I recently discovered the newest excuse for less than professional behavior in the workplace... proclamations of having passion. Passion is: a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.
Maybe you have witnessed this excuse? When a topic or decision is being discussed in a meeting and someone: begins talking over people, interrupting, speaking loudly, strongly disagreeing without regard to others' feelings, ignoring others who try to express their thoughts, using sharp edged language, or getting frustrated when they don't get their way. Lately, I have heard from several people that the reason a certain people act this way is because they are passionate about the subject at hand. When did being passionate about something make it okay to be unprofessional? When did this become acceptable workplace behavior?
I was always under the impression that having passion about something was a positive thing. People long for spending more time with things or people they are passionate about in life. Passion creates and endless supply of energy that people need to do great things. Finding what your passionate about is an amazing process. You can't plan it, force it, or buy it. When you realize what your God given passion is and you are able to live it there are few levels of joy that can match the feeling. So how can this priceless feeling of joy turn into a situation where it hurts other people in the workplace?
The moment someone disrespects another person in a meeting the passion that person has about the subject matter at hand becomes useless and unwanted. The so-called passionate person quickly becomes viewed as out of control, rude, disrespectful, and not a team player. It becomes difficult to work with this person because of how they make you or others feel. You can find yourself not wanting them involved in projects or discussions because of how they dominate the conversation and how they cause a loss of momentum with the work. You will begin having side conversations with the other people you need to work with on projects and only bring in the passionate person at the end of the process. You end up spending more time managing this person and being less productive.
At no time is having passion about something an excuse for disrespecting people or for being unprofessional at work. Being passionate and professional are not mutually exclusive things. When you put them together you will find greatness. You will see people flocking to work with these kind of people. Passionate and professional people have huge networks, get assigned to big projects, and are always invited to meetings or to be apart of the decision making process. They are a pleasure to work with and they inspire you.
Are you the one others manage or are you the one that people want to work with? Be passionate about your work relationships. Be passionate about how you treat people. Use your passion for good.
