The other day, I heard someone say that their legacy is the wealth that they had built during their lifetime. Someone else spoke of their legacy being their children, and in particular, their grandchildren.
Active Knowledge Question:
Have you reflected on what your legacy could be?
If you are fortunate enough to have built a successful family business, then the legacies that it allows you to create can be quite diverse and significant.
Interestingly, the dictionary definitions of legacy are, I find, quite limiting. The Oxford Dictionary, for example, defines legacy to be ‘something left or handed down by a predecessor or an amount of money or property left to someone in a will’. There is no richness in this definition.
When it comes to family businesses, succession and legacies, the opportunities can be impactful and lasting. Your legacy can and should be so much more than the wealth you have accumulated during your life.
I like to define a legacy as not what you leave behind, but what you are creating for the future. Yes, it is the footprint of your life’s work but, more than that, it has the potential to be a foundation for future growth and prosperity, not just for your family, but many others.
Importantly, it is not so much about what you did during your lifetime but what endures and continues to grow once you are no longer involved.
Your legacy can be your vision for the future and how you’d hope what you have built will be applied. And your vision can be your quest for that future. It reflects your conviction, not a dream or just a worthy cause, but something that must be pursued and obtained.
There is an old proverb which appears in many different forms but goes something like this:
‘If your vision is for a year – plant wheat. If your vision is for 10 years – plant trees. If your vision is for 100 years – plant people.’
Your legacy can reach into the lives of many people and for generations to come. And that doesn’t require that you be uber-wealthy, just that you be thoughtful and strategic in setting your legacy.
And you know that the continuation of your family business across generations can be a mighty legacy.
An entirely new level of performance.
Want to become a part of the Entrepreneurs+ Community and learn how to make your business Competitively Fit? Join Now.
All the best in the success of your business,
Richard Shrapnel
