Building Your Leadership Legacy: 4 Ways to Leave a Lasting Impression

Hi Physician Leaders,

I'm Dr. Lisa Herbert, Board Certified Family Physician, Best Selling Author, Speaker, and Executive Leadership Coach. I help physicians transition into leadership roles so they can be the respected voice in healthcare.

What determines your legacy?

In order to answer this question, we must first define for ourselves, what is a legacy.

As a mother, daughter, sister, and community member, I define legacy as the love, shared memories, traditions, stability, and security that you leave behind to the people you care for.

As a leader, coach, speaker, and author, I define legacy as the change, impact, value, and lessons you create for the people you serve. Your leadership legacy, as I call it, isn’t defined by your wealth, your accolades, your name recognition, or any other superficial matters.

It's about how you touch the lives of others.

The change you’re going to bring about. The impact you will have on your organization. The value you will leave behind to your community. The lessons you will instill in future leaders.

This is something that you build while you're here. This is something that you start creating now. You don't have to wait for people to leave this earth to start talking about their legacy and the impact they had on others. And despite popular belief, it’s not ideal to wait until really late in your career when you’re ready to retire or exit your field to start building your legacy. So, the question becomes, how do we start building our legacy here and now?

There are four things that you should be considering now that will help you determine what your legacy will be: your values, your principles, your purpose, and your contribution.           

Start by thinking about what it is that you value most in your life. Determine what guides and motivates you and drives the decisions you make. What are the things that you find important?

Then begin to think about what your principles are. Identify what you stand for and what your standards are. What rules or codes do you live by? What fundamental truths do you believe in?

Next, think about your purpose in life. Reflect on a need in this world that you wish to satisfy with your talents and gifts. What abilities and strengths can you use in the service of others? What skills can you leverage to make a difference in the world?

Lastly, think about the contributions you can make in the support of others. How can you help support your colleagues, your organization, and your community? Think back to your purpose. What contributions will you make to help solve a problem you believe the world has? Determine what your means of serving others will be.

Take some time to reflect on the four ways I outlined above to start thinking about how you can build your legacy today. That’s right, today, not in 10 years, or 20 years, or at the end of your career. But what you can do now to start leaving your mark on this world? What do you want to leave behind? What impact do you want to have on the world? Find that motivation and that drive that’s going to help you go hard in your business, go hard in your role, and go hard in your community so that you can leave a quality, lasting impression.

What will determine your legacy?

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. As always...I'm Dr. Lisa, Board Certified Family Physician, Best Selling Author, Speaker, and Executive Leadership Coach. Through my coaching programs, courses, and books, I help physicians transition into leadership roles so they can be the respected voice in healthcare.

If you are a physician ready to create change and be the respected voice in healthcare, or you represent an organization ready to create the next generation of leaders, connect with me here for a free strategy call to start your leadership journey today!