Jim Collins, a professor at Stanford Business School, argues in Good to Great that the great leaders who built enduring companies wanted the company to thrive long after they were gone. To accomplish that goal, they went to great lengths to choose and train their successors. Ensuring the enduring greatness of their company was more important to them than proving how important they’d been to it during their time.
If you’re finishing your year in a leadership position, or leaving your counseling job to pursue something new, what kind of leader do you want to be? The kind who moves on and leaves the next generation to fend for themselves, or the kind who works to make sure you leave your club, team, organization, class or counseling department to flourish long after you're gone?
The best leaders don’t leave their legacy in the past. They want their work to keep benefitting their group for years to come.