The mission is bigger than me. That’s the premise behind Level 5 Leadership. That’s the whole reason for this blog. The church I started, the business you lead, or the organization you founded has a purpose that is likely much larger than you. That’s a good thing. To lead or start something that shouldn’t end with you is noble, honorable and magnanimous! That’s how legacies are generated.
Unfortunately, I meet far too many leaders that fail to spend much time thinking beyond their immediate mission and call. If challenged, they will usually tell you it matters. They admit they are concerned about what may happen to the organization after they retire or die. But, life moves at a face pace and there are too many daily operational concerns to slow down long enough to develop a plan—a succession plan.
I made an intentional decision when I was approaching age 50. What started with me wouldn’t end with me. The mission that God put me on in my early 30’s should not end with me in my 60’s or 70’s. The mission is much bigger than me. That thought was both exhilarating and sobering. All at the same time.
If you are leading a business, a non-profit, a church, a ministry, are you being intentional? Have you developed a succession plan for your organization? I recognize that not every organization is set up in a way that the leader can make such a decision. But are you initiating any conversations? Discussions? Proposals? Plans? Have you cast a vision for an intentional and wisely planned succession? All point persons will come to the end of their leadership run at some time or another. All leaders run out of time.
I fully agree with the words of J. Lee Whittington: “Being a legacy leader is not about me; but, it starts with me.”
QUESTION: What one phrase in this short read impacted you the most? Why? (We would love to hear your comment below)
It didn’t matter who, what, when or where. A Sunday afternoon Monopoly game with my brother and cousin. A six-man flag football game at my three-room country school. The 50-yard dash in the state-wide Junior Olympics. High-school basketball. Hiking to the top of an Oregon butte, a sand dune or a Pacific Ocean overlook. I love to get to the top of the mountain for the first view. I grew up with a love to win. 
Washington, DC. Across the country that day, Martin Luther King, Jr., was leaving a memorable mark on the civil rights timeline of the United Stages. The imagination of civil rights activists and sympathizers, was captured with the leading line of the entire last half of Dr. King’s speech—“I have a dream…”