Originally published on LinkedinPulse.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a story on America’s longest-serving CEOs. Topping the list was Leslie Wexner of L brands with 52 years at the helm, followed by Warren Buffett, at 45 years leading Berkshire Hathaway.

  All of the top-10 leaders listed had spent at least 25 years in their roles.

I've been in my job for almost 17 years now.  And this piece got me thinking about what it takes to keep passion alive through long tenure. How do you stay present and engaged in the same role?

To be honest, I've had no difficulty doing so, and I suspect the same is true for the long-serving leaders on the Journal’s list.  Because the only way to become a long-tenured CEO is by continually changing, adapting, and evolving. So a longing for something new really never enters into it, because new things happen all the time – whether you like it or not.  The company and the position remain nominally the same, but the particulars change so significantly over time that there’s no sense of stagnation or sameness.  The job stays as new as the world around it because, if you don’t adapt, the job, the company, or both will be gone.

Now, you may be thinking, “Easy to say when you’re CEO – your job gets to be whatever you want it to be.”  There’s some truth to that, I suppose.  The role does provide a broader range of things to explore, since every aspect of the organization and its environment are in its purview; though I might argue that this imposes a different kind of limitation, as you can’t concentrate on just what you’d like to – growth, innovation, the good stuff – since everything else hits your plate, too.  But I absolutely do believe that every position, in every field and at every level, has the potential to offer long-term challenge and growth – if approached with that recognition of, and openness to, the ceaseless stream of change that continually remakes our jobs and creates new opportunities.

The key here is to not let yourself get locked into old models.  No matter how well something works, it will have to be adjusted over time – be it a product, a system, a technology, a strategy, a policy.  I can think of no exception to this rule; if anyone reading this can think of one (and physical/mathematical laws don’t count), please post it to the comments section below, as I’d love for this not to be the absolute I believe it is.

There are two questions you need to always be asking yourself.  The first is, “What next?” – because something always is.  And you want to anticipate it, get there first, and be the one to make it happen – before it happens to you.  Even if your goal is to maintain a certain state, you’ll have to keep changing to stay in place while the world is moving beneath you.

The second question you need to continually ask yourself is, “Is there a better way?”  Because the answer is always yes – even though exactly how might not yet be apparent.  For instance, what if we went to market in a different way than we always have? What if we used this new material or this new technology?  What if we offered our people this kind of benefit or let them work in this new way?  What if we organized ourselves differently?  What if that company over there, that looks like it’s in a different business than ours, suddenly finds a way to become a competitor? What if that market, that we've long ignored, actually has great potential that we’re missing?

The point is not simply to change – it's to change for the better.  And the universe of possibilities is effectively infinite.  The challenge is not how to find something new to maintain your interest, but how to narrow the field to the right set of essentials that will best reward your attention.

If you've ever read Warren Buffett's letter in his annual report to shareholders, you can tell he never has a dull day.  He’s always got new things to think about – from a seat he’s held since the first Nixon administration – and he has fun doing it.  He’s forever interested, forever changing Berkshire’s portfolio to adapt to changing circumstances – and that keeps him forever young. Staying deeply vested and engaged in your work, with your focus on the future and the change required to meet it, keeps it always new and helps keep your passion alive for the long haul.