In 1992 a national essay competition invited the children of Brazil to document their concerns and hopes for the environment and life on Earth. Their words would join those of world leaders and public figures – Al Gore, the Dalai Lama and Ted Turner among them – and be “planted” into the metallic leaves of the “Tree of Life”, a giant outdoor sculpture that became the symbol of the inaugural Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
As it turned out, I was one of the kids selected. At 11 years old, I had trouble understanding why biodiversity was being destroyed in the Amazon rainforest at such a mind-boggling scale, how the previous 40 years had seen an area equivalent to 184 million football fields destroyed to fuel global demands of consumption. The football field – where most Brazilian boys, rich and poor, spend their downtime – would always remain a haunting reminder.
Just as the environment, there are many other topics I deeply care about and writing about those enabled me to articulate my views, crystallise my knowledge and invite like-minded people into constructive discussions. In summary, I have always enjoyed writing. It has been one of my most vivid passions.
Well… that was true until I got my first job as a brand consultant in London. I was in an environment surrounded by Cambridge and Oxford English graduates. The posh accents and impeccable grammar were as intimidating as inspiring so I decided to give it a go and write my first thought-piece summarising what I’ve learnt from a specific client engagement.
Following the workplace protocol I shared the essay with my former boss who gave me a very curt feedback: “Sergio, English is not your first language and as much as the conclusions and insights are correct the text does not quite flow. I would consider writing less to avoid more grammar mistakes.” That hit me harder than a punch in the stomach. For the following two years I took a vow of silence. However, voices of embarrassment, inferiority and discomfort loudly thumped in my mind.
Getting the naked truth out of marketers
Fast forward almost five years and I find myself moderating a panel discussion about… passion. This happened last week in Sydney, at the Showcase Lecture of The Marketing Academy Australia Leaders Program 2016. I had the mission of getting the naked truth out of four highly-accomplished marketers that, in a way or another, managed to lead their passions even when skills or knowledge were not there.
Jeff Miller, executive marketing manager at Commonwealth Bank, reassured me I’m not alone: “Passion is incredibly contagious. Surround yourself with people who share the passion for your vision and they will do the doing you can’t and share the knowledge you may not have. This has an exponential impact on positivity, progress and getting you closer to your objectives. As a leader, motivating and inspiring your team is arguably the most critical part of your role. If you can couple this with connecting with passionate, like-minded stakeholders and partners around you, you’re already a long way down the path to success... regardless of what you have not quite mastered.”
Tina Walsberger, head of marketing and customer service at Sydney Festival is a big believer that passion for what you do turbo-charges learning and overcomes skills gaps: “Choosing a life in a field that makes me genuinely passionate every day was a complete no-brainer. It makes me want to be better every day, learn constantly and push through some of those harder lessons we have to learn.”
For Simon Davenport, national advertising and communications manager at Officeworks said: “A passionate mindset makes every interaction at work feel like a privilege, rather than a challenge or a road-block. By managing our passion and our energy, we have a much stronger platform to inspire and empower our teams and organisations to achieve success... especially when we don’t have all answers, which happens a lot.”
No one is ever fully prepared and failure is just part of our journeys. However, where there is passion, there is a path. Leadership is a very similar reality. Nothing is perfect or fully known, yet. Leaders embrace ambiguity, follow their instinct and are always improving themselves. Deep inside they know what they are meant to do and when others say they can’t, even better.
It’s been almost three years now since I’ve been holding two regular columns, one in Australia and the other in Mexico, none of those on my mother tongue. Hopefully the grammar mistakes have been reduced, even though there are occasions when readers do point those out.
However, after thousands of views and countless minutes of engagement I guess it is still worth pursuing this passion. Or, as once said by gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson “Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing”. Writing was and still is for me. What about you? When was the last time you had so much fun doing something that nothing else mattered?