Legacy Leaders Come in many Shapes and Sizes But Always set WISE Goals

Jay Newman, PhD, Founding Partner, Culture By Choice

I’ve met many leaders in my life that I would consider to be Legacy Leaders. They have not all looked the same. They have not all acted alike. There doesn’t seem to be a blueprint. But they do have a few things in common. I’ll talk about those things in a while, but first let’s dispel some myths about who makes the best leaders. The Legacy Leaders I’ve known have been very diverse. Some have been tall. Some have been short. Many were just average height. Some have been thin. Some were over weight. Many were just average weight. Some were women. Some were men. Some were gay. Some were straight. Some I wasn’t really sure about. But, they all cared very much about the people they lead and the job they were tasked to complete.

Legacy Leaders have a vision of the future that drives them towards something better. Their values and principles dictate how they will pursue that vision. Each of them will have one key, controlling idea that informs every decision and becomes that leader’s “true north.” But that controlling idea might be gender equity or environmental responsibility or even producing the highest quality automobiles in the world. There is no one best controlling idea. Controlling ideas will always be governed by the fundamental values and principles of a movement and Legacy Leaders tap into those values and principles as the foundation for every critical decision that is made.

There are many people in leadership roles who have not figured out that finding their true north and making sure that their true north is aligned with the fundamental values and principles of the organization is the most effective and efficient way to get the business of the organization done. These unprincipled “leaders” often think it’s about making money or being in control or having power but those are byproducts of seeking to achieve the organization’s purpose. The unprincipled Leader will jump from one shiny object to the next, all in an attempt to further themselves and their own agendas. No one wants to give money to someone they think is only interested in the money, but all of us are willing to part with our money in pursuit of fulfilling our needs, wants, and desires. If my company can help you fulfill your needs, wants, and desires and you believe we can do so in a way that provides real value for you, then my company has a great chance of winning your business. But, if I want to be a Legacy Leader I must be certain that what my company does is always aligned with our clearly defined and well communicated values and principles. And if what we do and how we do it is not what you are looking for as a customer, you should look elsewhere to get your needs, wants, and desires fulfilled.

It doesn’t matter what your race, creed, color, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation is if you adhere to your values and principles and make your decisions based on your controlling idea. When you find your true north and stay true to that, you will find people who are aligned and will want to associate with you. As a Legacy Leader, it is critical that you find your true north. Staying on that true north path requires you to set some goals. As you set goals, your goals should always be “WISE Goals.” SMART Goals are always a good idea but we all know that smart people can do some really dumb things but wise people know how to apply their intelligence in the most productive way. WISE Goals are designed to do the same thing for your organization; take the organizational intelligence and apply it in the most productive way possible.

Just as SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable , Achievable, Relevant, and Time limited, WISE is an acronym for Whole team buy in, Important to the Mission, Values and Principles, Statistics for Monitoring, and Evaluated for Progress and the need to Course Correct on a weekly basis. Legacy Leaders know that they must operate based on their values and principles and make decisions based on their controlling idea but they also know that they must have systems of operation that maximize their probability of success. Leaving things to chance allows too much opportunity for actions to deviate from the mission and in a Legacy Culture, deviation from the mission should only happen by design. It’s not that deviation should not occur, it’s that it should not occur by accident. Nor should it occur by the design of someone not aligned with the values and principles of the organization.

Becoming a Legacy Leader has been the most rewarding journey of my life. Having people on my team that held my feet to the organizational fire kept me on the best path while also supporting the creativity I brought to the table. One particular team member suggested during a staff meeting, that we give each team member a rubber stamp with the letters WDTHTDWTM, what does this have to do with the mission, on it. The rest of team sailed, no we only need one, give it to Bruce, he’ll be our Mission watchdog. So Bruce became our Mission watchdog and every memo, agenda, request for information or data, and every piece of information sent out was scrutinized for alignment. And if something didn’t pass muster, it was stamped with WDTHTDWTM. As a team we rejected those things that were not aligned unless they were required by law or someone hire up the food chain. We became a model high school and people marveled at what we accomplished.

I’ve seen a variety of approaches for staying aligned from many Legacy Leaders. Making sure you don’t go astray is critical to success. Having a method, such as our stamp, is helpful for keeping on track. Having WISE Goals also helps. Legacy Leaders take advantage of as many tools as they can. There is no single way to do it, so use every means you can find to keep your team heading towards true north.