In the exercise, we were asked to think about someone who brought out our best and to write down what it felt like to work with this person and what was it about that person that made us feel that. As a group, we shared our attributes and Carolyn painted a picture of an aspirational, challenging, visionary, compassionate, trusting, authentic leader.
It was a great exercise on EQ but the most profound impact to me was, at the end, Carolyn asked us to consider who's list would we be on. It was question that hit me in the gut - have I made anyone want to be a better employee? a better person? a better member of our global society? Would anyone consider me one of those people that brought out the best in someone else?
Over the past few years, probably precipitated with the birth of my daughters but compounded with living abroad and starting a new enterprise, I have been thinking about personal legacies and how I want to be known.
My former employer Amanda will attest to my post-it note inspirations on the side of my monitor and I frequently added and changed words as I was inspired. Often, they were not attributes that come easily to me but were words that I though would make me a better person and in turn, make others want to be better around me. When I left the position, I jotted down the most recent post-its which included:
- Graceful - acting with elegancy and courtesy, kindness and politeness
- BIW (from Leading without a Title) - aspiration to be the best in all of my acts including work and leadership (Best in World c/o Robin Sharma - The Leader Who Had No Title)
- Thankful - for opportunities, learning experiences, people's time
- Positive - seeing the good in situations, the best in people, the future outlook and possibilities
- Strong - staying the course and leading the way despite changes and challenges in the way
In Kouzes and Posner's A Leader's Legacy, "The legacy you leave is the life you lead." We are creating and leaving our legacy daily with the decisions we make, the actions we take and the people that we interact with. Even the smallest impression we make on our environment will have a lasting impact - it is the ability to be conscious and thoughtful about what those impressions are that will make us better leaders and members of our global community.
I am working on evolving my legacy... my legacy of how I want to be remembered - by my children, my family, my friends and my colleagues. It is very work in progress and right now, I have a good way to go.
Have you thought about how people remember you? What is your life legacy?
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