We’ve all experienced the joy of watching a young child develop a passion. We see them bonding with one particular toy, banging on a drum without ceasing, dressing up like their hero, playing air guitar, or appearing to be glued to a tennis racket or baseball mitt. Eventually, one parent says, “For Pete’s sake, sign that kid up for some lessons!” Soon after, and usally as a card is about to be swiped, the “discipline talk” happens: “Well junior, (insert hero’s name here) had to work to get where they are. It’s wonderful that you love it, but it takes hard work, mastery of the fundamentals, practice, and discipline.” If the passion is real, the youngster takes this crucial advice to heart and begins the long journey to excellence.

Ah, but once inside excellence, as an adult, the relationship between discipline and passion is reversed. We’ve got the discipline, but passion can be in short supply, particularly when “vocation” and “career” are rarely the same thing. Think about it: We are surrounded by disciplined people who hold both themselves and others accountable to high standards and to an admirable work ethic. And the occasional junior or middle manager will even make quite a show of saying, “I have a passion for (insert business category here). ” But who really believes it? Ninety nine percent of the time it’s a put on, a crock, BS on toast. It fools no one, except maybe them. Many people trapped in excellence, meaning most of us, can say “I love my job” but then fantasize about exit strategies, seek compensatory rewards, and play the lottery anyway!

No, in business, we are mistaken if we assume that we and our people generate and sustain passion by looking forward to our paycheck, benefits, perks, prestige, and even our generalized passion for winning. That’s the Excellence Trap in action. Passion has to come from somewhere deeper, and Leadership Mastery unleashes it. A leader in mastery will overcome the narrow and shallow focus on discipline (and effort, skill, etc), to realize that the true driver of greatness for a leader, a team, and an entire enterprise, is the kind of passion that comes from the gut, the core, the soul. And this from each person, from the culture, and even from the market and the brands. As senior leaders, we need to connect with that passion, and help others to do the same. Otherwise, leadership mastery, enterprise mastery, and market mastery will elude us, and we will struggle for marginal advantage inside the Excellence Trap. So here’s to passion, and to profits. And here’s to finding both!

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