What do you want yours to be?
I find this an interesting question. Athletes are often asked this question and many say something along the lines of, ‘I want to leave the sport in a better place,’ (some teams want to leave the jersey in a better place) or ‘I want to inspire the next generation of athletes,’ or ‘I want to show people what is possible if you really put your mind to it,’ etc. All of those are great.
Away from sport, you might find people wanting to do similar things: inspire, encourage, enable. And then you find people who see legacy as a place or an institution they leave behind: a charity, a hospital, maybe a trust that funds scholarships for education, etc.
I find the concept of legacy is a very interesting one. If we look at the dictionary definition for a second, the top two definitions Merriam-Webster offers are:
Legacy (noun)
something (such as personal property or money) that is willed to someone by a person who has died
something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past
While both seem quite closely tied to the death of someone, they are also somewhat focused on items or money; a legacy as something you leave for people. Something you leave behind.
I think what athletes perhaps implicitly talk about when they make the above statements is that legacy is something we can leave in people, too. Inspiration, encouragement, courage itself, hope, enthusiasm, etc., are all more of a feeling and an attitude that we might be able to leave in people rather than for them.
While perhaps less tangible on the surface, I think they are no less powerful. Picture little kids meeting their sporting (or other) heroes and then seeing them perform well on the world stage. You might have a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle who is just as inspiring to you. Someone who has made you believe that you can do something difficult, something few people ever do. You might have a friend or a colleague who does this for you. (I don’t think, if we look at legacy in the particular way, death is a prerequisite… which I somehow also find quite encouraging…)
I think about legacy quite a bit. The London 2012 Olympics, which I competed in, had the motto ‘Inspire a Generation’. Before the Games, I was aware of this motto, but viewed it somehow very narrowly as ‘the athletes competing here will be inspired’. It wasn’t until I first set foot into the boat park and walked towards the building, which was covered in Olympic branding, including the motto, that I realised, ‘Oh, this is not about you being inspired at all, this is about how you can inspire others.’ It took me a while… but I got there just in time… :)
For a few years after the Olympics, I kept thinking about the motto (and clearly I still do), and wondered, how am I supposed to do this, Inspire a Generation? I mean, come on… could we pick a slightly less daunting task?
But, eventually, I settled on, ‘Well, we’ll do this one person at a time.’ And if I can’t do it myself, let me support other people who can do it. One person at a time, we’ll create a ripple effect of people being inspired and inspiring others to pursue things that are difficult, things that are challenging. And one person at a time, we can inspire others to try hard things, and to persevere, and to try again when they fail, because all that is part of high performance.
I think this kind of legacy building has a lot to do with role modelling the behaviour. It might be about persevering, it might be about being kind, it might be about acting with a high level of integrity, it might be sharing love and appreciation, or it might be approaching everything you do with rigour. And maybe, from time to time, you might have a chance to talk about your approach, you might be able to share some stories, you might be able to connect with people who are interested in your approach and in the kind of legacy that you are looking to build. Use those opportunities to share it.
And one person at a time, we leave a legacy in people: a belief that they can <do/be/have whatever it is you do/are/have>, too.
Most times, you won’t know it when you have left this kind of legacy in people. You may not ever see the impact.
Do it anyway. Pay it forward.
So, that is my food for thought this week: what legacy do you want to leave?
Key Points:
Legacy isn’t just something we leave for people; we can leave it in people, too.
This kind of legacy is built through consistent actions and role modelling.
You might not know it when you inspire, you might never know. Do it anyway.
Reflective questions:
What legacy do you want to leave?
What feeling can you leave in people?
How can you do this? What behaviours might you need to display to get that legacy across?
Ps. I plan to go back to posting a blog every fortnight from now on - or at least I will try. Apologies also for no audio this week. I have the voice of Kermit the Frog at the moment … but voice notes will be back when the proper voice returns.
^ You can read the full definition here.
