Leadership Worth Remembering

Audio Version

How do you want to be remembered as a leader? In Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (2004), the second habit he explains is “Begin with the End in Mind”. Covey says, "To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction."  Beginning “with the end in mind” can give us the why for our decisions, a guide for our attitude and actions, and should help us to focus or refocus on our values, mission, and purpose to do the work we have been called to do with the people we have been called to serve with.

So, what would your answer be if someone asks you how you want to be remembered? Would you have an answer, and would you be able to say it reflects the way you lead? Hopefully so, but if not, it is not too late to begin implementing the necessary steps. We are all different from one another and should not strive to be like someone else. No matter what our answer to the question might be, our attitude, actions, and decisions are more significant than the answer we give. To be the best leaders we can be and to lead the way we want to be remembered, we should make decisions based on our unique personality and values. We do not know how long we will be blessed to lead in the places we are leading. So, this is the time to embrace the opportunity to lead the way we want to be remembered.

Inevitably, you and I will have our leadership spoken of in the past tense because our leadership in its current location will come to an end. I implore you to join me in the leadership challenge of beginning with the end in mind by leading the way we want to be remembered. We must first examine our leadership, our motives, our values, our actions, and ask ourselves if our leadership is causing people to remember us as someone who cares about and values the people we lead. Hopefully, our actions exhibit the belief that our leadership legacy is not about what we do or what we accomplish individually, but about the people we lead, grow, and value along the way as we accomplish great things together.

Application:

1. Create a Leadership/Life Mission Statement: This mission statement will help you answer the question of how you want to be remembered. It will provide you with a compass for how you lead because the mission statement communicates how you want to be remembered—it is your mission. Each time you reflect on your leadership, instead of asking yourself how you want to be remembered, you can look at your mission statement and ask yourself, How well am I fulfilling the mission? The time it takes to go through this process to create the leadership/life mission statement is definitely worth it.
2. Have an Accountability Partner: Whether you have one, two, three, or four people you trust to hold you accountable and vice versa, an accountability partner or partners can help you stay grounded and focused on your leadership/life mission. Having accountability conversations regularly, asking each other critical questions, and being vulnerable in the process can help you stay on course or realign yourself to the mission if you are starting to drift from the destination your mission should be taking you.
3. Value People: People need to know that you care about them and you want the best for them. If they are at their best, they are better within the family, community, team, and/or organization. If people are getting better, then the place where the people are will improve as well. So, remember that it is the people and how we work with them, communicate with them, and treat them that matter most. And yes, it also matters how we work with, communicate with, and treat those who are difficult to lead.

Conclusion:

How we lead today impacts how we are remembered. Having a leadership/life mission to guide us, an accountability partner to keep us grounded and focused, and valuing the people we lead and work with to accomplish great things together can ultimately contribute to leadership that is worth being remembered. When people improve, the place they are in will also improve. So, when we choose to help others grow, get better, and be better, our families, teams, communities, and organizations will become better too. That is leadership worth remembering.

Additional Comments:

Thank you for reading or listening to this blog post. I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was very meaningful to you. Please post your comments, feedback, or suggestions in the comments section on this page. Also, please feel free to share this post with others. Stay tuned for April's edition to be posted in the upcoming weeks. I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day, week, and month ahead.