-Karthik Gurumurthy
In many workplaces, enthusiasm shines brightly. The person who speaks with energy in meetings, who sounds eager and excited, who visibly cares, easily draws attention. We admire passion. It feels like commitment, and it looks like the kind of spirit every team needs.
Yet looks can mislead. Studies of how people are evaluated at work have found that those who openly express passion often receive more praise and more promotions, even when their actual performance is no better than that of their quieter peers, and sometimes worse. Without quite realizing it, many leaders end up rewarding the display of caring rather than the results of caring.
This is an old human tendency. We are drawn to what we can see and hear, and we often mistake the visible for the valuable. The ancient Latin motto esse quam videri, “to be rather than to seem,” which Cicero wrote of when praising virtue, reminds us that what truly matters is not how something appears but what it is. A person can seem deeply committed while contributing little. Another can seem reserved while quietly holding the whole effort together.
The Tao Te Ching observes that those who know often do not speak, while those who speak often do not know. The point is not that expressive people lack substance. Rather, volume and value are different things, and confusing them can lead us to overlook some of the most important contributions in our midst.
Every team has people whose work speaks more loudly than their words. They may not light up a room or announce their excitement, yet they deliver consistently, solve problems carefully, and make everyone around them better. Their care shows up not in how they sound but in what they do.
When passion is rewarded over contribution, these people can feel invisible. Over time, the message spreads that what matters is how eager you appear, not what you accomplish. Some quiet contributors grow discouraged and stop giving their best. Others learn to perform enthusiasm they don’t feel. Either way, something honest is lost.
Passion still matters
None of this means passion is worthless. Genuine enthusiasm can inspire others, lift spirits during hard times, and fuel the persistence needed to see difficult work through. The trouble is not passion itself. It is treating passion as a substitute for contribution rather than as something that, at its best, gives rise to it.
Real passion is ultimately proven not in words but in work. It shows in the care taken over details, the willingness to keep going when things get tough, and the steady effort that produces real value. Some people express that passion openly. Others carry it quietly. Both deserve to be recognized for what they actually give.
Seeing more clearly
Perhaps the deeper lesson is about how we pay attention. Good leaders learn to look beyond what is loudest and most visible. They ask not “Who seems most committed?” but “Who is truly making a difference?” They notice the quiet contributor as well as the enthusiastic one, and they reward each for the value they add.
In the end, what counts is not how much emotion we show but how much we contribute. Passion may catch the eye, but contribution is what keeps the work, the team, and the people within it moving forward.
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