Leader as Legacy Creator

Today is a somber day in the United States. Details are unfolding about Tuesday’s shooting in Ulvade, Texas, the second deadliest school shooting in our country’s history – the 27th this year alone. Nineteen children between the ages of 7 and 10 years old and 2 teachers lost their lives, along with others still in critical condition.

This comes on the heels of a Buffalo shooting that took the lives of 10 Black residents – surpassing 200 mass shootings in our country this year.

I’ve taken a moment of respectful silence in every meeting today because I find that words are not adequate to express all the emotions people are feeling about this.

I’ve been pondering this Leadership Insight article for weeks. With these tragic incidents, along with so many others, including the war in Ukraine, I’m moved to revisit our leadership role as legacy creators and leavers.

Two quotes that have guided me in this area are:

Legacy is not leaving something for people. It is leaving something in people.  – Peter Strople

Legacy is not what is left tomorrow when you are gone.  It’s what you give, create, impact, and contribute today while you are here that then happens to live on.  – Rasheed Ogunlaru

Leader as Legacy Creator is incorporated into the Inspire Leadership Program. What strikes me about the literature is that legacy leaving is not only a 10- or 20-year objective, but also how we live and lead every single day.  This requires intentionality about our longer-term purpose.

John Maxwell writes about the intentionality of legacy leaving, explaining that your work-life purpose might shift from your 20s to your 50s or 60s, but what’s important is to name the legacy at each major change. This is similar to establishing business goals and objectives that provide a road map for our actions.

In his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Maxwell describes a process of identifying your legacy.  Here are a few I would like to share:

  1. Know the legacy you want to leave in any job or situation.
  2. Be proactive about how you live and lead. “Most people accept their lives – they don’t lead them.”
  3. Live the legacy you want to leave. To build trust as a leader, make sure your actions are congruent with your words. Before you can do that, you need to understand what today’s legacy focus is.

Let me share an example.  As a much younger manager, I remember dealing with a few challenging personalities and a range of talent on a team with a very short, critical deadline. Had I been the leader I am now – with a clear sense of the impact I want to make –  I would have communicated and galvanized the team differently, and used a different management style to positively affect outcomes.

There is a positive ripple effect in knowing your legacy.  A parent, a community leader, a volunteer, a writer, a C-suite executive, a manager, an innovator, a solo business owner – if we take some time to discover what our current, individual legacy is, together, day-by-day, we can positively impact the world.

Consider points like these as you define your leadership legacy:

  1. Reflect on your core values, beliefs, standards, and expectations. This can become your ever-present north star as you move through your days and years.
  2. Recall this quote, attributed to Maya Angelou. “At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” This may prompt you to think more often about how you do things, not just what you accomplish.
  3. Consider what is unique about your skills and knowledge. How does your presence affect the direction of your organization?
  4. Write down your legacy intentions, given the above assessments. Then ask a few mentors or other trusted colleagues what they think your legacy is now. How does it compare with your assessment of yourself? Does it motivate you to change course?

Recent tragic events have thrust many of us into having to explain or remind others that terrible things happen in the midst of good things.

If we are clear about our legacy mission today, maybe we can provide some healing and a vision and path to move forward. This is needed every day in our world, businesses, and individual lives, and especially on days when tragedy strikes.

 

Lead well out there.  We need you! 

 

 

 

 

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