Success Cannot Exist Without Passion

April 25, 2023

Success Cannot Exist Without Passion

Those who know me personally know that I am a supporter of the Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League, Australia’s top tier football competition.

I was inspired to write this thought piece by a tifo, or banner to the football layman, which put forward the idea that ‘success cannot exist without passion’, something which is just as relevant for the team’s coach Tony Popovic, who was immortalised on the banner, as it is for innovation and entrepreneurship. 

But first, some context. The banner was unfurled on a day in which the Wanderers faced the Brisbane Roar in the semi-finals for a ticket  to the grand final. The Wanderers were twice previously vanquished at the final hurdle by the Roar and so no doubt faced significant mental adversity. 

This adversity was made all the more difficult when the Wanderers, playing on home soil, found themselves 3-0  down within 23 minutes of kick-off. 

However, in a dramatic turn of events, the Wanderers soon found themselves on equal footing less than 30 minutes later, eventually winning the game in extra time 5-4. Sounds crazy right? You can watch the video recap here

So what does this have to do with innovation?

Successfully developing truly disruptive innovation is akin to being 3-0 down against your old enemy, with no visible way back, but like the Wanderers…successful corporate intrapreneurs and startup entrepreneurs must embody the following personal attributes:

Passion – if you aren’t passionate about what you’re working on then chances are you’ll leave many stones unturned.

Resilience – success with disruptive innovation is anything but linear. Resilience is critical to endure countless set-backs.

Self Belief – when you’re building something that there may be no existing market for, when you’re being rejected by clients, partners and investors, you need more self-belief than almost anything else. 

Fitness – building disruptive innovation requires intense focus and time commitment. A healthy body, mind and spirit provide the foundations to be able to perform at the level required for a sustained period of time. 

Vision – fast paced iterative development is great,

As for the Wanderers, they’ll be playing the minor premiers (the team that finished on top at the season end) in the grand final and will need all of the above in droves to bring home their first ever A-League trophy in what will be their third grand final appearance. The third time’s a charm, right?! 

Innovate or die.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form

Steve Glaveski

Steve Glaveski is the CEO and Co-Founder of Collective Campus which he established to help companies and their employees to create more meaningful impact in the world in an age of rapid change and increasing uncertainty. Steve also founded Lemonade Stand – a children’s entrepreneurship program, wrote the Innovation Manager’s Handbook vol 1 and 2, hosts Future², an iTunes chart topping podcast on corporate innovation and entrepreneurship and is a keynote speaker. He previously founded HOTDESK, an office sharing platform and has worked for the likes of Westpac, Dun & Bradstreet, the Victorian Auditor General’s Office, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Macquarie Bank. Follow him at @steveglaveski and Book a free 15-minute call with Steve to talk through your innovation objectives.

Get the latest content first

Receive thought leadership in the form of blogs, ebooks, innovation resources, videos, invitations to exclusive events as well as the latest episodes of Future², our iTunes chart-topping podcast all about corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Thanks! We'll get back to you shortly!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form
By signing up you agree to Collective Campus' Terms.

Liked this?

Access more blogs, podcasts, videos, innovation, tools, ebooks and more just like this one here!

Articles

Tools

Podcast

EbookS