What is Your Leadership Legacy

When you’ve transitioned out of your role as a leader, what legacy do you want to leave behind?

Do you want to be remembered as someone always willing to try new things? The person everyone could turn to for strength during a crisis? The leader that helped someone else become a leader in their own right?

Understanding the footprint that you will leave behind can help business leaders make more meaningful decisions that support the kind of person they are trying to be.

It creates intrinsic motivation, in that you are leading in a purposeful and fulfilling way, and extrinsic motivation, in that it also helps others see you the way that you most want to be seen.

Building Your Legacy

If you’re unsure of the legacy you want to create, The Leadership Legacy Assessment: Identifying Your Instinctive Leadership Style is a great place to start.

It’s a companion resource to the book Your Leadership Legacy: Why Looking Towards the Future Will Make You a Better Leader Today, by Robert M. Galford and Regina Fazio Maruca.

“Based on stories of top leaders who have shaped successful careers, the book explores the art of ‘legacy thinking,’ helping you to formulate a legacy that will exert a positive effect on your work immediately. The authors provide a disciplined approach to framing your legacy, as well as shaping it over time… While many leaders “find themselves” and hone their work accordingly only after a major life crisis, Your Leadership Legacy enables all leaders to craft their work and build their legacy unburdened by such crises, and to experience personal satisfaction and achievement throughout their working lives.”

The central theory that the book puts forth is that knowing what we want to leave behind creates a roadmap for our professional career shaped by the kind of person we want to be remembered as. The assessment is based on how you function as a leader, particularly honing in on your professional reputation and other’s perception of you.

It is based on a 5-point scale, ranging from “That would almost never be me” to “I’m nearly always like that, asking questions such as, “Do you act as the go-between when others are in conflict, or during negotiations?” and “Are you regarded as being methodical about collecting facts before making a decision?”

Once you’ve taken the 30-question assessment, you’ll be scored on a scale of 1-25 for each of the six styles, with your top scores representing the reputation you have already started building.

The Ambassador

Graceful, diplomatic, and calming, the Ambassador tends to bring harmony to conflict. They are persistent and have many causes but prefer to persuade with a gentle hand. They are likely to introduce new initiatives or procedures in a way that people readily accept. Ambassadors want everyone to be at peace and treated fairly so that everybody knows they are a valued part of the team.

The Advocate

The Advocate represents someone who speaks on behalf of those who can’t or don’t speak up for themselves. With rationality, logic, and persuasion, they can easily articulate their thoughts with little grey area to be misinterpreted. Ambassadors and advocates work well together, with the Ambassador championing the cause on the homefront and the Advocate sharing the message in a positive, compelling way.

The People Mover

The People Movers are the leaders who you know care about each person on their team. They way deeply for everyone to feel nurtured as an individual, often both professionally and personally. They are often extroverts who love to network and can’t pass up the opportunity to help others make connections that will benefit both parties. Employees will often seek out People Movers when they need encouragement or praise for a job well done, as their easy optimism and enthusiasm make every accomplishment feel significant.

The Truth-Seeker

Unlike the other styles, there is a prerequisite to being a Truth-Seeker. Only those who are incredibly skilled at their job, to the point of understanding the processes and guidelines for everyone around them, will score high marks for this particular category. Truth-Seekers are pragmatic, neutral, and fair. They know how decisions will affect each department and help guide choices to generate the best outcomes. Truth-Seekers enjoy “leveling the playing field,” using their extensive knowledge as a means of providing struggling employees with the skills they need to thrive.

The Creative Builders

Full of entrepreneurial spirit and drive, the Creative Builders have minds working to see the alternative paths, just in case one idea doesn’t work out. With each new day comes a unique opportunity to get their hands dirty and dig into a problem, and the challenge energizes this style of leader. Creative Builders can sometimes be perceived negatively if they. remain in a position too long. Their constant craving for bigger, better things can create a never-ending loop of constantly pursuing new projects.

The book summarizes this style with an equation: Strength of belief in end result + Ability to tolerate the process = Creative Builder.

The Experienced Guides

With empathy and perspective, the Experienced Guide thrives when they can sit down and talk with people, working through problems by asking the right questions. When the heat of conflict is over and it’s time to find a resolution, Guides are sought out to help with reflection and validation. This style of leader love watching their employees and peers light up when they see the perfect solution and rarely want any credit for their role in the process. The Experienced Guide is the ideal mediator, the natural-sounding board, and an endless well of insight that helps others see the right path through a historical, literal, and metaphorical lens. They serve as counsel to both those higher and lower on the professional hierarchy.

Create the Future by Shaping Your Present

Everything you do and every professional relationship you build weave together into a tapestry of who you are as a leader. By working towards your legacy, you can pursue your days with passion and direction, basing your choices on whether or not they accurately represent the reputation you want to leave behind.