Deep down, we’ve all got a passion. But what if we don’t know how to find it? It’s more common for people to find their passion, as opposed to knowing exactly what it is. Sometimes we get our passion confused with dreams. When we were kids, half of us dreamed we would become a fireman and save people from burning buildings. As we grew older we realised, well that isn’t actually what we want to do. Passion isn’t something we dream of doing because we think it would have great rewards, it is something we are talented at and enjoy doing.

I’ve heard plenty of times before people say things like “well my passion is to be a lawyer” so off they go to Uni for at least 4 years. By the end of it they’ve earnt themselves a $40,000 bill and they realise once they hit the field, well actually they’re not so passionate about being a lawyer. I believe the approach of putting yourself out there in order to find yourself. How can we know what we’re good at until we’ve given it a go? The girl that’s horrible at netball could be amazing at hockey had she of given it a go. We are all good at something, it’s down to us to take the risk and find out what that is.

So as a boss how can you influence these findings?

1. Allow a team to grow

Never have a measurable scale when it comes to your team. If you expect too little of your team, as if they’ve reached the end of the scale then they’ll never strive to improve. Giving them room to grow gives them motivation to keep going and they might just find their passion along the way.

2. Be Flexible

Being flexible is critical in a workplace, instead of giving people the same jobs each day mix it up a little. Allocate different jobs around the team and let everyone give each job a try. It’s hard to know what we’re good at until we are given the opportunity to try.

3. Encourage risk taking

It can be difficult for someone to take a chance when their role models are a bit of a stick in the mud. They’ll always try to stay in between the lines just to impress you. Let them know if they think taking a risk could help them achieve better results then take their chances.

 4. Support the failures.

It’s true, sometimes when we take those risks we will fail. There’s nothing worse than underachieving at something and coming back to an angry boss. Instead of losing your bananas, give them another chance. We would never have gotten back on that bike unless our parents told us to give it another go. You have to help them back on their feet if you expect them to keep trying.

5. Embrace their strong points

Finally, if one of your employees finds something they’re good at then embrace it. It might just be that they’ve found their passion. We concentrate far better on the things we enjoy than the things that we hate. Giving them continuous work in the areas they love will and not only keep them happy, but they’ll work  a lot harder.

Helping others finding their passion is not about shoving books in their face and telling them to read all the different areas of the job until they find the one for them. In order for us to find the things we love we must give other things a go. Everyday your job is to push your team further and further out of their comfort zone. Remember, never measure their abilities and always be open to mistakes.