On Legacy
Recently I have been thinking about the word, legacy. A couple of things made me think about it.
Firstly, I was watching the TV show “The Bear” and in season 3 there is an episode called “Legacy”. If you haven’t watched the show, it is about a chef who has worked in some of the most prestigious restaurants in the world and comes back to his hometown of Chicago to run his family’s beef sandwich joint.
In season 3 he has opened his own upmarket restaurant. He is shown to be quite obsessed with making the restaurant a success and earning a Michelin star, pushing everyone in his team to the limit and having almost no personal life outside the restaurant.
During the episode, he is chatting with the pastry chef – a very different character to him -and he asks him, “What do you want your legacy to be?” and the pastry chef answers, “I think I would want my legacy to be…I kept my chin up, listened and learned. I did honest work, fun to be around…and an excellent emergency contact.”
I loved that scene and interaction. Sometimes when we talk about legacy; especially legacy at work, we think about those who have been able to create and make something truly special, something that has gone beyond their time. We think about the Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and other visionaries that created something bigger than themselves and that we can’t imagine the world anymore without that thing, brand or product.
The second thing that made me think of the word “Legacy”, was a conversation with a friend and ex-colleague; who is still working in the organisation I worked for before starting my own thing 9 years ago. He mentioned that someone in that organisation had mentioned me and a sentence I used to say, to encourage him to do something he was a bit anxious about – Mc’ing a big conference in front of the entire business. Apparently, this other person said, “Remember what Eduardo used to say about stepping outside your comfort zone.”
It made me think about how much impact; especially as leaders, we can have in other people’s lives. If this person, who I have not seen since I left that business, still quoted me 9 years later; how many other people would I have influenced positively and negatively in all my years at work and as a leader? How many people will remember what I said or moments they lived with me that impacted them and stayed with them?
As there are only a few of those “chosen visionaries” I mentioned before in the world; the rest of us mortals, tend to measure our “legacy” at work by what we achieved. How much we made that organisation grow, how many new products we launched, how many new markets we expanded to, etc…And that is fine. They are good things to think about and be proud of. If I think along the same lines, my legacy would be the business I have created over the years; even maybe these weekly articles that I have started writing recently.
But the conversation with my friend made me think that my “real legacy” may be all those small interactions with the people I have worked with, my clients, my team, the people who work in the organisations we work with. Maybe I said something to them one day that changed them; or that made them feel better, or valued, or worse? Maybe I opened their minds to something new? Or said something that made them make a decision that changed their lives; who knows…The funny thing is that, like in the example before, I will probably never know.
By the way, I love the way the chef responded to the pastry chef when he heard his legacy. He said: “That sounds legendary, pal.”
What is or will your legacy be? Let me know.