What is your legacy?

I was invited to attend a wonderful retirement ceremony last week for a former boss at the Federal Reserve Board. As you may, or may not know, the Federal Reserve Board is a very traditioned organization with an employee base that is passionate about serving our country. The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It performs five general functions to promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy and, more generally, the public interest. The Federal Reserve:

• conducts the nation’s monetary policy to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. economy;
• promotes the stability of the financial system and seeks to minimize and contain systemic risks through active monitoring and engagement in the U.S. and abroad;
• promotes the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions and monitors their impact on the financial system as a whole;
• fosters payment and settlement system safety and efficiency through services to the banking industry and the U.S. government that facilitate U.S.-dollar transactions and payments; and
• promotes consumer protection and community development through consumer-focused supervision and examination, research and analysis of emerging consumer issues and trends, community economic development activities, and the administration of consumer laws and regulations

This passion is seen (and heard) on a daily basis as you walk the hallowed halls of those historic buildings. I had the opportunity to work for three years at this wonderful institution. Hundreds of world-class PhD economists, in addition to many other extremely intelligent folks who come to work every day to keep our economic system running better than any other.  Pride, Passion, and Purpose are the three words I would use to sum up the employee culture at the Fed.

This said, I was honored to be invited back to attend a retirement ceremony. The ceremony was beautiful, but what really struck me was the profile of the gentleman retiring. 

Forty plus years of service to our country. Over half of those years in the United States Army. He had also worked for the Department of Education, IBM and PWC. A graduate from the United States Military Academy. Also, a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue.  Not a bad background. Truly an accomplished individual and leader. He touched many people along his storied career path.  He left a legacy.

What struck me about this ceremony (beyond catching up with Chairman Powell, which was cool), was that every speaker spoke about the virtues of the man being honored, not his accomplishments. Sure the accomplishments were mentioned, but they were the back story to his virtues.

In attendance were his spouse, his two accomplished boys, his lovely mother, his family pastor (and close friend), and a few other tight family friends – in addition to all of his coworkers past and present. Given those attendees, I was honored to be asked back.

So what is my point here? Well … let me share with you some things said during the ceremony. He always says, “make it a great day”. From listening to all the people he impacted in his life – he did make it a great day, every day. There were words and statements about leadership and core values. Words and statements about his legacy. People spoke about his impact, his integrity, his perseverance, his emotional calm, his pursuit of perfection and his ability to always be prepared. They spoke to his dedication to faith, family, country and team. A General from another branch of the military spoke to utmost respect for his work AND the decades-long friendship they had forged. The Chair spoke to his ability to empower his team and let them shine. A Federal Reserve Governor said that the utmost compliment was that she was told that if there ever was one person I could trust “leaving my kids with”, it would be him. Talk about leadership. Talk about a legacy. Talk about an impact.  

And then the man of honor spoke. Now, please note, that he has historically been a man of very few words. Very. Few. Words. He is a listener, he is an observer, he is a thinker, he is a processor, he is acutely aware at all times. He does not waste words. He is focused and thoughtful. 

Well … for fourteen brief minutes he spoke. Each word carefully selected. He spoke with humor, pride and love. He spoke to his focus on faith, family, country and team. He spoke to values and the importance of staying focused. He spoke to his journey and the support he has had along the way. More than any words he spoke, his body language spoke volumes about pride, enjoying what you do, and love (for his team, for his church, and his family). He spoke about his wife walking in front of him when he needed leadership, behind him when he needed pushing, and beside him every step of the way. He beamed with pride speaking about his grown boys and the men they have become. Yes, he is that guy.

None of us have perfect jobs, perfect bosses or perfect lives, but we sure do have things we aspire to. Listening to him speak made me want to aspire to be even better at the things that really matter: family and team, integrity and perseverance, empowerment and support … the list goes on. It made me think about, “what is my legacy?”.  The idea of leaving a legacy is the need or the desire to be remembered for what you have contributed to the world. In essence, “legacy” is what you leave behind when you're gone. It's that “thing” that you did either for better or worse, and it's most often the “thing” for which you are most remembered. I remember once seeing a sign that read “Only you get to decide the legacy you leave.”

“Every person has a legacy. You may not know what your impact is, and it may not be something that you can write on your tombstone, but every person has an impact on this world.” – Dara Horn.

I would feel pretty good to sit at my retirement party someday and hear such kind words spoken about me. Something for me to aspire to. Lots of work to do. To the man I called “boss” for three wonderful years and will call a “friend” for life. Godspeed sir. You made an impact on me and left a legacy for others. Hit ‘em straight on the golf course and “make it a great day”.

Together. We. Win.