‘Passion in business' is not just a feeling, experienced by an individual or interpersonal relations.  It is at a much deeper level, it is what makes the individual and the organization work with extreme emotional intensity.  Passion makes the impossible possible.  It is very close to madness, not destructive but constructive. Passion is like digging a mountain with a pick axe and finally reaching a level playing ground.  Passion is the life force, which effectively runs an organization at high speed. An entrepreneurial organization is always characterized by hard work and passion, to keep the hard work going. A passion driven organization outperforms its competitors by miles and zooms.

Take the example of Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher or Branson of Virgin. Both have high energy and passion for their ventures. Whenever you fly in their airlines, you find the spirit of enterprise running through and through, ensuring customer delight. The on-time punctuality, safety, employee behavior, cleanliness of the cabin, the way the food is served - all these show, how a passionate vision shared by the leader, leads an enterprise on to the growth path. You would also notice how, the entrepreneurial spirit leads these airlines - they take on the market in an innovative and creative way and create opportunities instead of waiting for opportunities, to be exploited.

The Indian IT industry is another good example where passion is driving the business. There are innumerable examples of startups, becoming giants in terms of new services, products, processes and eventually becoming multinationals. The recent phenomenon of IPL in Indian Cricket has demonstrated what passion can do for business.

What is then a passion driven organization? It is an organization which has -

Compelling Vision and Mission: The entrepreneurial call is high when shared and accepted by everyone.

It is my passion to deliver the best of good times is the vision shared by Vijay Mallya. The Mission of Glaxo Smith Kline is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. The Mission of Ogilvy & Mather is to be most valued by those who most value brand. and Amazon aims to be the earth's most customer centric company.

A vision though invisible, helps every stake holder to see their/his perceived future. That is when it touches the hearts of each and every employee. An enterprise big or small needs to have a strongly articulated vision/mission.

Innovation: A constant search is on, for finding newer ways of enhancing the market share and running the enterprise for a higher bottomline. Adaptability to change is continuous. A pervasive attitude of experimentation pervades all actions.

For instance, the Telecom industry in our country is growing by leaps and bounds. Giant companies like R Com, Bharti Airtel or Vodafone are displaying an enormous level of creativity and innovation in their product offerings. They are moving from one technology to another. We find GSM mobiles, CDMA mobiles; Internet connectivity, Navigation aids and more and more features on every mobile with changing billing patterns, to suit the changing needs of customers for payment and price preferences.

Role models: The leaders not only show the way but, go the way. They live by their vision and are constantly open to new ideas and actions. They influence the people around them by touching their emotions.

Good Governance has been recognized as a reputation builder and it is the responsibility of the leaders to be role models, by adhering to principles.

Nokia recalled millions of their handsets as it was found, a few of the batteries were exploding. A director of Infosys was levied a fine, since he was found to have accidentally indulged in insider trading. Anil Ambani declared issue of bonus shares to the subscribers of the power issue, when the market value of the scrip fell below the issue price.

This type of incidents in the life of an enterprise show the role modeling done by its leaders and helps all the stake holders to respect and respond in a similar fashion.

Work Culture: Culture is a way of life. In a passion driven business, the employees work with a start up culture of high energy, minimal bureaucracy and an intense desire for achieving.

Today, we find this kind of culture working in the infrastructure industry. Some good examples could be the GMR Group, Lanco Group, DLF Group which are some of the names, where enormous and complex projects are being taken up and driven to success and in many cases, within the target date and costs.

Customer First attitude: Employees are constantly on the look out for ensuring that every activity adds value to the customer.

Auto sector has shown phenomenal growth in terms of models, sizes, technology, aesthetics, service and spares and internationalization in the recent times. All the global majors are in India and are sometimes setting the tone. In the recent times, the Indian auto majors are also setting the tone. Post Nano, many international majors are reinventing or creating small cars. ‘Customer First' is the ruling credo.

Risk Taking: There is a saying - ‘no pain, no gain'. Passion helps people to accept pain, which they would rather avoid. Risk taking backed by competence, is a sure fire formula for success.

When we talk of entrepreneurship, the corner stone on which the definition is based on is ‘risk taking'. However, it is not blind risk taking but, a planned approach to risk taking. An entrepreneur is not a gambler but, is a driven individual who wants to succeed at a cost.

A passion driven organization thrives because it has an intense emotional desire to succeed and win. The leaders and the people believe in their cause and are willing to sacrifice beyond the call of their role, to create value.

If you are building an enterprise, you need to fill it with passion. 

The author is a trainer, who has specialised in Banking & Finance and Soft Skills.  Feedback at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Issue BG87 Jun 08

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