LEADERS ARE PASSIONATEget on fire for God – people will come from miles around to watch you burn!”
There is a lot of truth in that. People are not interested in following a
leader with the enthusiasm of a melting icicle! John Maxwell correctly
summarizes it this way: “Your desire determines your destiny.”^5 Small desires
produce small destinies – while great desires produce great destinies!
“Th e most powerful weapon on
earth is the human soul on fi r e. ”
(Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch)Understanding the importance of passion in life, consultant Bobb Biehl
poses this question to leaders who seek his council: “What is your passion
today?”^6 Those five little words crystallize the crux of leadership. That’s
the crucial question for every would-be leader. Early in the leadership
process, a leader must get in touch with his or her passions. Simply
put: “if his passions are low, his leadership will be slow! If her passions
are high, her leadership will fly!” It is also true that a leader will lose if
his passion is diffused – because his followers will be confused! Diffused
leaders produce confused followers. There is a direct relationship between
a diffusion of the passion of the leader, and the confusion of the passion of
the follower. There is a basic principle that says: “An ambiguous heart sends
out an ambivalent flow.” If the leader is ambiguous about his vision...his
purpose...his dream...his desire, it will be reflected through ambivalent
signals going out from his life. The more focused the passion of the leader –
the more focused the passion of the follower. A focused passion in the life of
a leader is like the focused heat of a welder’s torch – it can cut through
almost any obstacle or opposition!
Principle:
“If your passions are low, your leadership will be slow.
If your passions are high, Your leadership will fl y!”Early in the life of every leader, he must ask himself: “What am I really
passionate about?” Until the answer to that question is crystal clear in
the leader’s mind, it cannot become compellingly clear in the mind of
the follower. We can express this leadership question in more extreme
terms this way: “What am I willing to die for?” In other words, if it came
right down to it, What in life would I as a leader not stop doing – regardless