When It Comes to Your Professional Legacy, This is What Really Matters

I’ve had two recent experiences in my personal life that have caused me to change my perspective on the legacy of a leader.

Unfortunately they were both funerals that I recently attended, including one last week for a beloved friend and colleague who reached the end of his journey after a very courageous battle with cancer. While this individual clearly left his family and loved ones way too soon, he got the chance to experience so much in life, made the most of his opportunities, and left an impact on the world that can’t be qualified simply with words.

As I said to him in a hospital visit, it’s not the quantity of the years in your life, but rather the quality of the life in your years. And he truly embodied that spirit. He was a kind and generous soul who lived life to its fullest and treated everyone around him with care and respect. He also had extremely high standards and inspired colleagues to reach their full potential to achieve uncommon results. He filled his 50 years with so many incredible moments and ultimately ended his journey with a loving family by his side, a wide network of friends and colleagues, and a proud legacy that will carry on for decades and beyond.

The other funeral was for an equally beloved 22-year old woman who died unexpectedly. This was someone with her entire life in front of her who never got the chance to pursue a career with passion, get married, have children, or reach her full potential.

Of course, the passing of both individuals was profoundly sad for everyone they touched, and I couldn’t help but think about the gift of life and the impact each  of us makes during our time here.

During the eulogy for the young woman I mentioned, the speaker read a poem called “The Dash,” by Linda Ellis. The poem focuses on the dash on one's tombstone between the date they were born and the date they died. The dash in between – that small punctuation mark – encompasses your entire life.

Clearly each of us has to think about our own dash and the impact and legacy we’ll leave. In listening to the poem, I had intensely personal thoughts about my dash in the context of my family, friends, and community. Am I being the best mom and wife I can be? Am I making a difference in the lives of others? Am I giving back enough? Am I proud of my dash?

As I took the long drive home from that funeral, my thoughts also turned to a speech I was giving the next day at my company to a group of top performers we were honoring. These are people who have performed extremely well and are winning at what they do, and I found myself talking to them about our collective dash in the context of our shared common purpose at work.

I have the good fortune to work at Fidelity, a leader in financial services with a strong brand that is grounded in doing right by our customers (even the very name Fidelity demonstrates our higher purpose).

I asked the assembled group to think individually and collectively about our common dash. When we look back on our careers, will we be proud of the difference we made? Will we have been part of something bigger than ourselves and our pay checks? Will we have lived up to our full potential? Will we have made a meaningful impact on the lives of those millions of Americans we had the privilege to serve as clients, as well as their broader families? Will we come together to achieve breakthrough ideas, to transform the experience for our clients, and to help create better futures for the next generation of investors? Or will we focus more on ourselves and what we achieve individually – personal gains and short-term wins?

During my speech I shared a favorite quote of mine from the famous football coach Vince Lombardi that addresses the same theme. Vince said: "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence." His point is whatever you do in life, do it with passion and excellence. Don't look back and regret that you didn't reach your full potential.

I want to be part of an organization that’s pushing for that level of excellence on behalf of our customers and associates. I need to make sure I’m doing everything possible as a leader to unlock our associates’ full potential and create an environment where our common purpose to deliver for our clients – our dash – is pursued with passion and commitment.

I believe people fundamentally want to be part of something bigger than them. They want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others and provide lasting benefit. They want to excel and they want their efforts to matter. A key question for leaders is whether they’re creating a culture that embraces this type of common purpose. Are they role models that demonstrate the importance of lasting achievement, of a higher purpose, of investing in their employees so they can achieve their full potential? And are those employees doing all they can to treat their customers as they would want to be treated?

After the speech, I spoke with many of the attendees about the impact we can make for our customers and employees. I also received candid feedback on what I could do to help as we continue to define our dash. I was extremely heartened by their passion to not just post great business results, but to also make a lasting difference in the lives of others and achieve the full excellence for which they are so clearly capable.

What's your dash? As a leader, are you satisfied that you’re doing the right things for your customers and team? Are you helping your employees achieve their full potential? Are you proud of your organization’s dash?

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Views expressed are as of June 15, 2015. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the author and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments.
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