Legacy - Accidental or Intentional?

What is your Leadership Legacy going to be?  DO you know, or are you just hoping it is going to be good?

Regardless of whether you think about it or not, like it or not, care or not, you are leaving a leadership legacy on every team you lead.  You can control whether it is the one you want to and would be proud to leave.  Most people just hope that they are leaving a good legacy, but you can ensure that it is the one you want to leave with just a few simple steps.

1.  Define who you are as a leader.

To do this you have to take some time to figure out who you are as a leader; what are your values, what are your passions, what are your strengths, and what do you want people to remember about you when you are gone.  First, you need to break down your values and decide which ones are the most important to you.    Ethics, Integrity, Respectful, Family, Coaching, Developing others, Humility, Work Ethic, Pride, etc.  You chose, but make it genuinely you.  When you know what your values are, you can lead from your genuine self.

2.  Create a Personal Purpose Statement

You need to know what you stand for and so do those you lead.  Take time to combine your values with your strengths and sprinkle in your passions and dreams.  Put these all together and create a Personal Purpose Statement.  Who you are and what you want to accomplish as a leader.  Share this with your team and ask them how you are doing at living up to it and what you can do to be better at it.

3.  Plan, Reflect, Learn, Repair

Now that you have made your Legacy public you have to make sure you use it.  When you are planning your day, your strategies, and your initiatives you need to ensure that you can execute them using your strengths,  up holding your values, and supporting the legacy you want to leave behind.  You can not do this at the expense of the company or your team, when you use your strengths, values and personal purpose statement to execute the initiatives you will ensure your best is on display and the highest quality outcome will be the result.  Don't forget to reflect on how you did at living up to your Legacy at the end of each day.  And even more important than knowing how you did is learning from it for the future and making any repairs to the damage you may have caused to those you have wronged.

Now, the choice is up to you.  Your Legacy will happen, like it or not, why don't you do it on purpose!

Hillyroad!