Building a corporate legacy takes time. It`s important to start today. What should be your business legacy? What is your unique contribution to the business world? No matter where you are in your career, it`s not too late to start building a business legacy. Even professionals at the end of their careers can begin to build a legacy. In many cases, these professionals have already laid the foundation for their legacy in the form of skills, knowledge, and relationships. The very decision to build a legacy will accelerate its creation. So what is a legacy and what is not? Building a legacy means creating something lasting that can be passed on. It can be a physical business or work to make changes through a cause. A corporate legacy is not only the “thing,” like a startup or a product, but also its ability to last for generations. So how can you keep your legacy in mind when making your day-to-day decisions? Fortunately, more than a decade of research into how people make decisions that affect future generations offers specific strategies to help you track the building of legacy and use those thoughts to maximize your impact on the world. Leaders who feel stuck in their careers are those who care more about recognition than respect.
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, was right when he said what his legacy should be: “To have created one of the most respected companies in the world. Not necessarily the biggest. Only when leaders want to have meaning do they discover the true meaning of leadership and building a legacy. When this moment is realized, the lens through which you see becomes crystal clear; You begin to understand that responsibility for the progress and success of others will eventually define your importance as a leader. This is not only important to ensure that the company continues to thrive under leadership in the future. It affects profits here and now. Whether you`ve just started a new business, are growing, or planning an exit strategy, there are many benefits to thinking about leaving a legacy. Your leadership can make a lasting difference in the lives of your family members, partners, employees and community.
You can mobilize your team to contribute to an important civil or charitable cause and create goodwill in your market. You can build the strength of your brand by working with a worthy organization. Or you can focus on turning your business into a permanent asset to the community long after you`re gone. Marcus Lemonis emphasizes the importance of giving back to those who have contributed to the success of your business: “There is no generosity in the face of a mistake. Because it`s not a mistake to be generous. By nature, the family is a stable social group that has been maintained throughout society. Although there have been changes and variations over time, the family remains a “unit that is distinct from other forms of social organization”.2 In contrast, firms are less stable. In fact, some U.S. statistics suggest that more than half of new businesses will cease to exist within the first 5 to 10 years.3 So it makes sense that a familiar way family members often relate to their business wealth is related to the impact that the family`s purpose, values, and principles have had. and will continue to do so, on their business. While the legacy left to future generations is generally welcomed and accepted as a “gift,” the obligation to carry it on may be seen as a burden by some. Several family entrepreneurs we spoke to spoke to about the “burning need” for the family to be involved in the business in order to continue their legacy, and how this can become a heavy responsibility and a source of tension.
If you were to leave your current job today, what legacy would you leave behind? How would others define it? Do you pay attention to feedback and how it can guide the next phase of your career and your ability to influence others? In the family business, legacy is the connective tissue that connects the main purpose of the business, family values and significant achievements over several generations. Given the importance of family values, we wanted to understand the impact of the new “family, but not family” business model on the ability of entrepreneurial families to preserve the legacy. A recently hired, non-family-owned CEO in Mexico said he sees the family`s legacy as a “beacon” for management. The question for managers is not simply “Where do we want to go?” but also “How do we want to go?” Entrepreneurs go into business for many reasons – to pursue a dream, find alternatives to an unfulfilled career, or make more money. Most entrepreneurs are also motivated by the desire to leave a legacy through their work. What does it mean to leave a legacy? When you leave a legacy, it`s about creating a business that survives after you leave. It`s not about having a job every day – it`s about creating something that can exist without you. To do this, you need a mastermind business card to make record profits.
Understanding how to leave a lasting legacy for investors can also help you build a business that will attract future investment. For many, leaving a legacy is associated with the end rather than the beginning or next phase of their career. Your leadership is not shaped and your legacy is not defined at the end of the road, but by the moments shared, the decisions made, the actions taken and even the mistakes overcome at the many stages of your career. Leadership well done is a process of reinvention – a continuous discovery that influences your mindset, new skills and abilities. At every stage of your career, you`ll learn how to continue to make a lasting impact. At each step, you identify new ways to master the basics, giving you more clarity and depth of thought to further improve your leadership approach and communication style. Even if your own family is not entrepreneurial, think about how you can continue your family`s work in the world and the values that were important to them. Maybe there was a way your dad cooked that you`d like to continue in your new restaurant and cooking class, or your mom was a doctor who specializes in a particular disease, and now you`re starting a charitable foundation to support patients with that disease.