When I was in college we used to mix an alcoholic drink called purple passion. The way I remember it the formula was 190 proof grain alcohol mixed with grape juice. Not that I was ever a heavy drinker but I probably lost some serious brain cells drinking that stuff.

The appeal of that drink wasn’t just the alcohol content; it was the name "Purple Passion." More the word passion than purple! There’s something about the word passion that brings out excitement and enthusiasm in most people.

Organization like Zappos Shoes, Starbucks, and Apple will point to the passion of their employees as a driving force in the culture, which contributes greatly to their success.

People and organizations don’t necessarily fail because they are stupid or don’t know what to do. They fail because of the lack of passion. Passion is not something that can actually be taught. I’d love to hold a workshop on passion, but I doubt it can be done. Besides, most people wouldn’t feel they need a workshop on passion. They think they already have it, but the reality is most don’t.

I can show you what passion looks like. I do my workshop with great passion. You won’t agree with everything I teach, but you will agree that I do it with passion.

Passion is created when you’re doing something you love to do. That’s the problem, for many people are doing whatever they do for a check.

The number one reason companies like Apple succeed is because they hire people who are passionate about the business they are in. The greatest challenge for most businesses is to take the time to find people who are passionate about their work or at least have a slight flame burning that can be set on fire when shown the way.

Passion is multiplied in any organization by finding "like-minded" people. Passionate leadership will establish standards that are of the Ritz Carlton/Disney type. These standards have to be fed to the masses everyday by the passionate ones to the extent that people either eat it or move on. If passion scares non-believers away, how can that be such a bad thing? You should expect people to become believers and if they can’t, then it’s time to make a change.

There’s a massive connection between passion and goals. If you don’t have goals then it’s pretty unlikely you will ever have a passion for anything. Your goals have to be constantly changing. Passionate people are not successful because they achieve their goals. They are successful because they keep changing their goals. Setting goals too low or too high doesn’t work. Setting goals just a tick out of reach is the key. You hit that just out of reach goal, set another and the passion burns on.

I’ve often said that one of the worst things to happen is when people get in a comfort zone somewhere between two and three years in a given job. The lack of passion is easy to spot. It’s that person who says "Oh, I’m very happy being an F&I manager and I look forward to retiring doing this job."

I’m not saying that’s totally a bad thing, but if this is the person that’s going to fire up the passion in your business you would be as well off drinking purple passion. Having people around you who think like this will cause you as much brain damage as a gallon of purple passion made with 190 proof grain alcohol. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs