How much does passion—an individual’s drive to succeed—contribute to how far you get in life? If you want to look at how passion drives success in business, consider the story of Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
When Bezos started Amazon, many people thought he was crazy to sell books online. But Bezos, an overachiever since birth, had even bigger ideas of where he planned to take the company, envisioning an online Wal-Mart that sold just about anything. Four years after starting the company and before he sold much more than books, he saw revenues exceed $1 billion.
Then the dot-com crash in 2000 caused a complete reversal of fortune. The company hemorrhaged over $1 billion that year and many felt the end was imminent.
Instead, Amazon restructured its business model and Bezos aggressively pursued his dream of an online shopping place for just about anything. Amazon created an amazing international distribution chain, and company profits soared. In 2010, Amazon was our country’s biggest online retailer with more revenue than Nike or McDonald’s.
In the book, Why Are We Bad At Picking Good Leaders, the authors Jeffrey Cohn and Jay Moran point out that Jeff Bezos has extraordinary passion, holding on to his vision even when most people doubted him. It was passion, that fire burning inside that made Bezos such an effective leader.
Whether you are leading a big company or a family dental practice, passion is critical, especially during tough times. It takes more than intelligence and charisma to be a great dentist and leader. Leadership requires an unquenchable drive to take your dental practice to the next level and to always look for ways to fine-tune your skill set.
Therefore, it’s time well spent to stoke that fire inside you. It’s your passion that will contribute to a successful dental practice.