Purpose And Passion, Not Profits
June 7, 2010
Author 
In To those who love their jobs: purpose and passion trump profit as a motivator to produce great work. This is something I’ve been conscious of long before I started working for others. I noted this while in university – grades never motivated me nearly as much as if I viewed the subject matter as purposeful and the professor as passionate.
It’s a common theme in sociology texts, but still something that many still fail to grasp (or believe) even though there’s data behind it. This is either because it goes against what they were taught, or are completely ingrained in the idea of money as central to the reason why we work. It’s all they have ever seen used as a motivator, and so it’s difficult for them to imagine other things being used as motivation. But to truly valuable professionals in any industry, money as a motivator pales in comparison to passion and purpose. Simply put, money alone does not attract or maintain great talent.
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) produced a great video that expresses this very notion and shows some proof points in an easy to consume format. It makes a thoughtful argument that money is not central to motivating or attracting the best teams:
Are you motivating your team by money or are you encouraging and nurturing their passions?
Are you giving them purpose or simply a greater workload for the sake of increasing your revenue?
Is your company’s whole purpose merely to increase revenue or are you actually trying to change something?
The information economy linchpins – especially within marketing/PR – are the most creative, agile and motivated individuals. Not those driven purely by profits. Find a way to attract and maintain those folk or you’ll continue to find yourself behind competitors.
In the end, money could be your undoing if your creative thinking for rallying your employees long term (or even day to day) can’t think beyond money. You can’t innovate with purely profit-driven teams.
Robert replied | Jun 8, 2010 (2 comments)
I couldn’t agree more, it’s the driving force behind a lifestyle business, and should be more intertwined with todays business in general. When you work for a paycheck, it’s just not going to be sustained. How to catalyze that passion into paying productivity…well now thats a life challenge.
Jose Palomino replied | Jun 9, 2010 (1 comment)
Great ideas, and beautiful presentation! I totally agree with this as well, and would like to see the study passed on to more companies. While money does make a lot of things work, it rarely inspires or brings about pupose and passion. The best and most talented workers out there are motivated by so many things beyond their pay.
I think the best kind of leadership we can offer to employees is one that truly welcomes them into our companies. We just don’t give rewards that are immediate– literal compensation for all their hard work. I think that more than our employees salaries, we should also look into more nurturing our people.
We should learn to listen, let go and give employees room to work and decide. We should encourage new ideas, ensure good work environments, engage them and allow them to experience work that they won’t mind doing everyday, and maybe even every year of their lives for the next 10 or more years.
Katie replied | Jun 15, 2010 (1 comment)
Great ideas, and beautiful presentation! I totally agree with this as well, and would like to see the study passed on to more companies. While money does make a lot of things work, it rarely inspires or brings about pupose and passion. The best and most talented workers out there are motivated by so many things beyond their pay.
I think the best kind of leadership we can offer to employees is one that truly welcomes them into our companies. We just don’t give rewards that are immediate– literal compensation for all their hard work. I think that more than our employees salaries, we should also look into more nurturing our people.
We should learn to listen, let go and give employees room to work and decide. We should encourage new ideas, ensure good work environments, engage them and allow them to experience work that they won’t mind doing everyday, and maybe even every year of their lives for the next 10 or more years.
Yam replied | Jun 15, 2010 (1 comment)
I agree with you. You’ll surely love your work if you are really passionate in doing it. Otherwise, you’ll just act as a robot. Do daily routine that can make you feel so bored. Like any other successful people, focus first on your passion and money comes next.
Tran replied | Jun 23, 2010 (1 comment)
I think that was amazingly true and very encouraging. It’s time we look at employees i.n any field as Humans with noble self-fulfilling quests, not figures and patterns to analyze through sciences and economic studies. The world has been so over analyzed for so long.
Erickson replied | Jul 31, 2010 (1 comment)
Personally, I want a job which I can be proud of and can satisfy myself. Something that can make me happy. Right now, I’m currently working as a freelancer online. With that fact alone, I think I’m working for both purpose and passion. Business is what I like and I want to learn more about handling business too.