Why Your Passions Should Follow You — And Not the Other Way Around
Flip it and reverse it
The yin and yang relationship between business and passion is a tricky one. The subject of a debated cliché, ‘follow your passion’. Here, I stress the importance of allowing passions to actually guide your success through developing meaningful connections. Discovering mutual passions is the genesis of quality relationships. It sparks conversation. Conversation develops connection. Connection shapes relationships. Relationships enhance business. This cyclical model is fundamental to our overall social construct. When you operate the model effectively, the quality of your work and life flourishes.
The Human Connection
I had a decade-long career in the international luxury hospitality industry. It allowed me to see the world and meet remarkable people along the way. To succeed in my business, however, simply meeting people is rewarding yet insufficient. Instead, connecting with people on a human level is what separates you from the competing pack. Discovering shared passions is a powerful conduit for developing meaningful relationships. These relationships are the ones that add value for your clients. The ones that make you look like a rockstar. The ones that generate referrals. Asking a friend for a favor on a client’s behalf is always more impactful than cold-calling a potential partner.
On the flipside, reaching out to a contact you do not yet know is another opportunity to activate my so-called ‘cycle of connection.’ Worldly passions complemented my career, as they do with my writing: travel, cuisine, music, foreign language, literature, and world football (soccer). As such, I possessed plenty of cultural antifreeze to navigate beyond the slippery ice of corporate anonymity and irrelevance.
I communicated with people around the world daily. Doing so was amongst the most gratifying — and challenging — parts of my gig, depending on the names that occupied my email inbox and to-do list. Time differences and language barriers were common obstacles. Still, speaking the alternative ‘languages’ of shared passions with existing partners, such as that of football or food, made productivity soar.
Do Your Homework
Obtaining background information on prospective relationships (business or otherwise — without being a stalker) helped me personalize a specific antifreeze. Due diligence has the power to transform robotic interaction into organic conversation. Expressing knowledge about subjects of shared interest is not a show of arrogance.
On the contrary. With the proper delivery, you ‘impress’ people, hence the word ‘impression.’ The more positive impressions we create, the greater the likelihood of cultivating meaningful relationships. With the heavily fragmented nature of the world we live in, the ‘global citizen’ concept is more important than ever. There is much more that unites us than that which divides.
Practice Makes Perfect
Living in New York City, I am lucky to be exposed to different cultures, manifested in an endless variety of forms. I go out of my way to ask taxi drivers their nationality. I then reply to their answer by asking if they come from [insert capital city]. You’d be surprised by how many cab drivers from Ghana or Senegal, for example, are stunned that I have ever even heard of Accra or Dakar, respectively. Then, I will ask him or her if they follow the ‘Black Stars’ or ‘Teranga Lions’, the respective nicknames of the Ghana and Senegal national football teams.
The conversation flows until we reach my destination. We may never cross paths again, yet we’ve made a special connection. I thank every cab driver for (safely) teaching me something new about their country. They thank me for expressing interest. I depart the vehicle with new bits of knowledge and a feeling of mutual respect — all within a matter of minutes. It feels good.
Meaningful Application
I apply the same approach to business. Once, at a conference, I attended an intimate dinner with an eclectic mix of international hoteliers. I asked a German hotelier the town from which he came. “A small town in Bavaria called Regensburg that you’ve probably never heard of,” he replied, with the trademark deadpan German delivery that I love.
As a close follower of German football, my only reference point to his hometown is its football club, SSV Jahn Regensburg. They are a small club that currently plays in the second division of German football. They are barely known outside of Germany, let alone in the US. I asked him if he follows Jahn. He almost fell off his chair before asking me how I knew about Jahn. The answer was simple: a passion. The result? An impression. The reward? A unique connection. I was the American guy who knew his small hometown German football club. I stood out.
Summary
It is convenient to talk shop. In a business setting, isn’t that why we interact in the first place? The problem with that, however, is that almost everyone speaks exclusively about the trade. It is difficult to stand out to prospective partners when you automatically regurgitate the same jargon as everybody else.
Diversification is a cornerstone of business, and doing good business starts with creating meaningful relationships. Stand out and leave a positive first impression (remember, you only get one). Give yourself a competitive edge. And why not start by taking advantage of what you already love?
