BUILDING YOUR LEGACY
BUILDING YOUR LEGACY
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR BUSINESS , WHAT DOES CREATING A LEGACY MEAN TO YOU ?
WHEN I was interviewing business leaders and owners for Fix This Next , I made a profound discovery . The ones who had already achieved the first four levels in The Business Hierarchy of Needs and were in the Legacy level said they are not business owners .
Huh ? I needed clarity . How do you leave a legacy for your business and not own it ? You know what they told me ? They are business stewards . They never really “ owned ” their businesses . Their job was to raise their businesses to be independent of them . Eureka ! What a profound realization .
As a steward of your business , it is your responsibility to bring life to the business . More importantly , it is about that business continuing into perpetuity without you ! To create a legacy , you must create permanence in your business . And , it must be designed to run on its own .
Boom . When that mind-set shift occurs , a business is positioned for legacy . It will live on and continue to impact the world — permanently .
You see , legacy is not about money , power , or how much fame you have . Wait , what ? As a young entrepreneur , that ’ s sure what I thought it was about . Ends up , legacy for your business is all about it continuing to have an impact on your community , your customers , culture , and the world . And without your active participation .
Apple runs without Steve Jobs . Mary Kay runs without Mary Kay . Countless companies are living long after the involvement of their business owners ended . And that is exactly what the founders wanted .
We ’ ve been looking at The Business Hierarchy of Needs , and Legacy is way up at the top . To achieve the Legacy level , the owner must care more about the corporate legacy versus their personal legacy . This should be the objective of your business .
In the current environment , your ideas about your legacy may have been changing . But be sure you always have an idea of what you want your legacy to look like .
So what is the recipe to leave your legacy ( and your ego at the door ?) Let ’ s get into the 5 Vital Needs of the Legacy Level :
ORDER
PROFIT
SALES
LEGACY
THE CREATION OF PERMANENCE
IMPACT
THE CREATION OF TRANSFORMATION
THE CREATION OF EFFICIENCY
THE CREATION OF STABILITY
THE CREATION OF CASH
1 . COMMUNITY CONTINUANCE Do your clients support your business ? Do they support it in a way that is authentic to your intentions ?
2 . INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP TURN Is there a plan for leadership to transition and stay fresh ? Do you have a plan for people to take over leadership of your business when you are ready to move on ?
3 . HEART-BASED PROMOTERS Is the organization promoted by individuals inside and outside of it , without the need for direction ? Do they see the greater mission and become curators themselves ?
4 . QUARTERLY DYNAMICS Does your business have a clear vision for the future ? Does it dynamically adjust quarterly to make that vision a reality ?
5 . ONGOING ADAPTATION Is your business designed to constantly adapt and improve ? Does it find ways to get better and beat itself ?
This is just a summary of the 5 Vital Needs of the Legacy Level , but you can see why , right ? Review these 5 Vital Needs within your business and assess where you are in leaving your own , or your company ’ s , rather , legacy .
Remember , Legacy isn ’ t about going public or making billions of dollars . Legacy is about making your mark on the world . The way you intended .
Mike Michalowicz
Mike Michalowicz is the entrepreneur behind three multimillion dollar companies and is the author of Profit First , Clockwork , The Pumpkin Plan , and his newest book , Fix This Next . Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and regularly travels the globe as an entrepreneurial advocate .
MikeMichalowicz . com ProfitFirstBook . com
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