A person’s inner fire propels him or her to excel. Put simply, desire determines destiny. Passion makes the impossible possible.
While reading a magazine at a dentist’s office in Paris, Philippe Petit became engrossed in an article about the Twin Towers in New York. As an 18-year old street performer, Petit was constantly on the lookout for venues for his high wire balancing acts. Studying an artist’s rendition of the World Trade Center, Petit came up with a vision of walking a tightrope between the two towers.
Over the next six years, Petit focused exclusively on his seemingly preposterous dream. He collected any information he could find on the architecture of the Twin Towers, practiced his high wire act endlessly, and saved money for a flight to America. Upon arrival to the United States, he wasted no time in scouting the World Trade Center. Under a variety of guises, Petit and friends surveyed the towers.
On a Tuesday night, Petit and company ascended the towers with equipment in tow. Using a bow and arrow, they fired a line from the north to south tower, and spent the remainder of the evening feverishly rigging a one-inch steel cable between the towers. Early Wednesday morning, with the bustle of Wall Street having just begun, Petit mounted the high wire to perform. As amazed onlookers marveled at the sight, local authorities gathered to apprehend the illegal tightrope walker. As a consummate showman, Petit focused on his act, refusing to be swayed by policemen shouting at him to stop. After eight trips back and forth between the tower, Petit finally turned himself in.
Petit could have let distractions dissuade him from his dream. Raising money for the scheme, eluding security to scout the towers, and stretching a cable between the skyscrapers all seemed like impossible tasks. However, the magnitude of Petit’s passion to accomplish his vision dwarfed the obstacles to his plan.
Key Points about Passion
- A person’s inner fire propels him or her to excel. Put simply, desire determines destiny. As a rule, leaders attain influence proportionate to the size of the blaze burning within them.
- Passion supplies leaders with an extra edge over the competition. After a championship contest, sports commentators occasionally observe how the winning side “wanted it more.” All else being equal, the more passionate team typically prevails.
- Passion makes the impossible possible. People are wired so that when their souls ignite, they no longer shrink before the barriers in front of them. That’s what makes a passionate leader particularly effective. He or she conceives of possibilities and opportunities for progress whereas dispassionate persons only see roadblocks and reasons why a vision can’t be achieved.
Application: Take Your Temperature
Consult three people (such as a spouse, mentor, or trusted co-worker) to give you an honest assessment about the level of passion they see you exhibit toward your job. Inquire about the ways in which your passion manifests itself most evidently. If they consider your passion to be low, then do some soul-searching to recapture enthusiasm for your work. Why did you enter your present profession? What once excited you about work that no longer may be a source of inspiration? In light of your answers to these questions, ponder ways to ratchet up your passion.
John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.