Passion for what we do...

I started out at Hunton & Williams as a Word Processor working the 4-12 shift.  Often, lawyers would come in late at night to drop off their documents or pick up completed work.  I often marveled at their work ethic and drive.  In 1983, I was working with a Public Finance lawyer who was juggling many bond deals due to an upcoming tax law change.  He shared with me that he gotten about 2 hours of sleep per night for about two weeks.   He also shared with me how it took him a few months to regain his strength as he was neither a young nor fit man at the time.

What struck me most about these observations was the passion that drove these lawyers.  Former IBM CEO Lew Gerstner once wrote about the need for today's leaders to recruit, hire, and maintain individuals who have a passion for their work.  Finding the right individual with the right level of passion for the right job is the challenge.

The late VCU Professor, Dr. Wally Johnston, once stated that he never met a person who could not find time to do something they really wanted to do.  Conversely, if one really does not want to do something, they will find and cite all the reasons not to do it.

I believe that regardless of the level or stature one attains in their work life, they must still match that work with a sense of passion or purpose.  Otherwise, it is just a job that consumes at least 40 hours of their life per week. 

Finally, I believe it is important to find tasks and assign them to individuals who have a passion for it.  The results should not be surprising but are amazing.  Recently, we had a data project at work that languished a bit due to its mere magnitude and size of over 36,000 records.  Well, one of my colleagues, who has a passion for data, focused in on it and moved the task along.  Why?  She loves data and willing spends hours evaluating, slicing, and dicing it.