FOURTH INGREDIENT OF LEADERSHIP – PASSION

4th INGREDIENT OF LEADERSHIP
PASSION
BY SHIREEN NAQVI

PASSION is an important ingredient of leadership, which is called CHAHAT in Urdu. Remember when you had love someone and that time when you wanted to meet that special person, despite obstacles you always did find a way out , how could this happen and that is because of PASSION, which can also be called KHABT in Urdu.

You need to have a passion for any particular thing in your life, if you love something then you will automatically be charged. Passion is a feeling which is difficult to be expressed in words, which means listen to your feelings and for this you need to be very silent, or while offering your prayers do listen to your inner voice. If you see any injustice happening around you and you get angry then also you would get to know about which thing are you passionate?

If you want to know your passion see towards your anger, that’s why ALLAH’s one of the names is also ALQAHHAR, you would normally get angry on the thing which you want to give importance to. If my children are doing mischief and I get angry because I fear as a mother that they would get hurt while playing.

For e.g. I am sitting in this studio where I am doing my recording and while leaving the studio I see the lights are open and without caring I leave, who cares if the lights are on or off but on the contrary I get angry as to why the lights are kept open in a empty room for nothing then automatically I would turn back and switch off the lights.

Passion is not only practiced when you feel for it, another sickness that we have is that if we are given a task, we easily say that we don’t feel like doing it today, this is where DUTY comes. Like for e.g. a mother cooks for the whole family, but to cook the delicious food the mother had to cut the onion, her eyes must have which she had received appreciation, without working hard you say you need only appreciation then that is not possible till you do not fulfill your duty. Where do these 2 things join when you make duty your passion but while doing your duty you are not happy and just care about the outcome then your life will not have any meaning.

In the bigger picture, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Moses and Jesus Christ said that in the end your hard work will always pay off and you will be rewarded for it. Do not bother about being praised by people for your small good deeds because in the end you will be rewarded and do fulfill your duties this is more important.
Passion has a dangerous side also you need to show it the proper direction, this energy needs to be controlled, in Urdu it is called ZABT. If you remain within the circle of KHABT and ZABT then you will be thinking about yourself only and this is when you require RABT and these 3 together create a network which allows other people to join with you.