Q Is passion innate or can it be ignited at any point in a career?

A We all know a few people who are perpetually on fire. They pour their hearts and souls into life. Can people go from blasé to burning hot? The answer is a resounding yes. Passion can be ignited, but it demands you draw on your own inner fire, giving your people powerful answers to the questions: "Where are we going? Why? What's in it for me?"

At an orphaned division floundering inside an international manufacturer (let's call it Acme) profits weren't growing and its people were demotivated.

Enter a private equity firm, which took Acme private. Some employees were asked to move on. But for those who remained, many of them in their 50s and 60s, the new owners offered an exciting vision of the future with a compelling upside for those who bought into it: new opportunities for career growth, financial reward and fun at work.

Today, they're exchanging turnaround stories, boasting about productivity gains and excitedly comparing notes on "attacking" previously untapped markets. The old cynicism was replaced by optimism, and something more—genuine engagement. Acme's people had learnt the game, how they should play it and how they would benefit if the team won.

You don't need a private equity investor to make that happen. Passion gets ignited by purpose. And it's every leader's job to make that purpose come alive. Shout about it. Paint the future in vivid colour. Before long, people who once looked bored may very well burst into flame. They just needed you to push the starter switch.