Leadership Legacy

Leadership Legacy - What do I want my leadership legacy to be?

When a person thinks of the word legacy, the thought is usually about what one would leave behind to his children, grandchildren, and their children. In the professional world, one who is in leadership may often think about what his or her leadership legacy might be.

When I think about my own leadership legacy, I wonder what others will perceive my legacy to be. It is important that others see the hard work that I have put into my role as their leader and how hard I have worked toward making the vision of the company a reality. If I ask myself the question, “What do I want my leadership legacy to be?” I would have to say that I want my leadership legacy to be that I have taught others the importance of putting Christ in the middle of all that you do.

At the root of all things should be the spirit of Christ. I have lived by this motto since I was a young child. My sisters and I would always ask each other after we had major arguments or even physical fights, “is this like God?” and then we would eventually hug and make up. As I entered high school, I would ask myself the now famous phrase, “What would Jesus do?” and then make up my mind if the behavior I was about to engage in would be pleasing to Christ.

In my current senior leadership role, I am not allowed to do a lot of talking about spirituality; however, when I am asked questions about myself or my leadership style, I speak freely about my desire to please Christ and my belief that my role within the company is a part of God’s purpose for my life. When I am asked to speak more about the principles I operate by, I explain that I believe that every decision, every action, and every new connection should involve Christ in the middle. If I do not see a way to ensure that everything is Christ-led, I will not move forward. So far, operating with this belief and by this principle has worked for me.

My belief in this principle is what I believe keeps my grounded. I literally ask myself if what I am preparing to do has room for Christ and if I do not believe there will be room for Him, I will not move forward. Since being in this role and making others aware of this belief, I have been able to establish partnerships for my program with spirit based organizations. The youth in my programs receive free life coaching and mentoring through my church. There is another church that provides mentoring and independent living programs for free as well. The involvement of Christ centered and spirit based relationships has proven to improve some of the views that the youth in my programs have about Christ.

I believe that my legacy of putting Christ in the middle of all that you do has been my consistent theme over the last fourteen years with this company. Although I am not able to walk into a room and openly speak about spirituality or the Lord, I am finding more and more opportunities to do so without having to initiate the conversations. Through these opportunities, I am able to share testimonies of how I have advanced in my career and without hesitation, I am sure to share how it was the Lord that led and guided me throughout the process. I’m asked so often about how I got to where I am now in my career, and there is no way to tell my story without including the Lord and what He has done for me. So any individual who I have had this type of conversation with knows that I credit my advancement to Him.

Although I am not able to initiate these conversations, I speak boldly when I am asked. When there are victories to celebrate for my programs, I give honor to God first. When there are celebrations for other employees, I am sure that we take a moment at the beginning of the event to pray over the food and give praise to God for the individual or event that we are celebrating. Whether positive or negative, I give reverence to Christ for allowing the opportunity for new things. My departments know that I start each day with prayer and that I take time throughout the day to say thank you.

Now, without any intentional influence, I have staff members who do the same. They begin their day with prayer. They bless their lunch before eating. They take time to thank God when things have worked out I the department’s favor. They reference Christ in department victories. I am known for always using the line in my supervision meetings, “as long as Christ is at the middle of all things, you can trust the process”. This statement seems to give an end to worry over those things that we do not have any control over. My subordinates and co-workers have grown fond of me bring this type of positive attitude to difficult and challenging situations and have adopted the same mindset with facing challenges.