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Your Ladder is your Legacy – How to Win by Serving Others


The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy. ~ Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

When I was a young man, my father shared with me the following, inherited responsibility:  "Improve the breed"

In terms of helpful guidance I'd rank it up there with "listen don't speak", "always use please and thank you" and "don't eat the yellow snow".  Challenging to implement at times but immensely important to make part of our lives in both thought and action.  Being of service to others, particularly those that we are responsible for, is one the of most impactful ways to improve not only our own breed but those around us too.

  • Has anyone helped YOU up the ladder of life today?  Have YOU helped anyone?

If you're a parent or a manager of anyone or anything you'll have likely been faced with this same crossroads.

Do I create opportunities and encourage and allow subordinates to actually perform better than me?  

Do I share the credit?  

Do I sit this one out to give another person an opportunity to develop?  

Do I embrace and create mentoring and coaching opportunities?  

Do I share all of my lessons learned with those under me and not or just the unimportant details so they don't gain too much power?  

OR

Do I kick them off the ladder after they help me climb up? 

I had the pleasure recently to work with a client who personified what it means to make their people better.  

And not just in saying they want their people better, but in actually doing something to make them better.  

Not surprisingly, this selfless, "serving others" attitude to improve the people around them extended to people outside their organization too.  They have lots of empowered, trained and supported employees - and their culture ... and their legacy ... is on solid ground.

This is in sharp contrast to those organizations that are stifling the development of others.   Here's hoping you're not associated with one!

Boost your Leadership

Buy the Book:

Legacy of Leadership, Vol. 1 - Stories and Strategies to Improve Your Crisis Leadership

by

Mike McKenna

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As a small business owner I'm constantly reminded both personally and professionally how important improvement is.  So much so that one of our mantras is:

Helping your Private or Public organization prepare for, respond to and recover from 21st Century threats .... BETTER.

That commitment was borne directly out of my personal mission statement and is a brightly burning fire in everything that happens here at TEAM Solutions.  

After instructing thousands and thousands of participants so far, there are few things that seem to resonate more with the adult learner than this heartfelt commitment to help make them better.  Not surprisingly, isn't that what most of us want anyway?

So, if you're in a position to improve the lives of the people around you, I challenge you to do so.  You might just be surprised at what you get in return, including a lasting legacy. Serving others pays dividends for everyone.

With that, I leave you with this ...

You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.

~ Zig Ziglar

Mike McKenna

About the author

Mike McKenna is the founder and president of TEAM Solutions. He helps public and private sector leaders improve their outcomes before, during and after a planned event or unplanned crisis.

Please contact Mike via the Contact page.

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