As a leader, leaving a great legacy is arguably the most powerful thing you can do in your career, because it enables you to have influence well into the future. To make sure you’re keeping your legacy in mind as you go about your everyday work, think about your predecessors and how their actions have affected you. What resources did they leave behind for you? How did they change the organization to provide you with opportunities? How did they shape the company’s culture? Research shows that when we know we have benefited from someone else’s legacy, we think about what we want to leave for future generations and we tend to make better long-term decisions. While you can’t repay the deeds of the former generation, you can pay them forward by helping the next one. A generation from now, maybe someone will be looking to your example to shape their own legacy.
Adapted from "How to Think About Building Your Legacy," by Kimberly Wade-Benzoni
