Scott Snider is the President of Exit Planning Institute, the authority on Exit Planning education.
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If you’re a business owner, I want you to participate in a little experiment with me. Even if you’re not an owner—maybe you’re an executive, or you’re early in your career with great ambition—this should be a useful exercise.
Take a moment to answer this question and write your response on a piece of paper. What do I want my legacy at work to be?
Do you have that answer? Good. Now, for the second part. Answer the question, What do I want my legacy outside of work to be? Write your answer down on the same sheet of paper.
To me, legacy is the lasting impact you leave and how you are remembered by others. Rather than being limited to 10 or 20 years, a true legacy can outlive your time on earth. It doesn’t simply make an impact in the moment; it shapes and influences the future.
Now, let’s move on to the final step. Compare your two answers. For most of you, the second answer is probably closest to the true nature of the word “legacy.” But if your first and second answers do not connect, the gap shows where your legacy remains unclear.
Let’s work on that by looking at what needs to change.
Fixing The Way You Sit
Legacy doesn’t happen by accident. To craft it, business owners must sit on a stool that doesn’t wobble: Their business, financial and personal planning must all align.
In exit planning, one of the foundational concepts at my organization is the “Three Legs of the Stool.” This principle emphasizes the importance of aligning your business, financial and personal planning.
The first two legs—business and financial—typically come easily for business owners. However, our last State of Owner Readiness Report (a study of business owners across the country) revealed that most owners lack a personal plan.
That’s why the stool is often wobbly.
And that’s why most owners have no clear path to defining and securing their legacy.
Knowing The Difference Between Success And Significance
If I had to guess, your answer to the first question is likely focused on success. It might revolve around a big idea, reaching revenue or income targets or building a track record of profitability—all achieved through your ingenuity and hard work.
That’s success. Success is nice.
But significance should be your goal.
Significance is something completely different. It happens when your company aligns with all three legs of your stool. It becomes a vehicle for your personal goals—your idea of legacy outside of work. It also means you’ve created so much value in your business that you’ve developed people, created processes, defined a culture and cultivated a loyal base of clients or customers. Your business can run without you, and upon exit, you can harvest multiples of the wealth trapped in it. A potential buyer is buying a business, not a job.
Remember that definition of legacy: It shapes and influences the future.
The truth is, in business, success fades. That’s the nature of innovation. Products and tactics can’t remain stagnant, or a business dies. But when you’ve empowered the people around you to always seek value, to move forward, your impact is felt long after you’ve gone.
Legacy Is Bigger Than Business
As you chase significance over success, you come to find out that it’s about more than the day to day of your business.
Look back at your second answer. Does it have anything to do with your work?
If you want to be remembered as an incredible mentor, how can you start building your legacy as a part of your business now?
If you want your legacy to be the family you’ve built, why aren’t you decentralizing yourself from your business so you can build those relationships?
As a business owner, it’s tempting to get entangled in the day-to-day grind. But the day to day starts every time your alarm clock goes off. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day—living the same day over and over—instead of the intentional actions that endure and create legacy.
A Personal Plan Creates Value In Your Business
One of the most common reasons owners push back on creating a personal plan is that they say they do not have time. But consider the value you can create if your personal purpose becomes part of who you are as a business owner.
• If you value community impact, you can build a strong company culture rooted in service and philanthropy.
• If you value innovation, you can establish systems that foster creativity.
• If you value mentorship, you can champion employee development and leadership training.
These true-to-you tactics help your business reflect your personal purpose and build value—value that you can realize from a wealth standpoint and in your eventual legacy.
Three Ways To Start Building Legacy Now
Legacy can seem conceptual, so I want to leave you with some practical ways to start building your legacy today, no matter what stage of life or business you’re in.
1. Define your purpose.
What is the significant, meaningful impact on the world that drives personal fulfillment for you? This definition is lifelong. It shouldn’t matter how you’re living it out. Whether during your career or after your exit, your purpose is who you are.
2. Identify your mission.
We live our purpose differently in each stage of life and work. How do you apply your purpose in this life stage? That’s your mission.
3. Set goals for achieving your mission.
Make a one-year goal for living out your mission, with 90-day tactics that work toward that goal.
What you’re really working on is the start of a personal plan, which most owners lack. But, of course, most owners do not end up creating a legacy.
If you do not want to be like most owners, now is the time to start defining—and working toward—your legacy.
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