Cultivating a legacy that outlives us requires a lifetime perspective.
The common denominator among those who leave a lasting legacy is devotion to a cause greater than themselves; doing work they felt called to do. Rich or poor, famous or obscure they all had a mission to fulfill or a problem to be solved. To be legacy minded means that your calling and your job must line up.
This requires you to choose stepping outside the safety of living on autopilot. You must wrestle with who you are, why you believe what you profess to believe about your life and what you do to provide meaning and structure to your daily activities.
Legacy building requires you to go to the source of who you are and discover the essence of your existence. It is in this space that you will also find true originality, the room to move beyond current definitions of best practice in your domain and opportunities for breaking new ground.
It is about knowing and living your highest values. Your highest values are evident from how you live your life today. A good starting point for discovery is to consider what you allocate attention to without ever begrudging it the time. In what area of your life are you most organised? Your highest value is in that space.
Leaders impact their organisations based on their values. Great leaders apply their values to develop a vision of the future that is better than today. The vitality of their organisation is proportional to the vividness of their vision.
How big is your vision? How many people can you serve? And over what time-frame will you serve them? The organisation cannot grow beyond the leader’s space and time horizons.
If you want to be remembered – shoot a president. If you want to leave a legacy, leave the world better than you found it. The work begins with commitment to your vision of the future. If you commit to nothing you will be distracted by everything.
Having made your commitment – the change you seek to make won’t be a flashy breakthrough. It will be made up of modest incremental advances. You will not make change happen until you change something you do daily. The secret to building your legacy is what you do daily.
Perhaps these ideas could provide the fuel to advance your leadership and create a new set of opportunities for your organisation. Contact me to discuss further.
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