Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
15 Comments
It is easy to get wrapped up in the routine of the job and forget that our words, actions, and attitude are shaping an impression every day. Legacy is not about how long you stay somewhere or the title you hold, but about the example you set and how you treat the people around you. Life and the job will always throw obstacles in the way, but staying focused on your purpose and finishing strong matters. Even if only one person looks back and remembers you as someone who supported them, mentored them, or led with integrity, that is a legacy worth leaving.
Legacy leadership makes us all think about what mark we are leaving as leaders with our organization. This was a reminder of someone who was a leader who left a big impression on me as a leader when I was young in my career. As I grew, I understood the things they did and the “why” of what they did. I see know what a great leader they were and the impact they had and what a legacy leader they are. I have taken many things from this person to use myself as a leader and some I have adapted as times change, and I grew to fit modern needs. I see it as the legacy being passed on to the next generation who will take some of the ways and ideas and do the same.
I completely agree. I guess being a younger sergeant, I haven’t put much thought into this until viewing this lesson. Everyone wants to be accepted and valued in the moment, but not many of us think about our legacy when we leave law enforcement. As a leader, I want to be remembered for the growing others and making my department better than it was when I started. If we all had the same mentality I believe progress would be inevitable.
Legacy leadership made me consider what kind of mark I want to leave behind, not just in my career, but in the lives of the people I work with. The module reminded us that every leader leaves a legacy, whether they realize it or not, and many facets of your legacy comes from your character. So what kind of legacy do I want to be known for?
One of the most powerful takeaways for me was the idea that legacy starts with having a significant mindset, focusing not just on success, but on purpose. It’s not enough to be good at your job. A true legacy leader lifts others up, mentors the next generation, and shows people they matter. The leader gives people purpose, which can often stem from the “why.” Most people need a purpose, and in law enforcement, that can have a big impact. The job is tough, but when you serve with purpose and lead with heart, people remember who you were and what you did for them.
I think the importance of leaving a lasting legacy is sometimes forgotten in the routine of everyday tasks on the job. Weather most employees don’t think they will work at a certain job long enough to leave a legacy, which the turnover where i am is very high which could be some of it, the talk of leaving a legacy that subordinates will remember is not often talked about. I think that even if you leave a legacy that even one person will remember as long as its a positive one that employees later can look to for guidance you have accomplished something.
Often in our field we are seen as replaceable. If a supervisor leaves, they will just plug the next person into the place, and the agency won’t stop. So, some people just go through the motions and let’s face it are lazy leaders.
An important part of leadership is the legacy they leave for the next generation of leaders. Good leaders leave positive legacies by providing a good example, coaching and developing the people who work for them. Having a mindset that is legacy driven can help a leader leave a lasting positive impact on their organization when they put their teammates in a position to succeed and carry the torch. One of the concepts that stuck out to me was letting others lead. Blakenship mentioned utilizing the expertise of their followers, letting them take leadership roles knowing they have your support.
In the Legacy Leadership module taught by Blankenship, there are three essential concepts of legacy leadership. The first concept is about looking forward by looking back. This means that early on in your career, you need to have the ability to look at where you want your career to go and start establishing your priorities to get you there. This is an important concept, especially if an individual knows they want to be a supervisor in the future. They need to know what they need to do to get to that spot, what training to complete, and how to align themselves with the proper individuals who will coach and mentor them.
The second concept is about not how you start but how you end. Personally and professionally, life will get in the way, derailing the initial plan. It is all about determination and not giving up on a task, goal, or dream. I think about my desire to obtain my master’s degree; my personal and professional life created some barriers for me, but in the end, I did it.
The final concept is teamwork. No matter what you do in life, you can’t do it alone. You must have a team behind you to accomplish the goal and mission. The mission can be more successful when it is a team effort. I couldn’t agree more with Blankenship’s view on legacy leadership. These three concepts can help us achieve our goals and leave a lasting legacy in everything we do.
Blankenship, G. (2017). Legacy leadership. 2.11, Week # 8. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses
/NAGVXPB5E6/LegacyLeadership262c2500-8a62-464c-8d67-ca9674408c63/2/index_lms.html.
This lesson was a good summary of things to look at and make sure we’re doing as leaders. Those who desire to leave a good legacy behind (we’ll all leave some sort of legacy) should be purposeful and consistently work to improve not only their agencies, but themselves as well. Leaders must make sure the thing they stand for and the work they do are worthy of imitating. The components of legacy leadership was a lot of stuff we’ve talked about already including, building strong relationships, mentoring, giving and receiving feedback, give respect, have courage, don’t assume, and have aspirations and a futuristic mindset.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this lesson. I agree entirely that leaders play a critical role in leaving a positive legacy behind. It is important to consistently work on improving oneself and the organization and ensure that the work is worthy of imitation. The components of legacy leadership discussed in this lesson are indeed crucial, and building solid relationships, mentoring, giving and receiving feedback, showing respect, having courage, avoiding assumptions, and having a futuristic mindset are all essential qualities of a great leader. Overall, this lesson provided an excellent summary of the key things leaders should focus on to leave a positive and lasting legacy.
As the saying goes “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” As leaders our actions and behaviors will be replicated by our people and as you mentioned it is important to provide something worth imitating. We are a prototype for the people who work for us. We can be the change we want to see in an organization by modeling the behavior we want to see from our followers.
You want to leave behind something that no matter how many people come and go. They will always know of you. Your accomplishments, your stories and your goals you set for others to succeed.
According to Blankenship, there are three essential concepts of legacy leadership. The first is look forward by looking back. This concept is about early on in your career having the ability to look at where you want your career to go and start establishing your priorities to get you there. I feel like this is an important concept if an individual knows that they want to be a supervisor in the future they need to know what they need to do to get to that spot, what trainings to complete and how to align themselves with the proper individuals who are going to coach and mentor them. The next is about not how you start but how you end. I feel that is an important concept personally and professionally, life is going to get in the way, which can derail the initial plan. It is all about determination and not giving up on a task, goal, or dream. I think about my desire to obtain my master’s degree; my personal and professional life created some barriers for me, it took me eleven years to accomplish my goal but in the end, I did it. The final is teamwork; no matter what you do in life you can’t do it alone, you have to have a team behind you to accomplish the goal and mission. The mission can be more successful when it is a team effort (2017).
Reference
Blankenship, G. (2017). Legacy leadership. 2.11, Week # 8. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses
/NAGVXPB5E6/LegacyLeadership262c2500-8a62-464c-8d67-ca9674408c63/2/index_lms.html
I agree teamwork is essential. As leaders, we can steer the ship in the right direction, but we can’t do everything ourselves. We have to rely on others to accomplish the mission and vision we set as leaders. This is where mentoring and building relationships is essential. People follow people, not positions so we need to be more than just figure heads in our agencies and build trust and respect by knowing our people and having them know us.
Also, like a rowing team, even though you are all in the same boat and have similar and separate roles, everyone knows how to do each other’s job, and the leader is calling the cadence, calling out corrections, and motivating the team.