Are you good at what you do? If so, do you love what you do? While discussing the importance of passion in creative leadership with one of my graduate students, I needed to explain a dilemma that many people find themselves in. To illustrate this, I created the Competence-Passion Matrix. Using this matrix will help you find out if you are trapped in the dilemma, as I was several years ago, and if so, how to get out.

Construct the Competence-Passion Matrix

Get a piece of paper and draw a 2x2 matrix. Label the horizontal axis “Passion” with “Low (I don’t love doing it)” on the left and “High (I love what I do)” on the right, and the vertical axis “Competence (Know-how & Skills),” with “High (I am really good at it)” by the upper box and “Low (I’m not so good at it)” by the lower.

• The top right quadrant contains people who love what they do, and do it well. They are probably among the top achievers in your organization, and have what they need to be successful creative leaders.

• The bottom right quadrant is for those with limited knowledge, skills and experience, but who still love what they do. These passionate novices or apprentices are “diamonds in the rough.”

• The bottom left quadrant contains those who aren’t good at, and don’t really like, what they do. They may be nice people, but they are hopeless mismatches when it comes to their current job.

• Finally, in the top left quadrant are those who do what they do well, but don’t much like it — the proficient mismatches. Sadly, these people often stay in their current job because of — you guessed it — money. They stay for a paycheck and benefits, but they work to live, and don’t live to work.

Find yourself and others in the Competence-Passion Matrix

Now that you’ve constructed your Competence-Passion Matrix, ask yourself:

• Which quadrant do you belong in?

• Where would you place each member of your team?

• Who else plays an important role in what you do? How do you classify each of them?

As you fill in your matrix, you start attaching faces to each of the four profiles. Isn’t it surprising how many people are proficient mismatches? If you’re one of them, what should you do?

Act on the Competence-Passion Matrix

For each of the four categories, here are suggested actions to take, for yourself and for corporate leaders assessing a group of team members:

• If you love and are good at what you do, promote your leadership potential. Take on more responsibility by volunteering for projects or mentoring others.

For leaders identifying staff in the top-right quadrant, do what you can to empower and quickly promote these potential future leaders so they can use their competence and passion to inspire others and drive the business forward. As the creative leader Bill Gates said, “What I do best is share my enthusiasm.”

• “A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm,” said the American industrialist Charles Schwab. If you’re a diamond in the rough, with high passion but low skills, work hard to acquire the knowledge and skills you need. Ask colleagues from the upper-right quadrant what you can do for them; they will notice your passion, and may offer to mentor you.

For leaders who come across a team member in this quadrant, try to get them the training or mentoring they need to gain the competence required for success.

• If you’re a hopeless mismatch, don’t immediately flee your current job; plan a controlled exit. First, find out what you really love doing. Once you know that, find a position that both lets you do it and pays your monthly bills, and then move to your new job.

For leaders who notice that someone — often young people at the beginning of their professional lives — is a hopeless mismatch, free them from what will likely be a dead end. Discuss possible alternatives with them, and do what is needed to give them a dignified exit.

• Finally, what if you’re trapped in the upper left quadrant? As a proficient mismatch, you will rarely make it to the top of your organization. After all, would you respect and willingly follow a competent leader who doesn’t deeply care about what they are doing?

You have two basic choices. Are you brave enough to scrutinize yourself and find out what you really love doing? If not, then stay with the job that you’ve got, and find your passion outside of work. Otherwise, prepare yourself to do what the Buddha said: “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” Once you’ve found it, if you already have the knowledge and skills needed for your new role, you can move to the upper-right quadrant and become a potential leader in your new field. However, if you lack competence or skills, be ready to move to the lower-right quadrant and become a diamond in the rough. Learn from the best in your new domain to quickly learn what you need to become a leader. This will likely take you 4 or 5 years of hard daily work, but it’s worth it to be doing what you love, and doing it well.

How should a leader most effectively deal with colleagues who do good work, but don’t love it? Use them to your best advantage while you can, and milk them for the value they provide for as long as they are willing to provide it.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” said Steve Jobs. And Confucius said: “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Once you’ve found what you love, take the time needed to become good at it. Then you will be ready to lead, and to be great.

© Dr. Detlef Reis 2012. This article was published in parallel in the Bangkok Post under the same title on 8 November 2012.