Your Legacy is Now
Life is not a search for meaning from others, it’s about the creation of meaning for yourself.
For over 30 years Alan Weiss has consulted, coached, and advised everyone from Fortune 500 executives, state governors, non-profit directors, and entrepreneurs to athletes, entertainers, and beauty pageant contestants. That’s quite an assortment of people, and they run into the thousands. Most of them have had what we euphemistically call “means,” and some of them have had a lot more than that. Others have been aspiring and with more ends in sight than means on hand.
Alan Weiss states:
I’ve dealt with esteem (low), narcissism (high), family problems, leadership dysfunctions, insecurities, addictions, and ethical quandaries. And I’ve talked about them through the coronavirus crisis. But don’t get the wrong idea. About 95% of these people have been well-meaning, honest (to the best of their knowledge), and interested in becoming a better person and better professional. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be talking to me.
I found the equivalent of the “runner’s wall” in their journeys, where they must break through the pain and the obstacles and then can keep going with renewed energy and spirit. But runners know how far they must go after the breakthrough, be it another half lap or another five miles. There is a finish line.
I’ve found that people in all positions, even after the “breakthrough,” don’t know where they are in the race, let alone where the finish line is.
They do not know what meaning is for them. They may have money in the bank, good relationships, the admiration of others, and the love of their dogs. But they have no metrics for “What now?” They believe that at the end of life there is a tallying, some metaphysical accountant who totals up their contributions, deducts their bad acts, and creates the (hopefully positive) difference.
That difference, they believe, is their “legacy.”
But the thought that legacy arrives at the end of life is as ridiculous as someone who decides to sell a business and tries to increase its valuation the day prior. Legacy is now. Legacy is daily. Every day we create the next page in our lives, but the question becomes who is writing it and what’s being written. Is someone else creating our legacy? Or are we, ourselves, simply writing the same page repeatedly?
Or do we leave it blank?
Our organic, living legacy is marred and squeezed by huge normative pressures. There is a “threshold” point, at which one’s beliefs and values are overridden by immense peer pressure. Our metrics are forced to change.
In an age of social media, biased press, and bullying, we’ve come to a point where our legacy, ironically, is almost out of our hands.
Yet our “meaning”—our creation of meaning and not a search for some illusive alchemy—creates worth and impact for us and all those with whom we interact.
Pat Tith
I wish they had done a preview show a few days earlier while I was there!
James Colley
Great post. Apparently Geese are better than most guard dogs. I still prefer our to Labradors around the house though.
On a side point, Alan I absolutely love two of your books: Million Dollar Consulting and Getting Started in Consulting. I have started implementing your techniques with great success, especially the value based fees approach.
My question is with regard to investing for the future. You mention maximising your retirement account each year and other than that we should be re-investing in our business. Let’s say my consulting business is producing lots of cash each year and I cannot easily (or effectively) plough all the cash back into the business to improve marketing. Where would you put your money into? You mentioned keeping a cash reserve for safety (very sensible). I was wondering if you actively invest in stocks or real estate? Or do you back private companies etc?
I know you don’t market yourself as an investment guru per say, but everything I have read of yours so far has been superb. So I would be greatly interested in your thoughts.
Another alternative I suppose would be to take on employees to and try to expand eventually selling the firm on a multiple of revenue. But as you rightly mention you often just become a care provider for employees doing this.
Great blog.
James
Alan Weiss
Do NOT hire employees. I write about that extensively. Crazy.
I invest in the market but seldom trade. I buy stocks that have high value, of the products I use successfully, and/or of my favorite clients. I bought Apple at 17 before all the splits.
Maximize your retirement savings to the full extent of the law. Carry intelligent insurance. Keep a reserve fund. You don’t need to “plow” anything back into the business. Most of my marketing gravity costs nothing or very little. Good luck.