Have you ever given any thought to your Leadership Legacy? I have to admit that the thought never really crossed my mind until I was close to retiring from the Army. One of my buddies and I were talking about my retirement plans and he said, “Deeb, do you realize how many soldiers you have impacted over the past twenty years?”. It was at that moment I began to really think about my Leadership Legacy. How would people remember me as a leader?
I imagine that there are many people like me that do not give it a lot of thought either. Leaders often go to work each day with the thought of just doing what leaders do, taking care of people. They focus on assisting the business to accomplish its goals. They put their effort into creating a work environment that is both harmonious and productive. In short, most leaders do the best that they can do every day but can fail to realize the true impact that they have.
One of the first assignments that I suggest to many of my coaching clients is to take some time and determine what they want their Leadership Legacy to be. What would they like others to say about them at their retirement party, or even after they have been retired for some time? Do they want to be remembered as a leader that motivated them, someone who was fair, a person that helped develop them, or a leader of great character?
How we would like others to remember us as leaders can be a great tool for leadership development. It can serve as our gauge to judge whether we are performing in a manner that will fulfill our desired legacy. It can also serve as a boundary to ensure that we do not perform in such a manner that is contradictory to the legacy we wish to leave behind. And it can serve as an internal motivator to develop in those areas in which we may have shortcomings and that may prevent us from achieving that legacy.
So, I encourage you, that if you have never really thought about the impact that you are having as a leader, or how you would like others to remember you as a leader, take some time to do so, and leave a great Leadership Legacy.
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