John C. Maxwell - The Law of Legacy: Lesson 21 from the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

1998 and 2007 by John C. Maxwell

This ebook is derived from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John Maxwell, 1998 and 2007 by Maxwell Motivation, Inc., a Georgia corporation.

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Scripture quotations noted CEV are from THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION.
1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations noted The Message are from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English. 1993 by Eugene H. Peterson.

ISBN 978-0-7852-7431-5 (HC)
ISBN 978-1-4185-3831-6 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-4002-7580-9 (ebook of Chapter 21)

This book is dedicated to Charlie Wetzel, my writing partner since 1994. Together weve written more than forty books, and Ive enjoyed our collaboration on every one. As I have labored to add value to others by identifying and teaching leadership principles, Charlie, you have added value to me and my efforts. Your insights and skills as a wordsmith have been enjoyed by millions of readers. As a result, you have made a greater impact on more people than has anyone else in my inner circle. For that I thank you.

CONTENTS

Thank you to the thousands of leaders around the world who learned and sometimes challenged the laws of leadership, thus sharpening my thinking.

Thank you to the team at Thomas Nelson who gave me the chance to revise and improve this book, and especially to Tami Heim for her strategic leadership and to Victor Oliver who was instrumental in the development of the original concept.

Thank you to Linda Eggers, my executive assistant, and her assistant, Sue Caldwell, for their incredible service and willingness to go the extra mile every day.

Thank you to Charlie Wetzel, my writer, and Stephanie, his wife, with-out whose work this book would not have been possible.

A Leaders Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession

What do you want people to say at your funeral? That may seem like an odd question, but it may be the most important thing you can ask yourself as a leader. Most people never consider it. And thats not good, because if they dont, their lives and leadership can take a direction different from that of their greatest potential impact. If you want your leadership to really have meaning, you need to take into account the Law of Legacy. Why? Because a leaders lasting value is measured by succession.

STRIVING FOR MEANING

Eleanor Roosevelt commented, Life is like a parachute jump; youve got to get it right the first time. Ive always been conscious of the fact that our time here on earth is limited and we need to make the most of it. Life is not a dress rehearsal. My father impressed that upon me when I was a teenager. As a result, Ive always had drive and desired to be the best I could be at whatever I did. But I have to admit, my goals and desires have changed quite a bit over the years, and that has affected the direction of my leadership.

Clare Boothe Luce, the writer, politician, and ambassador, popularized the idea of the life sentencea statement summarizing the goal and purpose of ones life. When I started in my career in the late 1960s, my life sentence could have been expressed as, I want to be a great pastor. Several years later as I worked and realized my shortcomings as a speaker, my sentence changed to be, I want to be a great communicator. For more than a decade, improving my speaking skills became a major focus. However, when I reached my early thirties, I realized that if all I ever did was speak, my impact would always be limited. There are only so many days in a year and so many people who will come to an event to hear you. I wanted to reach more people than that. Thats when I decided, I want to be a great writer.

It took me three years to write my first book; its a small volume of only 128 pages. Each chapter is only three or four pages long. Someone at a conference once complimented me, saying how smart she thought it was to create a book with such short chapters. Smart had nothing to do with it. I just didnt have very much to say! Ive written many books since then, and Im grateful that my writing has afforded me the opportunity to communicate with more people. But when I reached my forties, my focus changed again. Thats when I decided, I want to become a great leader. I wanted to build and lead organizations that could make a difference.

CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE

Ive discovered that at each stage of my life, Ive grown and my world has gotten bigger. As a result, my life sentence has changed. When I was in my late fifties, I thought about all of the previous statements I had embraced, and I realized that they all had a common denominator: adding value to others. That was really my desire. I wanted to be an effective pastor, communicator, writer, and leader so that I could help people. Now that Ive turned sixty, I have finally settled on the life sentence that I believe will serve me the rest of my days. When they hold my funeral, I hope I will have lived a life that prompts people to know why I was here and they wont have to guess at it. My life sentence is, I want to add value to leaders who will multiply value to others.

Why is it so important to pay attention to your life sentence? Because your life sentence not only sets the direction for your life but it also determines the legacy you will leave. It took me a long time to figure that out. My hope is that you can learn the lesson more quickly than I did. Success doesnt count for much if you leave nothing behind. The best way to do that is through a leadership legacy.

DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP LEGACY

If you desire to make an impact as a leader on a future generation, then I suggest that you become highly intentional about your legacy. I believe that every person leaves some kind of legacy. For some its positive. For others its negative. But heres what I know: we have a choice about what legacy we will leave, and we must work and be intentional to leave the legacy we want. Heres how:

1. KNOW THE LEGACY YOU WANT TO LEAVE

Most people simply accept their livesthey dont lead them. I believe that people need to be proactive about how they live, and I believe that is especially true for leaders. Grenville Kleiser, in his classic personal development book, Training for Power and Leadership, wrote,

Your life is like a book. The title page is your name, the preface your introduction to the world. The pages are a daily record of your efforts, trials, pleasures, discouragements, and achievements. Day by day your thoughts and acts are being inscribed in your book of life. Hour by hour, the record is being made that must stand for all time. Once the word