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The Power of Passion
Successful people win because they love what
they do. All of them have a very strong desire to succeed. They have passion
for their field, their business.
Passion is the single fastest way to spur
yourself to massive success. It is something you love.
Something you're excited about. Something you
get up early to work on or to stay up late.
Success Story
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods' willingness to win is unparalleled
in sports. His strong desire to win is a huge factor in what has propelled
him to incredible success. Tiger Woods called his love for golf an
'obsessions', an 'addiction'.
Turning a Passion Into a Business
Great business requires heart and dedication.
If you think your passion or hobby has potential as a business, ask
yourself, "Is this something I really enjoy doing and can sustain? What is
it about my offerings that are unique or hard to find? Is this something
people really want? How could I find it out?"

Case in Point
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs is one of the most successful
entrepreneurs of our generation. His success story is legendary.
Put up for adoption at an early age, dropped
out of college after 6 months, slept on friends floors, returned coke
bottles for 5 cent deposits to buy food, then went on to start Apple
Computers and Pixar Animation Studios.
On June 12th 2005, Steve Jobs gave the
commencement address at Stanford University. Below are a few clips from his
powerful speech.
Find your
true passion and do what you love to do
"Sometimes life
hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only
thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what
you
love."...
More
Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success
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Do
what you love to do.
Find your true passion. Do
what you love to do a make a difference! The
only way to do great work is to
love what you do...
More
The Value of Passion for Business
The value of passion for business has been
widely recognized. Passion is key to you succeeding. Many innovation centers, companies large and small have
started shifting their management practices to accommodate or support
knowledge work and help their people express passion of their own.2
Success Story
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley leaders recognized the value of passion and continually
try to evoke, rather than mute, people passions. Once evoked, the passion is
tough to control. It can result in a series of twenty-hours workdays,
fun and pranks. The
passion to go well beyond the extra mile is what drives people to create
insanely great products and services...
More
Be an Inspirational
Leader
Inspirational leaders create an
inspiring corporate culture to
inspire,
empower and
energize their people. People do what they have to do for a
manager, they do their best for an inspirational leader...
More
10 Roles of an
Inspirational Leader
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Provide an inspiring
vision and
strategic alignment,
launch a crusade.
As
a
leader, you must envision the future, passionately believe that
you can
make a difference, and
inspire people to achieve more than they may ever have dreamed
possible. You must see a changed world beyond the time horizon,
create an ideal and unique image of what it could become, open your
followers' eyes and lift their spirits. You must believe that your
dreams can become reality and, through
your attitude, get people to see exciting opportunities and
possibilities for the future. People change and unlock their inner
power when they are emotionally engaged and committed...
More
Inspiring Culture
Do you want to encourage extraordinary
performance from your people? Do you want them to do great things? If yes, then you must create an
inspiring corporate culture
to inspire and
energize them...
More

Case in Point
Unilever
"Our leaders have done every kind of
strategic planning in the book,
facilitated by the best business school professors and management gurus.
They don't need another strategy,
and the last thing they need is another stakeholder analysis!
What the
company's leaders need most is
to become
emotionally engaged with their own passion and their dreams with each
other and with the strategy," said a top
Unilever manager when the
corporate transformation
team began to design a program to help the company become more
enterprising and competitive industry leader.3
Success Story Philip H.
Knight, Founder of Nike
Volumes have been written on the passion of
Philip Knight, the founder of Nike, and his
rule-breaking "continuous
reinvention" of his
entrepreneurially minded business.
His unrelenting, focused energy built
Nike into the most recognized brand in the world.
Knight came to University of Oregon to run for
one of the most prestigious track programs in the country and to be
coached by the legendary Bill Bowerman. By
the time he graduated in 1959 with a degree in business administration,
Knight understood the importance of innovation,
not just in product design but
also in marketing.1
He was well aware of Bowerman's attempts to
create a better running shoe, and Knight possessed the drive and enthusiasm
to bring those concepts to reality. After obtaining his M.B.A. from Stanford
University in 1962, Knight returned to Eugene to found Blue Ribbon Sports,
Inc. with Bowerman. Knight soon began selling shoes at track meets out of
the back of his Plymouth Valiant station wagon, eventually making enough
money to quit his job as an accountant.
By 1972, Blue Ribbon Sports was renamed Nike,
Inc., after the Greek goddess of victory. Under Knight's leadership, Nike
quickly became the world's largest sports and fitness company thanks to a
constant pursuit of innovation and
ingenious marketing and
advertising.
Having retired from the CEO position at Nike in
November 2004, Knight continues to serve as the company's chairman. But he
has always been much more than a corporate executive. Knight is the father
of sports marketing, an industry he almost single-handedly created. He is a
visionary and a leader. And he
embodies everything that is Nike excellence,
integrity, and passion.

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