Left Behind

How often do you think about the legacy you’ll leave?

I know that’s a loaded question, but nevertheless a good one.

Many leaders plan their next move during their current role.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

But what type of impact do you want to leave when you’re gone?

Legacy sounds like a far away concept, but it’s not.

Similar to long-term goals - it’s the direction you should be headed in.

• In the corporate world, most people move on and leave a knowledge void.

• Simply put, you leave your replacement hanging.

• Now I get it’s not your responsibility to train the next person in line.

But if you truly care about your legacy why wouldn’t you want to leave your place of employment better than when you arrived?

Think about it: your impact lives on past your time there.

I hope that makes you re-think your current strategy.

This happened to me early in my career.

I alerted my employer several months before my transition out, but I knew in my heart when the finish line was for over a year.

• I identified a successor and started training him.

• And by training, I mean shadowing and modeling.

What does that look like?

Taking him with me through all the daily tasks I did on a weekly basis.

You can either tell them or show them.

The latter option sticks better.

One of the final tests was to “call in sick” to some of the events I facilitated to see how he would handle it.

Since I knew my finish date, it was easy to start and the end and work backwards.

In the end, once I stepped down he didn’t get the role, but I don’t have any regrets investing the time in him.

In fact, recently we reconnected and share old stories we bond over.

So enough about me, now what about you?

• If you’re a new manager, this is a great way to map out your career goals and development.

And if you’re a veteran leader, whom have you identified as a future leader?

Look at it from the receiving end: how encouraging would it feel to be identified as an aspiring leader?

• So much of leadership is fueled by emotion and driven by people skills.

• That only happens when you publicly or privately recognize an individual and choose to pour into them.

It really doesn’t matter what your current title is, you should be on the lookout for someone you can mentor.

Leaders don’t just have good intentions, they actually act on them.

So as we close out this calendar year, contact someone you see potential in and invest deeper into their development.

You can’t truly call yourself a leader unless you’re invested (through action) in training up a new leader.

If you’re already doing this great, keep it up!

But if you want to stop thinking about it and do something about it, click here.

Happy New Year & God Bless,

Scott

If you found this helpful and you’re looking to improve your soft skills as a leader, here are ways to work with me directly:

• 🗣 Hire me to speak at your company or next event (watch my speaking reel here)

• 🎤 Invite me to lead an interactive training workshop, remotely or in-person (depending on location)

• 🤝 Start 1:1 coaching with me as a new manager, current leader or executive (I once managed 30 people 1:1 weekly❗️)

Also, you can help me out by forwarding this to friends whom would benefit from it! Thank you!