🚀 BOOK LAUNCH UPDATE 🚀
Coming Soon:
Unleashed Leadership: How to Solve the 7 Issues
Holding You Back from Your Greatest Impact
We submitted a draft of the manuscript for initial edits!
This article is an excerpt from that manuscript.
Welcome to Friday 411, issue #112. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll establish a heroic legacy that will outlive your leadership.
1 Insight
If you choose to stay a leashed leader, you risk sacrificing your legacy.
Your Legacy Is at Stake
After you’re gone, your children may be able to write a book about you. Your grandchildren may be able to tell a story about you. Your great grandchildren may remember your name. Memories of you may not last long, but your legacy will. Legacy is bigger than who you are.
Legacy is the lasting effects of what you do.
Have you ever worked with a leader who made your life worse? We both have. Have you worked for:
- A sexist bully?
- An insecure, petty leader who took credit for your ideas?
- A power-hungry tyrant who was only in it for their own advancement?
- Workaholics who cared nothing about you personally or professionally?
- Managers who viewed people as expendable cogs in a machine?
- An outright abuser who attempted to strip you of any sense of self-worth?
- Or simply someone who never saw you. Who never acknowledged your contributions or drew out your potential?
If you’ve been in the working world for more than a second, we can guess that your answer to at least one of these questions was a resounding “yes!”
Think of that person (or people) for a second—not too long, or you risk becoming angry or depressed. Think about how they treated you. Think about the way they made you feel about yourself.
- Did you go home and talk about that person at the dinner table?
- Did the way that person treat you affect the way you felt about yourself?
- Did the way that person treat you affect the way you treated others?
- What did your family and friends notice about how this person affected you?
In the story of your life, that “leader” was a villain.
Now think about the opposite. Think about a leader who cared about you. A leader who challenged you to be better and supported you to achieve it. These leaders are rare, but they leave a lasting impression.
For me (Garland), Phil was one of those leaders. He and I would meet monthly to talk about progress around my biggest priorities. Phil always asked about my personal life and goals. For over a year, I told him that one of my goals was to earn a doctorate. I once said to him, “If I haven’t earned a doctorate by the time I die, I’m going to be deeply disappointed in myself.”
He would regularly encourage me to get clear about what I wanted, to research programs, and to make a plan. I confided in him that the biggest obstacles were finances and time. We were living off a low-paying, nonprofit salary and had three young children. We could barely afford the basics, much less tuition. I also didn’t want to take my limited vacation time away from my family to attend classes.
After several months of these conversations with Phil, he called me to share some news. He had helped launch a continual education initiative. The foundation would fund half of my tuition and books, as well as provide comp time to attend classes. Phil enabled me to accomplish a big dream and helped overcome obstacles that got in the way.
Have you had that kind of boss?
- Did you go home and talk about that person at the dinner table?
- Did the way that person treat you affect the way you felt about yourself?
- Did the way that person treat you affect the way you treated others?
- What did your family and friends notice about how this person affected you?
In the story of your life, that leader was a hero.
Every leader ever cast in your life-script has played the role of a hero or a villain.
The same is true for all those who follow you.
You will either be a hero or a villain to every person you lead.
You can’t control what others think of you, but you can control how you view them, how you treat them, and how you support them.
You can also control whether or not you stay a leashed leader. Unleashing your leadership affects your impact today—and continues to shape lives long after you’re gone. The people you influence will mimic how you lead them and pass your leadership traits down for generations.
Leashed leaders leave a villainous legacy.
Unleashed leaders leave a heroic legacy.
1 Action
Which legacy will you choose?