Passion drives all success, but it also stands in the way.
The Dark Side of Passion
1. Independence. Successful leaders never succeed alone; they inspire others. Passion may motivate you to focus on your actions while neglecting the power and importance of others.
You’re all jazzed about YOUR impact. Effective leaders, on the other hand, get jazzed about the impact of others. Leadership-passion doesn’t exclude; it includes.
2. Decisions. Passion drives decisions. Passion off-the-hook drives foolish decisions. Passionate people don’t think things through. Excitement drives short-term decisions and neglects long-term consequences.
3. Risks. Passionate risk-takers scare people. Passion minimizes danger. Learn to focus on points of stability while stepping into the unknown.
4. Closed. Passion closes ears and turns people into pushers.
5. Snap. Passion motivates snap decisions.
6. Stubborn. Passionate people have more emotion than brains. They won’t back down from foolish snap decisions.
The danger of passion is it short circuits short-term processes at the expense of long-term goals. Passion focused on noble outcomes changes the world. On the dark side, passion may destroy itself.
Isn’t it interesting that the dark side of passion reveals the power of passion?
Have you seen the dark side of passion? What happened?
