Passion can get you started. But without a plan, you won’t go far.
In this powerful #ThroughlineThursdays segment, Madhavi Bhasin, Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Okta, shares why passion alone isn’t enough to drive meaningful change—especially in DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives.
Without a game plan, passion can cloud your judgment, make prioritization difficult, and prevent you from measuring real impact. To create lasting, systemic change, you need strategy, metrics, and the willingness to pivot when necessary.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
• Why passion is essential—but incomplete—without strategic thinking
• How emotions can sometimes derail good intentions
• The role of prioritization and ROI tracking in successful DEI initiatives
• How to move from raw passion to sustainable progress
—
Timestamps:
00:09 – The importance of passion in DEI work
00:40 – Where passion without strategy falls short
01:15 – Prioritization, metrics, and measuring impact
01:45 – Why balancing heart and structure matters
—
Subscribe to hear more real-world insights on leadership, inclusion, and building lasting change.
Got thoughts on passion vs. planning? Let’s start a conversation—drop them in the comments.
[00:09]
Question: “What happens if you only have passion and no real game plan to advance DEI causes?”
Madhavi Bhasin:
That’s a great question—and honestly, it applies to a lot more than just DEI.
Having passion is absolutely critical. It’s the starting point. Without passion, you won’t even get off the ground. Your commitment begins there.
But if you rely only on passion, it becomes hard to make your efforts strategic.
Why? Because passion is inherently emotional. And when you’re emotionally invested, it becomes difficult to prioritize, to decide what needs action now versus what can wait. You end up reacting instead of planning.
Without a game plan, you risk missing the low-hanging fruit. You also can’t define success metrics or track ROI. If something isn’t working, you need to know when and how to pivot. But when you’re operating purely from a place of passion, it’s much harder to do that.
So yes—start with passion. But back it up with a strategy. That’s how real impact happens.
