Monday, December 14, 2015

Leaving A Legacy-December 2015

Leaving a Legacy I’ve been fortunate to work with some great leaders over the course of my career, but ironically the ones who stand out the most are the bad ones. I remember a department holiday party where a new boss of mine asked the group what they wanted most out of their life. We went around the room and most answers were what you’d expect: • to be a good person, parent or friend to others; • to serve their church or community; • to have health and wealth; • to be successful. When it came to her turn she answered, “I want to leave a legacy.” No one asked her what that meant, but we soon found out that her path to leaving a legacy was to be self-promoting, blame others to deflect attention from her own deficiencies, and put herself and her reputation above all others. She was severely lacking in the technical skills necessary to run the department and never really gained the respect from the other executives in the company. When it came to making decisions she always sought the popular vote rather than what was truly needed. She mistakenly believed that leaving a legacy meant to be what others thought she should be. She forgot that being a leader was less about trying to impress others and more about helping those around you succeed. It was difficult for my team to work with her after working for a great boss and mentor for many years. He was technically skilled, tough yet demanding, a top notch collaborator, and someone who could be decisive but would prefer to guide you to learn on your own. He was such a good leader that he was often asked to manage areas outside of human resources, knowing that he could get the best out of those that worked for him. I don’t quite know why, but I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic of leaving a legacy. Perhaps it’s because our family was blessed with our first grandchild just before Thanksgiving, and I’m feeling a bit older and nostalgic. Or it just may be the holiday season causes us all to look back and reflect on the people and things in life that have impacted us the most. Whatever the case, I am truly grateful for my valued clients that have given me their confidence; my family, friends and business colleagues that have provided their support when I struggled; and those who have given me the gift of their legacy. Hopefully, I can do the same for someone else. From my family to yours have a safe and happy holiday season, and my best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2016.

1 comment:

Linda McCoy said...

Hi Phil, I just discovered your blog! Excellent posts!