I came across a great, great quote this morning.  Yes, it’s worthy of two “greats.”

“Work ethic is giving great effort to complete a task. Passion is giving great energy to achieve an outcome.” – Simon Sinek

The quote scratches the surface of an important topic – the difference between getting work done and being passionate about the work you’re doing.  The passionate folks are the entrepreneurs at startups that are going to work at problems until they solve them and ship their product.  The hard workers are the ones who toil away and think more hours worked against a problem is the way to solve the problem.  Sometimes problems are not so easy to solve and you need to go above and beyond in terms of what you’re willing to do in order to get to the outcome you’re seeking.

It’s a fine line really – putting in more hours to complete a task versus going that little extra distance (which usually requires a few more hours as well) and taking ownership of the work and becoming the internal champion who ensures you deliver the projects.

Put another way, you can go above and beyond in your company to get stuff done and check all the boxes, but sometimes all that effort is not going to amount to squat.  Sometimes you’re going to get burned out because the “put more hours against the problem” ways of working doesn’t really work in the long-term because sometimes senior leaders will change the targets or the project scope and your efforts will be pushed aside.  They’ll thank you, but your exact output might not be used.

All those hours down the tube, right?  Not so fast.  Here’s the point in a project where you can step up and take it to the next level.  Let me explain…

It’s demoralizing when a project’s scope is changed or a direction is redefined, but here’s the thing – it’s part of business and life.  There are setbacks, there are roadblocks and there are certainly last minute changes to long-term strategy.  If you’re not in it for the long-haul and personally engaged with your projects, your job and what you do for a living, then you’re not going to have the energy and willpower necessary to stay the course and see your projects through completion. 

When you’re not personally invested in the projects, you basically don’t give a shit as much as someone else would.  The folks that get ahead in the corporate rat race are the ones that have skin in the game.  They’re the ones who don’t roll their eyes when a senior leader changes strategy for the ninth time.  The folks who run up the ladder in the corporate world are the ones who take these changes on and roll up their sleeves, ready to dig into the problems – and yes, they see them as opportunities.  The high-fliers embrace Edison’s remark about not being “discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

So, are you PASSIONATE about what you do for a living or are you just putting in the HOURS and don’t care about the outcome? 

Answer this one question – 100 percent honestly – and you’ll be able to tell whether you have a future at the NEXT LEVEL in your company (and your career) or if you’re just going to be the working grunt for some high-flier.

Note: By the way, if you have a senior leader who has changed directions nine times on a project, it’s time for an intervention.  No amount of intestinal fortitude or flexibility on your part is going to make anything out of that crappy leader’s abilities.  Find a way to focus them on the strategy, get buy-in and start running that project toward completion.  If they change their minds again right before shipping, start looking for a different spot within your company…or a different company.  Your talents are too great to waste in Indecision-land.