What will remain because you succeeded?
Legacy is not simply how a person is remembered. It is what continues to be useful because that person lived, decided and contributed well.
Legacy is often misunderstood
A name on a building, a foundation or a company preserved unchanged may form part of a legacy. They are not its essence. Reputation concerns how a person is remembered. Legacy concerns what remains useful.
A lasting legacy must eventually belong to people who were not its creator.
The first and second mountains
The first mountain is climbed through ambition, discipline, security and achievement. Its measures are familiar. The second is organised around service, responsibility, relationships and contribution.
The second mountain is not morally superior to the first. The first often creates the freedom and capability to climb it. Its difficulty is that no market can choose the destination.
Continuity without control
Values should inform the future without imprisoning it. Successors need purpose, principles and room for judgement. Institutions need the ability to learn. Families need habits of contribution, not only statements of intent.
- Begin while there is time to learn
- Record what only the creator knows
- Choose the vehicle after defining the work
- Measure usefulness rather than applause
- Allow future people to adapt or end what no longer works