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Legacy

A leader's legacy lies in the patterns of behavior within his or her organization that reflect his or her contributions and impact on the organization. It may reflect the leader's vision, values, personality, achievements, general leadership qualities, or any combination of these. Legacies can be positive or negative, powerful or insubstantial, enduring or short-lived. Leaders who are mindful of their legacies can affect the direction and well-being of an organization and its policy long after their association with the organization has come to an end. Organizations that are mindful of the motivating influence of positive legacies can mine their organizational history for rich illustrations to inspire their members.

Research on Legacies

There is surprisingly little theory and research on leadership legacy. Most research on leadership has tended to focus on strategies and techniques for enhancing leaders' performance, with scant attention paid to the mechanisms underlying the development of a powerful, positive, and enduring legacy. Some researchers have addressed leaders' impression management strategies—that is, the ways in which leaders can manipulate the image that others have of them in the present. The concept of legacy, however, focuses on the future and the past. It is future oriented in that the construction of a legacy often requires leaders to visualize what future they desire for their organization after they have left it. This is necessarily a much broader and longer-term vision than one typically sees in organizational strategic plans. Legacies are past oriented in that they offer in the present something from the past: Organizations can resurrect the values and achievements of past leaders, using them to affirm organizational values, motivate members, and encourage the accomplishment of current objectives.

It is very common for organizations to build on the legacy of their founder. To motivate and inspire employees, organizations may perpetuate stories and anecdotes describing the founding leader's vision, sacrifices, successes, and ability to overcome obstacles. Current leaders at Walt Disney Company, for example, emphasize the devotion of founder Walt Disney (1901–1966) to children and to wholesome family entertainment. The goal is not only to communicate a value but also to give company members a sense of pride and identity. Research suggests that stories about seminal individuals and pivotal historical events abound in successful organizations, and these myths and legends serve an important purpose. They tend to foster group cohesiveness, feelings of identification, inspiration, commitment, and continuity in an organization.

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind in others the conviction and will to carry on.

WalterLippman

The Role of Death in Promoting Legacy

Some research that suggests that a leader's legacy is cemented at the time of his or her death. Death appears to trigger considerable thought and reflection about the legacy of the deceased. Research in this area suggests that people's impressions of the dead are less likely to change than their impressions of the living. “One does not know more facts about a man because his is dead,” observed the British author John Berger, “but what one already knows, hardens, and becomes more definite” (Berger 1967, 160). In other words, once people die our sense of their legacy becomes heightened and sealed. Leaders who are highly visible public figures often know that their deaths will draw attention to their life achievements and raise the question of how they performed as leaders, and how they will be remembered. A leader's death signals that his or her contributions are open to final assessment and evaluation.

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