The Agency of Legacy

If you’re a shrewd business leader, you know that the power that lies in a name. You understand the weight of the accolades, the praise and the admiration that come with a great reputation. You also know that an enduring legacy cannot be built without a powerful name and great brand reputation.

A legacy led reputation has little to do with fame – the state of being known or talked about by many people for notable achievements. A legacy reputation is defined as "a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular set of characteristics". It's what people believe about your brand. Not what they see and know about your work, your ethics and your longterm integrity.

Simply put, legacy led reputation is led by values and emotion, fame is led by facts.

The fact is: You and/or your brand can be famous with a good reputation and growing legacy. Or you can be infamous with a bad reputation and a dying legacy.

That said, what does it take to build a long lasting legacy led reputation? Here are a few non-exhaustive factors:

Time: the amount of time it takes for your collective words AND actions form a picture in the minds of others. It’s not only what you do but also how others perceive your motives over time that often matter the most.

Principles: The act of standing for something, especially for what is right. A great reputation involves maintaining the strength of your ideas and principles. If you don’t know what you stand for, you’re leaving it all to chance.

Shokunin: a Japanese word that means, roughly, "mastery of one's profession." I deeply admire and respect the Japanese culture of taking great pride in work, where the process of performing a task often matters just as much as the outcome. Which is why Japanese brands and products have such a great reputation for excellence. You and your brand too should take pride in what you do, what you produce, what you sell and how you sell it - with excellence and integrity.

If you’re not proud of what you’re doing, either you’re not finished yet, or what you’re doing is not worthy of your best self.

Integrity: Seeking to do what’s right. When you act with integrity in everything you do - even as a business, you’ll never live in fear, or be constantly on the watch for who knows your sh$t and could out you. Living paranoid is paralysing. Integrity also means acting on your conscience - that inner nudge (a gut feeling or for others a physical wince) inside you that tells you whether you’re doing the right or wrong thing. If you doubt that inner voice, then sense check it with your business and/or brand advisors or your governing board. make sure you don’t surround yourself with just yes people either. have a team around you that’s willing to tell you the truth. You’ll often find your gut was right all along. Which leads to the next point.

Humility: There’s a poignant bible verse that states that what is required of us on this planet is to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God…” I’ve paraphrased it but therein lies wisdom – when we seek humility it’s amazing how your brand reputation and legacy grows without any of your own attempts to make it happen. If you don’t believe me, hunt around for all the good feel stories of humble humans who’ve become modern day heroes for their quiet, unassuming acts of goodness or charity.

Dependability: The art of being consistent. When you’re steady and reliable, your actions become dependable and lift your trustworthiness. This enables people to form an impression of you and anticipate your future behaviour.

Ownership: This simply means taking responsibility for your actions - both as a leader and as a brand. If you can’t be proud to see your daily behaviour, words or actions in a headline, don’t say them or do them. If things go wrong despite your best intentions, don’t hide out. Face the music with an apology and a plan to do better.

Restraint: There is much to be said for taking a moment to deliberate and strategise before acting. Like I often tell my son, take a deep breath before speaking out in anger, sending a flaming e-mail, or making a scathing remark. Walk it out. Reset. Rethink. Or you may live to regret it.

Shrewdness: Navigating the pitfalls and mountains of life and being successful at sustaining a great brand reputation and legacy takes a certain amount of streets smarts, savviness, planning, farsightedness and perception. You need to be a clear eyed, cagey player who assesses life, opportunities, followers and decryers with grain of salt. The shrewd operator is also constantly calculating their trajectory and reputation, asking probing questions of their advisors and teams, keeping a poker face in the midst of negotiations, and being hard nosed with their businesses and contracts. All the while serving the world with a smile and a twinkle in their eye.

Selflessness: Being considered a true champion and trusted leader, even as a brand, means helping others build and sustain their own reputations by acknowledging their good works. It also means modelling good behaviour yourself, and never engaging in reputation assassination, privately or publicly.

How legacy and reputation is led by wisdom

Legacy: The agency of leaving behind wealth that goes beyond money, property, fame or notoriety.

“Wealth, when used, comes to an end; wisdom, when used, increases,”

The saying emphasises the fact that the more we use the knowledge and the truths of life we acquire, the wiser we become. Wealth if used reduces, but when knowledge and learning are used, they increase exponentially.

This is the secret of passing wisdom to the next generation because wealth can fritter away and leave one in poverty but wisdom cannot. It only multiplies as it is practiced daily.

A legacy is defined as money or property left to someone in a will, or anything handed down from an ancestor to a descendant. In the context of this post, the second meaning is emphasised and expanded to include: Anything of precious value that someone passes on to the next generation.

”Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others.”

Time and time again, we read of stories of generational wealth being squandered sometimes to the tunes of billions when in the hands of an heir who had no lasting principles.

History is littered with stories of treasures that have been left in the hands of progeny who’ve blow through their inheritance in only a few years.

All too soon, the wealth that their parents or generations before them took many years to gather, disappears. Brands, businesses and empires turn to dust because the legacy of wisdom was not handed to them alongside the physical money.

Some heirs have even wished the quick passing away of rich parents so that they can inherit the wealth that has been denied them. They’ve murdered for their inheritance.

Others yet have been left embroiled in court cases over the management of their dead parents’ estate. Instead of unity in sorrow, there is hatred, violence and competition between siblings. In other cases, parents have been too busy making money to really invest in a relationship with the children, leaving behind bitterness and anger because money that cannot buy love created a vacuum filled with despair.

It follows that legacy must be defined by values that lie beyond money and property. A legacy should stand for non-tangible principles that prepare us and the generations to follow for living, not mere existence.

Someone has said that it is indeed easier to make money than to raise children who have what it takes to live and thrive in a competitive world.

As a brand leader and legacy builder, have you given thought to passing down not only wealth in the form of money, property and riches, but also the legacy of wisdom, principle and integrity?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

How are you preparing yourself and your heirs for legacy?

Do you enjoy a work life balance that includes and involves time spent with your children?

How much teaching do you personally invest into your children?

What values would you like to leave your children and the future generations with?

Your reputation could be the catalyst to great opportunities over time. It bolsters and builds up your legacy. It opens doors to working alongside great visionaries and brands. It could also set you up on a platform of great influence, not just for your brand, staff and business, but for those you care the most about - but only if you nurture it well.

Having understood the agency of legacy, what aspect of legacy building do you struggle with and need help on?

We work closely with senior brand strategists, executive coaches and psychologists who can help you define your legacy better, so feel free to drop us an email to see how we can help.