Why Leaders Should Know The Law Of Legacy

In 1997, Roberto Goizueta, one of the world’s most renowned business leaders, suddenly died. He was known for leading the renaissance of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 when he became the company’s chairman, until his untimely passing 16 years later.

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During this decade-and-a-half tenure, Coca-Cola rose from having a value of $4 billion to $150 billion, or a 3,500 percent increase. Coca-Cola became the country’s second most valuable corporation. And Former President Jimmy Carter even recognized the Cuba-born Goizueta’s extraordinary leadership skills and achievement of helping thousands of lives.

When Goizueta was diagnosed with lung cancer and lost the battle six weeks later, the company and its stockholders did experience grief for losing a beloved leader. However, there was no sense of panic from among them, as is normally the case when large companies unexpectedly lose a leader. They knew that the company was in good hands.

Goizueta was not just an exceptional leader; he was also able to create an effective succession plan. He began grooming Doug Ivester as early as 1989 to take over the organization eventually. At the time, this was uncommon in many organizations because they would rather hire leaders from the outside than invest heavily in bringing people up.

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John Maxwell, author of numerous best-selling leadership books, used this example to describe what he calls as the “Law of Legacy.” This principle explains that the lasting value of any leader can be assessed through succession. A leader is considered successful when he can leave behind an organization that can carry on and achieve greatness by itself.

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The Time For Re-Examination: The Most Overlooked Qualities In Leaders

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The more common qualities of a good leader are effective communication skills, confidence, and strong commitment to duties, among others. However, there are a few other traits which leaders often ignore and are thus eclipsed because of the pre-determined need to learn the presumed ‘most essential’ ones. Some of them include the ability to instill hope, willingness to accommodate any project, and resourcefulness. These traits, though often forgotten, create a huge impact. 

Leaders are supposed to be visionaries, which means that they are proponents of novelty, innovation, and imagination. Straying from the status quo can bring about uncertainties to anyone because of the lack of substantial experience and information about something that has never been done before. Risk and novelty can create doubt in people’s minds. That is why leaders can become more effective if their confidence can be felt by their constituents, in turn giving them hope and belief in a vision. 

Leaders who are willing to act no matter the circumstances have grit. It doesn’t matter if the activity is monotonous or challenging, they will dive right in and support their associates, contributing to overall growth in the process. 

As for resourceful leaders, they are more likely to succeed in that they are able to function and make the most out of a team—even in the midst of a disarray or a project with an unclear future. Despite facing unfavorable odds, they can still create multiple opportunities. 

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