The Passion-Professionalism Paradox

You have a great idea — a vision of something new your organization can do that will transform it, if not the world. You've mentioned it to some people who might be able to help make it happen, but they haven't done much. Maybe nobody else gets it, or has the passion for it, or whatever it takes.

You're about to encounter the passion-professionalism paradox.

In the modern workplace, to be passionate is to persist in pursuit of objectives, despite obstacles that would deter most of one's colleagues. Most people believe that only strong emotion can provide the drive that enables the passionate to make the sacrifices and take the risks that make persistence possible. We associate passion with excitement, commitment, and enthusiasm, possibly beyond the point of sound, objective judgment.

To be professional in the modern workplace is to conduct oneself in accordance with the standards, ethics, politeness, and demeanor of one's position. Most people regard professionalism as the right combination of skill, judgment, stability, objectivity, composure, precision, and focus. Professionalism, many believe, requires discipline of the emotions, to prevent them from clouding judgment and biasing decisions. Professionalism is dispassionate.

To lead the people of your organization to somewhere new, or to persuade them to adopt a new way of seeing some small part of the world, requires passion. Yet, those same people must trust the vision you offer. They must feel that you're objective about that vision, that your judgment is sound, that you are knowledgeable, and that the vision you advocate is achievable. Only by projecting professionalism can you influence others to adopt your vision. Only by being passionate can you marshal the internal resources needed to overcome the obstacles to realizing that vision.

Passion and professionalism are in tension. Visionaries who project more passion than professionalism stir doubts about their objectivity and their motives. Visionaries who possess more professionalism than passion have difficulty maintaining the level of commitment needed to deal with the challenges that obstruct adoption of their visions.

To resolve the tension between passion and professionalism, use both.

Have a passion for professionalism

Professionalism requires continuously calm, objective assessment of your situation, solving problems as they arise, or skirting them if possible, or deferring them until you can solve them. Professionalism requires resilience, making adjustments when necessary. Having a passion for professionalism makes this possible even when no path forward is in view.

Take a professional approach to nurturing your passion

Passion Visionaries who project more
passion than professionalism
stir doubts about their
objectivity and their motivesis the drive that makes persistence possible, despite obstacles that would deter the less passionate. Nurture your passion. Do what's necessary to renew the energy as you consume it. Being open to seeing more clearly what thrills you about your vision is good. Better is being disciplined about seeking those thrills.

Most important, if resolving the tension between passion and professionalism seems difficult, verify that you really are passionate about what you think you're passionate about.  Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Organizational Change:

Pick-Up Sticks and the Change Game

When we change organizational culture, we often stumble over unexpected obstacles. Sometimes the tangle can be so frustrating that we want to start the company over again. Here are some tips for managing large-scale cultural change.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

You may have heard the phrase "plenty of blame to go around," or maybe you've even used it yourself. Although it sometimes does bring an end to immediate finger pointing, it also validates blame as a general approach. Here's how to end the blaming by looking ahead.

Definitions of Insanity

When leaders try to motivate organizational change, they often resort to clever sloganeering. One of the most commonly used slogans is a definition of insanity. Unfortunately, that definition doesn't pass the sanity test.

Good Change, Bad Change: II

When we distinguish good change from bad, we often get it wrong: we favor things that would harm us, and shun things that would help. When we do get it wrong, we're sometimes misled by social factors.

Reactance and Micromanagement

When we feel that our freedom at work is threatened, we sometimes experience urges to do what is forbidden, or to not do what is required. This phenomenon — called reactance — might explain some of the dynamics of micromanagement.

See also Organizational Change and Effective Communication at Work for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming July 13: What Do We Actually Know?

Precision in both writing and speech can be critical in determining the success of collaborations in the modern workplace. Precision is especially important when we distinguish between what we surmise or assume and what we actually know. Available here and by RSS on July 13.

And on July 20: Overt Verbal Abuse at Work

Verbal abuse in the workplace involves using written or spoken language to disparage, to disadvantage, or to otherwise harm others. Perpetrators tend to favor tactics that they can subsequently deny having used to harm anyone. Available here and by RSS on July 20.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenEMudcCzvnDHFfOEmner@ChacTcmtXTCJBjZfSFjIoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   
• A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   

Bullet Points: Mastery or Madness?

Decision makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
   
• A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly Webinar, sponsored by Technobility Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.