Leaders are all around us, in corporations, sports teams, civic clubs and other organizations. In many cases, the work they do and its impact doesn’t extend much beyond their immediate sphere of influence.
But leaders also can guide, teach and inspire people in such a way that the impact will be felt far and wide – and maybe even linger long after the leader is gone, says Brendan P. Keegan, author of The FUD Factor: Overcoming Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt to Achieve the Impossible.
“Leaders should ask themselves, ‘What do I want my legacy to be? What lasting impact do I want to leave on the world? How can I be an inspirational legend to others?’ ” says Keegan, who is chairman, CEO and president of the board for Merchants Fleet, a company that offers commercial vehicle leasing, maintenance, and other services.
He says some ways to make that legacy come about and to leave a greater imprint on the world include:
- Lead others through a clear vision and the resources to achieve that vision—together. Ever notice with sports teams how successful head coaches leave a legacy of other head coaches who worked for or played for them? Keegan says the same can happen with leaders in other sectors. “When you make the decision to lead,” he says, “you build an exponential legacy of leadership. If you lead 10 people who then lead another 10 people who then lead another 10 people to achieve a common goal, you will have impacted over 1,000 lives.” That’s a lot of impact, Keegan says, and your efforts also have the added positive effect of removing fear, uncertainty, and doubt from people about their abilities, while instilling confidence.
- Be a mentor. Keegan suggests looking around your circle of friends, family members, and colleagues and “picking a person to take under your wing and send down the path of leadership.” Mentors, he notes, are volunteers, even at companies with formally structured mentoring programs. Mentors also are focused on helping their mentee achieve their career goals, not the mentor’s goals, and doing so with no personal or professional benefit expected in return.
- Coach others to be the best versions of themselves. Take time every week to invest a little extra time to show someone how to improve a specific skill or attribute. “Thirty minutes of coaching may change the trajectory of someone’s life,” Keegan says. Coaching has similarities to mentoring, he says, but there are differences. Mentoring plays a much broader role of cultivating an individual’s career and overall personal and professional development. Coaching drives at a specific goal through learning. For example, coaching someone to make a sales call, to perform a job function better, or to complete a 20-yard pass. “With coaching you do immediately see the impact you have on others,” Keegan says. “If leading and mentoring is the long game, then coaching is the short game.”
- Cultivate. Leaders have opportunities each day in every interaction to inspire leadership not only at work but also in the communities in which they live, Keegan says. “Really anyone we meet is an opportunity to begin to light the fuse of leadership for another person,” he says. “That can be our neighbors, our kids, our social circles. It can happen in our places of faiths, or gyms or our coffee houses. So many people in life have never been told they, too, can be a leader, let alone have another person invest in them.”
Finally, Keegan says, find other ways to give without any expectation of receiving. Giving can mean sharing your time, encouragement and wisdom, and it can also mean philanthropy.
“We all have the opportunity to give in more ways every day and to do it with no expectation of getting anything in return,” Keegan says. “It can be running a 5K race for a cause, buying Girl Scout cookies, serving meals at a local shelter, coaching a youth sports team or donating blood. The opportunities are endless.”
Brendan P. Keegan is chairman, CEO and president of the board for Merchants Fleet, the fastest-growing fleet technology company in North America. He also is the author of three books, including his newest, The FUD Factor: Overcoming Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt to Achieve the Impossible. Keegan has contributed more than 200 articles to Fast Company, Inc. Media, Entrepreneur, Newsweek, Fox Business and Harvard Business Review. During Keegan’s time at Merchants Fleet, the company has been named a two-time Inc 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company, Deloitte Best Managed Company and a Fast Company Top 10 Most Innovative Company.
Leader stock image by insta_photos/Shutterstock