“Passion alone is not enough”
I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have a job that I am passionate about. Yet I didn’t just fall into this role, my pathway into working in health and social care began with volunteering.
I had spent my early years chasing a shallow dream of money, influence and prestige. By my mid-20s I lost the will, the capacity and emotional strength to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. I grew tired of trying to achieve until I realised anything I did would never be enough. Then came my epiphany. Things had to change.
As the Chief Executive of a rapidly expanding community interest company, we purposely employ a large number of experts by experience; people who are passionate about helping others facing similar problems with substance misuse, mental health and homelessness, just as they did before choosing their recovery pathway. I share that passion.
There is something very powerful about helping others, not least how it makes you feel better about yourself. Giving back enables some to atone for past misadventures and make amends to friends, family and society. Whether that passion comes from a personal, vocational or social justice perspective, or you simply believe that everyone deserves a second chance, it is an essential ingredient in the helping professions.
Knowledge and skill is essential for our service users
Here is my realisation after 26 years of working in this field; yes, you need passion by the bucketful, but passion will only take you so far. Passion must be accompanied by knowledge, skills and professional competencies so we can all do right by those who we call our service beneficiaries.
Being passionate about what you do is great starting point. What you value in life will fundamentally drive your behaviour. Life experiences will nurture your understanding, compassion, hope and belief that people can change. It also cultivates advanced empathy, removes barriers to engagement and builds trust.
But there can be a downside. I have learnt that without offering the right training, emotional support and ongoing professional development, the passionate ones may not achieve the levels of competency required by commissioners and regulators.
Supporting our staff to thrive
In my career I have both witnessed and overseen a disproportionate number of disciplinary, occupational health and employee-assisted processes involving those with lived experience, when compared to those without. Invariably, this involves incidents where people have unintentionally crossed boundaries, burnt out, walked away from the profession or (re)lapsed.
I feel our organisation has a duty to support people to thrive, not to set them up to fail. Yes, our staff and volunteers demonstrate their passion to make a difference every day of their working lives, but we need to nurture their talents and develop their competences as well!
