Creating a Purposeful Legacy

What impact has my life had on the people around me? What am I aiming for in life? For business owners who are tasked with the responsibility of passing down a legacy, these questions are important ones to ask. The answers are key in building a long lasting family business. However, the question has to begin with asking ourselves, “What is my purpose, and what legacy will that purpose leave? “

Why Is Having Purpose Important?

Having a purpose causes ripples throughout every moment of a person’s  life. A life lived with purpose can give even the smallest actions a larger meaning. Identifying your life’s purpose helps you realise what you are good at, and what you love to do. More importantly, the purpose you serve is like the light at the end of the tunnel: it picks us up during difficult times, creates pathways, and pulls you through to achieve something that is bigger than even yourself.

Focus on Your Goals

Having purpose allows you to focus on what matters. It gives you a clear understanding of your goals. This, in turn, allows you to avoid distractions and dead ends. 

According to the Pareto Principle, 80% of progress comes from just 20% of effort. With purpose in mind, each choice you make, and each day you live, is directing the effort to achieving your wider aims and ambitions. Knowing what you want helps you shape your life to best achieve your goals. Moving towards a purpose means you don’t spend time fighting change. Instead, you see how change moves you towards your goals. 

Share Your Blessings With Others

Purpose opens your eyes to what truly matters. Pursuing a purposeful legacy instills integrity and humility. It makes you think of the people around you. How do you interact with your family members? How do you treat others at work and in society? These people play a key part in what will eventually become your legacy.

Having a purpose helps you appreciate the blessings in your life. As you generate progress towards your goals, you will also generate blessings for yourself —  blessings you can share with others. Defining your purpose can help you craft a legacy that helps others and improves the world around you.

Develop True Self Confidence

Purpose makes you aware of the value that comes with succeeding in your goals. Every action becomes a purposeful step towards a worthwhile legacy. This, in turn, gives you an aura of self-confidence that others are sure to notice. 

How Does Purpose Help in Building a Stronger Legacy? 

Purpose and legacy are inextricably linked. Once you find your purpose, it begins to shape each stage of your life. Legacy is built continuously: with each bold action you take, every new idea you implement, and with every person you inspire.

A legacy extends your influence well into the future, long after you are out of the picture. Legacy is key to optimising the impact you have on the people around you: your family, your business, and the people your business connects.

It is something that you may never really get to see. Legacy is a seed that will only mature long after you are gone. Your legacy encompasses not just the end of your work, but all moments throughout it, as well. So be purposeful, and know not just what you want now, but what epitaph you’ll want on your tombstone.

Purpose-Driven Companies

In business, you are remembered for the value that you build. Your purpose helps ensure you take into account the long-term impact of the decisions you make. Without a clear purpose, your view can be obscured by tempting, yet myopic, short-term concerns. Legacy-thinking ensures you leave behind a stronger, more productive, and valuable business.  

Today, purpose is a key driver for business success. It’s no longer enough to have a good product. People want businesses to support the values they believe in. 

According to Deloitte, purpose-driven businesses:

• Witness higher market share gains
• Grow three times faster than their competitors
• Report 30% higher levels of innovation
• Have 40% higher levels of workforce retention
• Enjoy higher customer satisfaction and brand loyalty

There is also evidence that companies with a strong sense of purpose are able to transform and innovate better. 

Unilever’s “Sustainable Living” Brands

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands communicate the company’s commitment to social and environmental purposes. In 2018, these purpose-driven brands grew 69% faster than Unilever’s other brands. They also delivered 75% of the company’s growth. 

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands include:

• Dove: Helped over 35 million people worldwide through self-esteem education
• Vaseline: Helped 3 million people living in poverty with skin healing programmes
• Ben & Jerry’s: Campaigns for climate change awareness and social justice
• Rin’s Career Academy: Provides mentoring and careers fairs to help women across rural India

KIND Healthy Snacks

KIND Healthy Snacks is the third-largest snack bar brand in the world. KIND’s health-conscious consumers are attracted to the brand’s gluten-free non-GMO snacks, as well as to their commitment to transparent ingredient sourcing, 

Through the KIND Movement, KIND has facilitated over 1 million KIND acts. The movement has been recognised by Time Magazine as a “New Way to Make a Difference”.

Photo Credit: Nicole J Phillips

Steps to Build a Purposeful Legacy

Until you know, clearly and unambiguously, what you want your legacy to be, then it is near-impossible to craft it. Here are some suggestions:

Step 1: Think About What the Previous Generation Did for You

Self-reflection is key. To help with your own thoughts, think about how previous generations have left their mark on you and your family members. What resources did they leave behind? How did they change the family business? How did they shape the working culture around them? This thinking will help you make better long-term decisions. Remember: what you do now will shape the future of your family and business.

Step 2: Write Your Memoir in 1 Sentence

As an experiment, look at the last decade of your life. What story does it tell? If others told your story, what would they say? What do you think the next ten years will lead to? You could ask others to write down how they would describe you, to see how you are perceived, and whether this differs from how you would like to be remembered.

Photo Credit: Freepik

Step 3: Define your Non-Negotiables

Think about great business leaders that you know. Chances are, you know exactly what their non-negotiables are. This is because great leaders live and breathe their non-negotiables. 

What values do you represent as an individual? As a leader? What are you passionate about? What compels you to think? To act? These questions will be the core foundation of your legacy, and shape a meaningful philosophy that goes beyond items such as plain financial numbers. 

Connect your head with your heart. Legacies are labours of love, not chores. You can’t spend your life doing something you aren’t inspired by. When others see your legacy, will they see the real you?

Step 4: Plan Successions With Purpose

In addition to distributing possessions, you can share wisdom and lessons through wills and letters. Where you can, try to include nuggets of wisdom in your trust and will documents. This helps ensure that your philosophies are preserved and shared. These nuggets of wisdom can also guide your loved ones during trying times. 

Treat material gifts as heirlooms. What is the story behind the item? A heartfelt story can transform material inheritances into priceless treasures.

Tying wills to memories also helps cement the meaning behind what you are leaving for your loved ones. A meaningful inheritance is about more than just finances; Your personal legacy must also shine through.

Overall, think about what you want your trust or will to accomplish, beyond saving on taxes and avoiding probate? This comes to the heart of your succession planning. Even general answers, such as “providing for my grandchildren’s education to improve their decision making capabilities”, can help.

Step 5: Consider the Responsibility That Comes With Your Power

Great leaders have a legacy that extends further than just fond memories. Family business founders can establish traditions that pass on to future generations, creating history and experiences that will allow others to follow where they have led. Family leaders are accountable to strengthen culture, human capital, and their brand. This accountability will define the significance of their leadership, and the strength of their legacy.

Photo Credit: Freepik

Live Your Legacy and Create Your Legacy Today

Once you have a plan of action, implement it. 

In some Buddhist traditions, people are taught to imagine a bird on their shoulder, and to ask that bird every day if that day was their last. 

If you knew you only had a limited time left alive, what would you do to secure your legacy before you are gone? 

Legacies are the accumulation of years of work. It is a process of continuous reinvention, with new discoveries developing your mindset, skills, and capabilities. 

At their core, legacies are about the life you want to live. Live with conviction and purpose. Focus on the wider picture. This will help ensure that your actions lead towards a legacy that you can be proud of.

For someone building a family business, every step you take towards strengthening the core reason for the business’s existence, as it sits within the wider world, will create a more sustainable legacy.

Finally, don’t put things off, but remember that even mistakes bring opportunity.