In my life, I have always been concerned about the awesome responsibility I feel to the people who work in our company and the clients we have, as well as my friends and family. I hope and pray that I have made or will make a positive difference in their lives.
I ask people all the time if they would like to leave the world a better place for their having been here. Everyone smiles and says, “Sure I would.” Then I ask them, “What is your plan to do that?” Nine out of ten people laugh because they obviously don’t have a plan. Yet we all can make the world a better place by the moment-to-moment decisions we make as we interact with others.
I believe that every passing moment in our lives is just another opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Whether we are sitting beside someone in an airplane, stepping onto an elevator with a stranger, or sitting in a company meeting, these are the very moments when we can give the gift of ourselves.
There is nothing fancy here. Regardless of our status, achievement, or position, our impact lies squarely on how we spend these moments—what we say and how we say it when we are with people and how they feel when we are gone. This is our “leadership legacy.”
When I first read Your Leadership Legacy, I realized that whether we try or not, we will all have a leadership legacy. The question is, what kind of legacy will it be?
I think Marta Brooks, Julie Stark, and Sarah Caverhill have nailed it in describing the key ingredients that go into a positive leadership legacy. It starts with understanding that it’s not about your position; it’s who you are as a person that leaves a positive leadership legacy. My father was my teacher here. When I was in the seventh grade, I was elected president of my class. I came home all excited about sharing the good news with my parents. After congratulating me, my father said, “Ken, now that you are president and have a position, never use it. Great leaders are not effective because of the position they hold but because they are trusted and respected by others.”
That leads to the second key ingredient—focusing on the people you are attempting to influence. After all, they are the key to getting anything done. That means you have to connect with them. My mother used to tell me, “Don’t act like you are better than anyone else. But don’t let anyone else act like they are better than you.”
The final ingredient is driving your dream. My wife, Margie, always says, “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Leadership is about going somewhere. If you don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter. A clear vision and direction gets people into the act of forgetting about themselves.
I am thrilled to have Marta, Julie, and Sarah and their book, Your Leadership Legacy, as part of the Ken Blanchard series at Berrett-Koehler. I have known Marta and Sarah for a long time. They have been two of our most outstanding consulting partners, spreading the good word about leading at a higher level to companies and organizations all over the country. Recently, Sarah became a sales leader and is already making an impact there. By joining up with their colleague Julie Stark, they have created a very special book with an important message.
If you care about what your leadership legacy looks like and want to shape it into an inspirational gift to others, you’ll read this book.
The legacy you live is the legacy you leave.
KEN BLANCHARD
Coauthor of The One Minute Manager?