Page 118 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

LEADERS HAVE PASSION

salesman. The manuscript had been rejected by dozens of other agents, but
Park had a gut feeling that it would be a hit. She called the author and
offered to help him polish the manuscript and then submit it to publishing
houses. When he learned that she was only an assistant, he was hesitant.
His dream was to snag a big-time literary agent, and Park was the oppo-
site of that. But Park’s enthusiasm was infectious, and he agreed to pin all
his hopes on her untested ability to make the sale.
The duo worked together through extensive rewrites, and at last Park
began pitching the manuscript to publishing houses around the city, boldly
billing it as the next Bridges of Madison County. Park could hardly contain
her excitement when she received a call from Time Warner Books offering
$500,000, an impressive bid for an unknown author’s manuscript, but she
took a deep breath and made a leap of faith and refused the offer.
She believed the manuscript was worth much more and was willing to stake
her reputation—and her client’s future—on it. Thirty minutes later the
phone rang again. It was Time Warner Books, and this time the represen-
tative offered the sum of $1 million. Park heartily accepted the offer on
behalf of her client, Nicholas Sparks, and the rest is history. The manu-
script that Park had pulled from the slush pile and titled The Notebook
became an international bestseller, the first of many books that Sparks and
Park would create together. Sparks and Park are two people who followed
their passion’s call, and let it lead them directly to greatness.
The common thread running through all these stories is that when you
gamble on your passion, the payoff can be greater than you ever imagined.
It’s been said that if you do what you love, personal success will follow. But
I think it’s also true that if you do what you love, the team will follow.
Thus, the first step in being a great leader is to identify your calling. What
makes you come alive as a human being? What makes you get out of bed
and start the day with a smile? Whether it’s business, the military, govern-
ment service, or helping aspiring writers tell their stories to the world,
pursue it wholeheartedly. Be a maverick. Passion will give you the strength
to overcome any obstacle in your team’s path.
I could have been a good lawyer, but “good” wasn’t good enough for
me. Is “good” sufficient for you, or do you aspire to greatness as a leader?
If you’d prefer greatness, remember this: If you want people to follow you,
you must follow your passion, because if you don’t care about what you’re
doing, you can be sure that no one else will care either.

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