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If You Already Have Passion, Here Are the Other 4 Things You Will Need to Be Successful

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We’ve all seen inspirational posters that exhort us to follow our dreams. So many great motivational speakers tell us to follow our passion and that money will follow. But is that really true? Can you just follow your passion and somehow the world will recognize your authenticity and the dollars will follow?

What if you’re really passionate about humans flying without assistance? It doesn’t matter how much you stand on your roof and flap your arms, you’re not going to achieve flight and you’re not going to get people to pay you to teach them to fly.

If passion isn’t the only thing you need then what else do you need? Here are 4 things you need besides passion:

1. Expertise

To start you need some expertise in your chosen field. At the very least you need to be a few steps ahead of most of the field. That means that when you’re just starting a job, it’s not the time to tell everyone why you have the best ideas in the organization and should be running the place.

Chris Lema had 20 years in the software industry and then took a year scoping out the WordPress world before he started writing about running a business and offering coaching services. While he was quickly well known in a new field, he had those 20 years of experience to build on.

Expect at the very least to spend a few years learning on the job and on your own time before you get that expert status. Then you’re ready to start leading.

“You must continue to gain expertise, but avoid thinking like an expert.” – Denis Waitley

2. A market

The second thing you need is people that are willing to pay you for what you offer. It’s no good trying to teach underwater tuba playing, because it’s just not something in demand. If under water tuba playing is your passion, keep doing what you enjoy just don’t expect it to turn into a business.

In the book, Will It Fly, Pat Flynn has a great formula for finding out if there is a market for what you want to offer. Start by searching for the online forums in your field. Then take a look through the questions that are asked and start writing down the problems people are having. Does what you offer solve any of these problems? If it does, then you probably have a market.

3. Goals

Once you have a market you need goals but not just any goals. You need goals that you can measure and that you own. Having  goals like ‘be successful’ are way too nebulous. What is successful? What does it look like for you? Sure you have some dream of a fancy car and maybe big house, but those external things are rarely enough for people to really put in the effort required.

What you need is a goal like ‘I want to publish a book in the next 2 years’. From there you can work back and figure out that you need to write 1000 words a day or spend 30 minutes a day writing. A goal like that can be measured, you either have the words written and the time put in or you don’t.

Secondly you need goals that are your own. You can’t just look at what someone else has and aim to get the same thing. You need to have some internal motivation that pushes you when things are tough. Simon Sinek would call this your WHY and Jeff Goins would call it your story/purpose. This needs to underpin all your work and if it’s defined properly will be a driving force when things don’t go as planned.

4. Grit and resilience

Things are not going to go as planned, they rarely do. Simply having passion for a project isn’t going to keep you going despite what most people think. Quite often it’s going to take the thing you loved and when you heap on all the difficulties it becomes something that you simply don’t want to touch with a 10 foot pole.

To really stick with something you need grit or resilience. This is the ability to just keep getting back up when things aren’t going as planned. You only get that when the goal you’re trying to achieve is tied closely with your purpose or your WHY.

Grit is what gets us back up and helps us evaluate what went wrong. It helps us make a plan to avoid the same difficulties next time and then step right back into the work we were meant to do with excitement.

“Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.” – John Ortberg

Simply having a passion for something isn’t going to help you win the day. You need to make sure that it’s something you actually have the knowledge to win at. Second you need to make sure that there is a market for that skill. Third you need to make sure that it lines up with your purpose and if it does you need to have the mental toughness to keep going when life knocks you down for the 12th time.

If you don’t have all four of these things, then passion will fizzle and that thing you once loved so much will become something you stay away from at all costs.

Which one of these four things do you need to focus more on and why? Leave your thoughts below!

Curtis McHale is a business coach and speaker. He mainly focuses on helping businesses build effective processes for vetting ideal clients and building a business that doesn’t take every hour of every day to run. A number of his clients have seen 30% jumps in income with no extra time needed.

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Success Advice

What Every New CEO Must Do in Their First 100 Days (or Risk Failure)

Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

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Image Credit: Midjourney

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

Building a Business Empire: Lessons from the World’s Boldest Entrepreneurs

Learn essential lessons, success strategies, and mindset shifts every aspiring entrepreneur needs to overcome challenges and build a thriving business.

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how to build a business empire
Image Credit: Midjourney

Back in July 2017, I attended a business seminar on entrepreneurship in India. With my appetite for learning and meeting new people, I wanted to explore the latest developments in the entrepreneurial world. (more…)

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