I’ve heard advice both ways – try to get paid for following your passion and keep your true passion separate from your work so you don’t ruin it. I can actually see the wisdom and usefulness in both perspectives. On one hand, the cynical side of me says that there aren’t many people in today’s world who get paid for pursuing their passion – maybe artists, musicians, philanthropists, professional athletes and some entrepreneurs. What about Rachel Zoe? First question is – do you know who she is? I’ve heard of her but had never read anything that she wrote until I saw her blog post on LinkedIn today. Here’s something that she said that sounded more like an inspirational speaker than a global fashion icon:

Define your passion and remember why it has ignited and inspired you to be where you are today. I believe that you can and should live your dreams – and that rule should apply even in your professional life. If you love what you do, the success will come. If you let your passions and strengths guide you, failure won’t be an option.

I have a new respect for Rachel Zoe but I don’t really think there are many actuaries out there who say that their passion is analyzing the financial costs of risk and uncertainty but maybe there are. I read a book once about a guy who got laid off from his corporate job and ended up becoming a carpenter right before the last building boom. Hammers and nails weren’t his passion at all but doing that work 9-5 instead of working nights and weekends at his other job left him with much more time to explore his hobbies – like writing – and spend with his family. That doesn’t sound all that bad either.

I was in a meeting one time when we were debating the company mission statement and trying to find words that conveyed our purpose. The word “passion” was actually suggested because we were trying to illustrate how important our work was to the world and how engaged our employees were. It was probably the wrong word but I’ll never forget the response from one leader in the room who said “this is corporate America, we don’t have passion here.” What do you think? Do we? I was reading Fast Company magazine recently and came across this article about employee engagement. There was an interesting quote:

…employee engagement has become the new currency in today’s economy.Some leaders are ahead of the curve. Inspirations like Tony Hsieh from Zappos and Chip Conley from Joie de Vivre Hotels put an extreme focus on organizational culture and a premium on employee happiness. In return, people in these organizations deliver extraordinary value and produce fanatical customer loyalty. There’s a problem though: The majority of us are disengaged–70% in fact. That’s a  half-a-trillion-dollar problem in the U.S. alone.

Does passion for your work lead to engagement? I’m pretty sure it does. When I worked in public education, we didn’t have mission posters anywhere but pretty much everyone was working in education because of their passion for kids and learning. Why else would you do it? The stock options? The cafeteria food? Nope, it’s pretty much because you believe in it. What about you, do you live to work or work to live?