have you clearly defined your passion and your purpose? Have you found that your passion has changed or mellowed over time? Have you found satisfaction and balance between your passion, purpose, and vision? Please comment below or email me at [email protected] with your questions and feedback. 

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