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legacy

The Leadership Challenge: Legacy Lessons from My Father – 5 Tips!

April 21, 2016 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Today marks the nine year anniversary of my Father’s passing. It seems like just yesterday… And in another sense, it seems like forever ago! My Father is responsible for making me the man I am today (Son to my Mother, Brother to my Sister, Husband to my Wife, and Father myself to my own Children). So in order to honor his legacy, I wanted to share with you five (5) legacy lessons that he espoused to me… Enjoy!
The Leadership Challenge: Legacy Lessons from My Father - 5 Tips! What’s a Legacy Anyway?
Why do you do what you do? How is what you’re doing today going to benefit others tomorrow? If you’re a deep-thinker or ever bumped your head against your own mortality, you’ve probably asked these questions of yourself. Depending upon your answers (and it’s a self-assessment, so honesty counts!), you’ve probably maintained or course corrected your personal/professional direction.
So the legacy you leave behind basically is what you want others to remember you for. What was it that you stood for? What will they remember you for when it’s all said and done and you’re no longer present? And perhaps most important, will anyone even notice if you’re gone? If you contemplate life’s legacy moments as such, then the following tips represent moments shared with me by my Father. While they may/may not be appropriate for you given your station in life, no doubt there is something that may resonate for all so that you are not only remembered after you have departed, but missed as well!

Tip #1 – It’s Up To You!
The great Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said it, and my Father reinforced it in me. Whether you’re having a good day (Why are you settling for “good” when “great” is available? A topic for another day…) or a not-so-good day, it’s up to you to identify and either accept or change it. It’s up to you!

Tip #2 – What Are You Thinking?
Action without thought leads to disastrous outcomes regardless of age. My Father asked repeatedly (perhaps because of my pension for trouble) what exactly I was thinking that caused me to do what it was that I had done. While not coming from the perspective to gain understanding, so much as to teach me to NOT repeat similar choices. When my Father spoke, I listened… This thought-message was sent/received.

Tip #3 – Keep Your Eye On The Ball
My Father was also my Little League baseball coach. While the legacy lesson may appear to be focused solely on that sport, it actually applied to everything in life. From his perspective, detail and attention therein was perceived crucial for a successful outcome. So keep your eye on the “ball” could easily mean “business” or “relationship with your wife” or everything else as was intended. Think of it as limitless attention to detail and you’ve got it!

Tip #4 – Work is Sh!t
My Father was never big on believing that his work defined him as a person, and more importantly his significance in life. Instead, work was a means to an end for him. I remember telling him repeatedly that he was wrong, and that if you truly do what you love you never work a day in your life (I think Jim Rohn said that or something akin to?) My Father encouraged me to go in that “love” instead of “sh!t” direction then, but to buckle-back with him to tell how that worked out.

Tip #5 – It’s All Right
My Fathers final conversation came as he was in a nursing home after suffering a series of heart attack/stroke combinations (2, 3, 4… Who knows? The doctors could never give us definitive quantity). Throw on top of that deadly series of heart attacks/strokes a severe case of dementia and you’ve got nothing… No comprehension… No reaction to pain… No Father that I grew up knowing and loving. He was simply a shell of a man, hollow inside and an exterior that was far from who I knew/loved/idolized. However, it was in just this state that while eating breakfast one morning he extended his hand, placed it on top of mine, told me “It’s all right” and tapped my hand three times as he had done a thousand times before. He passed within 12 hours of that limited conversation, so it was the last time I ever heard his voice.

SUMMARY
I have cried a thousand tears for my Father since his passing (I’m crying now as I write this!) My hope is in sharing these five legacy lessons learned from him that you are able to live the life you deserve and leave behind a legacy worthy of you/your efforts.

Sam Palazzolo

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: father, legacy, legacy lessons, the leadership challenge

The Leadership Challenge: What Legacy Are You Creating?

August 11, 2014 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Ask yourself: What legacy are you creating and leaving behind? Whatever a leader does and the way in which they conduct themselves with their team members and colleagues, leaves behind a legacy. A legacy which can either be a source of inspiration for future aspiring leaders or a model to avoid. At Tip of the Spear, we believe in creating a legacy which will prove that you succeeded in the leadership challenge with flying colors… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge- What Legacy Are You Creating?

The way that a leader motivates and trains their team members, ensures their personal and career development, mentors and coaches them and inspires them to perform at their best. This not only proves beneficial for the employees, but also leaves behind a golden path for others to follow.

The leadership challenge also includes leaving a positive legacy behind, which can always serve as a source of great motivation as well as inspire individuals to perform at their best.

A Leader’s Legacy

In their book “The Leadership Challenge”, Kousez and Posner have illustrated the relative importance of a positive legacy left behind by a successful leader.

The authors assert that leaving a legacy means that a leader utilizes their talents to bring about a positive impact in the organization, employee attitude, and their community or society as a whole, which can be linked with their committed efforts.

Leaders have a responsibility to do something significant, and when they utilize their efforts to inspire a positive change and attitude, it leaves behind a legacy which serves as a guiding path for others to follow.

Create A Lasting Legacy

Leaders should utilize care to leave a lasting legacy which will always be an inspiration for many, and serve as their guide in challenging situations. Leaders lead by example, and that is what a legacy does. It leaves behind a guide for aspirants to learn from the actions, methods and conduct of their leaders and mentor their team members to help them achieve their potential.

It’s All About Service, or Your Ability as a Leader to Serve

To ensure a lasting legacy, leaders should serve their team members and should never take employee trust for granted. Intelligent leaders know and realize that it is not merely their own vision, rather the combined effort of many, and the result of a contributed discussion, which leads to success in the end.

Great leaders are never hesitant to try out something new after a careful evaluation of the pros and cons, and also inspire their team members to utilize their best potential to achieve something great in life. They exercise and inspire courage to make the necessary and hard decisions, thus leaving behind a legacy for performing at one’s best by utilizing all the talents, and never taking a back seat or accepting defeat as the only option.

Summary

Leaders recognize and accept failure as a part of life, and encourage others to keep on exerting effort to improve and master their (through leadership development). Their mentoring and coaching, along with the most effective method of leading by example, tends to leave behind a legacy which proves a valuable form of guidance and benefit for many.

Any leader, who wishes to succeed in the leadership challenge with outstanding accomplishments, needs to leave behind a memorable and beneficial legacy behind, through their conduct and effort.

To learn more about Tip of the Spear’s Leadership Development offerings, including The Leadership Challenge program, CLICK HERE.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: leadership, legacy, the leadership challenge

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