The Shared Passion Potluck
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
I hope that you’re hungry.
Because in this week’s issue I share how to use potlucks to build world class culture.
A few things before we jump in…
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If you still need to grab yourself a print or digital copy of GROW (or one for a friend:)) you can get it here Amazon.com - Amazon.ca - mikefata.ca
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Now, let’s jump into it.
The Shared Passion Potluck
Passion is the fuel that entrepreneurs need to keep going.
Research at the Amsterdam Business Research Institute revealed that passion is a key predictor of entrepreneurs’ creativity, persistence, and venture performance. In other words, the more passionate the entrepreneur, the more likely they are to succeed. But when the same researchers surveyed 107 tech teams participating in an accelerator program in 2020, they found that diversity of passion among individual team members — in terms of how passionate they were, and what they were passionate about — had a negative impact on team performance.
Why? Even when team members show up with passion, they aren’t necessarily going to be on the same page. If they don’t believe in the same vision or values underlying the work, their interests differ in a big way.
Here’s why passion needs to be a part of every team member’s approach to their work.
If your team members are passionate about a project, they will want to do it well every day.
If your team members are really passionate about a project, there’s no way you can fail at meeting your objectives.
If your team members are really passionate about a project, they won’t accept anything less than amazing.
How do you create shared passion? Culture.
Passion has to be shared to ensure effective entrepreneurial outcomes. Most companies count on people to play the game of follow-the-leader to make this work. They set up a vision, mission, and values, and ask people to buy in. That’s because individual passions have to be set aside when it comes to building passion for any enterprise worth pursuing.
I absolutely believe that a great vision is necessary, but getting buy-in to shared passion is a bit more nuanced than workshopping values and putting up some inspirational signs.
Think about it this way. As a leader and entrepreneur, your whole gig is following your passion. If your team members don’t have skin in the game, they may not feel the same way. And what if they’re young, or jaded, and don’t know what their passion is at all?
Passion has to emerge authentically for people to buy in. But that doesn’t mean you can’t nudge it a little.
At Manitoba Harvest, as a start-up, we were a very small and diverse team. And so we decided that we’d celebrate wins with potlucks. And the best part? All the team members’ homemade additions to the potluck represented a lot of different ethnic backgrounds. It was a wonderful shared experience.
But there was a turning point I noticed when things began to shift at our potlucks. In the company, I made a big deal about sustainability and about health, and, ultimately making the world a healthier place because that was my passion. And, over the course of a few years, I noticed that each dish on the table began to be prepared in a healthy way. Someone would show up with a traditional Filipino dish, but made with gluten-free ingredients so that all of their co-workers could share in it. Another team member baked a Ukrainian cake but used coconut sugar, a lower-glycemic sweetener, so that it would be less calorie-intensive. Our team had gelled around the idea of health. We were living, and exuding a common passion, aligned with the passion our brand was representing.
I believe that my passion became the corporate passion not because I forced it into our culture, but because I offered it willingly as an opportunity.
It wasn’t just about potlucks. We created, made, and sold health food. We had massage therapy days in the office. We offered free yoga classes. I also aimed to live that philosophy in the way that I interacted with people, making sure that our conversations, meetings, and strategies were socially and emotionally healthy and sustainable.
Passion may start with a company’s founder. But when a team is able to live that experience with each other, and alongside customers and consumers, passion is transferred throughout the company and supply chain.
So set the table. Deliver that first dish. Look your team members in the eye. Listen, learn, and offer ideas.
Inspire passion in that community that you aim to create.
I hope you enjoyed the read, and are thinking different about breaking bread.
Until next time.
Let’s Grow!
Here are 4 other ways I can help you grow:
Get my new book GROW: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur
Work with me 1:1 to grow your business.
Listen to my Founder to Mentor podcast. (new episodes weekly)
Get my free mentorship growth tools at www.fatafleishman.org.
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