Passion and Timing (Excerpt from the book, The Five Insights)
Enduring leaders are inspiring, motivating, hard working people who give their jobs their all. They are able to do this because they are working at something they feel passionate about. Passion is the emotion that drives enduring leaders to excel, achieve and produce. Passion is LOVE, and how a leader expresses their passion depends on what it is, exactly, about their work that they love.
Passion and Timing make up the combustion engine that puts the other four insights to work. Being a great leader is hard work, and this insight is what makes it possible for you to work hard and work long—the other insights are what help you work well.
Enduring leaders feel passion and are aware of timing; everyone else just sees results. Passion and Timing is what motivates and inspires employees and customers. Employees love working with leaders who have it; they see a role model for getting work done while having fun, and they imitate it.
Timing and passion originate from opposite places: passion comes from a deep personal desire; timing is an acquired skill that comes from interacting with the world. All of the insights discussed in this book are a journey unto themselves, not a destination, and this principle is never more true than with Passion and Timing. The pursuit of passion inevitably takes us on a quest for meaning and an answer to the question: “Why am I here?” Our sense of timing helps us on the quest for meaning. It is both a compass and a regulator, helping us find our direction without running out of steam. In this section, we will learn about how passion may eventually turn into our life’s calling, and how the ordinary or mundane may eventually turn into our
passion.
