CHAPTER 5

Is Your Legacy Designed to Last?

Pressure-Testing Your Statement

ONCE YOU’VE CREATED A LEGACY STATEMENT that you are more or less happy with, it is time to pressure-test by giving it a personal reality check, and also by asking a close friend or trusted colleague to give it a read.

The exercise of writing a legacy statement represents a serious investment in legacy thinking. For that investment to pay off, the statement must reflect behaviors and goals that are achievable and realistic and, at the same time, aspiring. Your goals must also be authentic, in the sense that they must be self-driven and not tied to expectations generated by other people or constituencies.

In his seminal work, On Becoming a Leader,Warren Bennis wrote, “I ...

Get Your Leadership Legacy now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.