A Leader’s Lasting Legacy

This week, I attended the funeral of the first boss that I had when I joined Kewill Systems, a UK software house, thirty-five years ago.

What struck me so profoundly at the funeral was how that boss, John Reader, was remembered by those he led.

John modelled some great leadership behaviours. He took time to delegate a job properly, explaining what it involved, who needed to be kept informed, timelines to be met and potential risks to be minimized.

He created the space for his direct reports to ask him questions no matter how naïve they might have been. I had only recently come to the UK from Ireland so I had a lot to learn. But John also expected his staff to listen attentively, take things on board and go away and implement.  One only went back to him if you had tried to work it out yourself first or there was an exceptional circumstance that you needed extra guidance on.

The other great learning from John was how a leader uses the moment when a direct report makes a mistake. As a young marketer, I once overstocked product brochures which at the time made quite a dent on the company marketing budget. Instead of giving me a dressing down, he asked me what had happened, what I learned from the mistake and what I would do next time. A pure learning moment rather than an embarrassing episode.

Those of us who gathered on Monday all felt we had learned so much from John. We were given a lot of freedom and responsibility in that exciting and rapidly growing high-tech business. With enabling and encouraging leaders like John, we grew in confidence and many of us went on to lead our own teams. The business flourished as a result.

So I ask myself, and you might too: How do you want to be remembered by those you have the privilege to lead?

I truly believe that we leave our mark with those we lead, for good or bad.

Do we want to be remembered as someone like John who brought out the best in the capability of the people around him, who allowed people to make mistakes and learn from them, who was patient in how he delegated and stepped away so people could grow in confidence and wanted to do their best work? He was never feared but always respected.

Or do we want to be someone who will be remembered as a leader who inhibited the individual and team potential around them, who people reluctantly followed and who never truly released what was possible in that moment of opportunity?

A meaningful leadership legacy is defined by:

• The leaders you develop. The best leaders don’t just build successful teams; they build future leaders.
• The culture you cultivate. A leader’s influence is felt in the culture they create. John cultivated a strong work ethic and encouraged us to pull together when times were challenging and count on each other’s support to get things done.
• The values you champion. What do you stand for? John consistently showed integrity, decency, dedication and generosity towards his colleagues.
• The changes and results you drive. Great leaders don’t just maintain the status quo – John challenged, innovated, and certainly left things better than he found them.

Thanks for the lessons and the memories, John. Your values live on.