Follow your passion

When you’re leading a team, find your passion within the team’s project or goals and make the team’s work essential to you in some way.

Maybe the team’s goal (e.g., expanding housing for the homeless) is your motivation.

Maybe you’re indifferent to the goal (e.g., reducing the number of file cabinets in the department storeroom), but you’re energized by the chance to practice your leadership skills.  After all, who knows how exciting the next project could be!

Maybe all you care about is that the team gives you an opportunity to mentor the next leaders.

Whatever way you spin it, you’ll want your passion fueled by the project.  You’ll need that fuel when you’re drive change.

So, go find your passion in your projects.  Look for those projects you can’t stay away from with the meetings you rush to make and never miss.  Watch for those moments when times flies by and you wish you could keep working.

And, if you look and you just can’t find any passion in the project, then ask yourself: Why am I doing this anyway?  Maybe its time to stop.

There’s lots of things you could be doing with your time.  Why not spend it working on projects that play to your passion.  See Seth Godin’s The Dip for more on this topic.