Don't Destroy Your Legacy: A Leader's True Story

Are you a leader who secretly is always thinking about their legacy? Few years from retirement, don't want to do anything wrong. You've destroyed your legacy. Let me tell you a story of what I've seen. I worked for a boss, a leader, political mastermind. His whole focus was politics. He knew the game better than anybody else. We were working in the public sector. He knew everyone in his department, in that part of the public sector, other parts of the public sector. And he knew how to get everyone to do what he wanted to do, get all the decisions he needed made. And he always looked good, no matter what happened, no matter what failure, what project went over budget. What was delivered that didn't work, that had to be redone, triple the cost. He always looked good. He always ended on top. He was so focused on what people thought about him and his— well, privately, his legacy. Guess where he is today? Guess what happened to him? Let's do the next part. His very next position, he was there for many years in that powerful position. His very next position, he went to another part of the public sector using all his contacts, wheeling and dealing, networking. He got a position higher up and he was placed in charge of a group that didn't need him. This is a group of 7 people. He was in charge of a group of 100 people. He had a budget for thousands of people. He was placed in a senior, senior position. 7 people, they didn't need him. Those 7 people have been working together for 25 years. The last thing they needed was a boss. But his reward was to be the boss in this— what a fantastic title— increase in salary. They put him in a corner office. No one came and visited him. No one ever asked too many questions. Those 7 people have been working together so many decades, they knew the answers to every question. They knew who to call, who to contact, who to con— it was a token position. Congratulations. Several times, one of the 7 of his group would walk by his office and he would be passed out asleep. At his desk. He had nothing to do. The phone wasn't ringing. No one was asking him questions. In less than a year, his name was forgotten. In less than a year, no one even thought about him. He got what he wanted. He got that promotion. He became that senior figure. He destroyed his legacy. He was dead even though he was breathing. Does this sound familiar to you? Are you destroying your legacy right now? Are you destroying others to put yourself ahead of everyone else? You make decisions so that you always seem or appear to be on top. You always are the one who puts it all together. You take other people's credit. You like yelling at people who can't yell back at you. This is your story. It's not too late for you. There's another story about a king. When he was in power, the locals from far and wide in his land would come to him and ask him for, we need money for a new bridge, we need money for a new school. His father would say no. He would always say yes. Here's a little money, build that school. Here's a little money, build that bridge, build that hospital, or that clinic, not hospital. He was a king of the people. When the enemy years later attacked and the king had to be taken out from the city because the enemy had taken over the city and he had to be hidden Every small town in his country welcomed him, and they protected him with their lives, because in the time of plenty, of prosperity, that king looked out after the people who couldn't— he just could have ignored like everybody else, like all his fathers before him. He built the legacy by taking care of those around him. And not thinking about himself. So the question you got to ask yourself: whose story did I just tell that reflects you? It's time to make a change. Don't destroy your legacy by only thinking about you. Build a legacy by only focusing on everyone else.