The CEO's Third Act: Legacy

In this compelling episode, we explore the nuanced journey of a CEO's career, with a spotlight on the crucial third act: legacy. Delve into the stages every CEO experiences, from the ascent up the career ladder, mastering leadership at the pinnacle, to the contemplative phase of legacy creation.

The video referenced in this episode is 8 year old you, 80 year old you.

Responsibility Beyond Profit: Uncover the expansive responsibility of a CEO that stretches beyond generating profit, encompassing a duty to employees, customers, society, and future generations. This segment inspires CEOs to reflect on their broader impact and the legacy they wish to leave.

The Essence of True Legacy: Dive into the profound concept of legacy that goes beyond monetary achievements, drawing inspiration from leaders of the past who left lasting societal contributions. This discussion encourages today's CEOs to consider the long-term impacts of their leadership and the positive changes they can instigate.

Reflecting on Your Mark: Engage with introspective questions about your desired legacy and the lasting influence you hope to achieve. This part of the episode challenges CEOs to think deeply about their lasting imprint on the world and how they can shape a better future.

Tune in to gain insights into the importance of a CEO's legacy and how to approach this pivotal phase with intention and vision. Learn about opportunities to partner in defining and achieving your legacy through personalized CEO collaborations or immersive retreats, offering a unique space for reflection and growth.

Embark on this journey towards defining a legacy that not only aligns with your values but also makes a significant impact on the world around you.

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Videos for all these episodes are on my YouTube channel.

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Transcript

0:02

Hi. So I want to talk to you today about the three acts of a CEO's life. And mostly, I want to talk about the third act of a CEO's life, which is legacy. But let's talk about each of these three acts. So the first one is all about climbing the career ladder, right? Your climbing this ladder. Gaining experience dealing with the challenges building up that. Element of what it is for you to be a leader. What does it mean for you to be a leader? You're building up all those skills across the first, maybe 10, 15, 20 years of your life to get to that point where you are the leader, where you are the CEO. The second act then is when you are that CEO you're at the top. And you can lean into the power of you being there. Okay. What does it feel like to have. This incredible responsibility to be running this impressive business, to be doing these things right there. And then how can you relax and enjoy being that position at the top of the tree? How could that feel effortless that you wake up every morning, feel, feeling excited and energized. And the third act then is all about legacy. So in climbing that tree and being the CEO, you have a huge amount of. Responsibility. Okay. And you've definitely this responsibility is there to your shareholders in terms of writing a dividend, but that responsibility is also there to your customers. So at the wider society to your employees, to your employees, families, you have a wide sphere of influence here. And in that third act, that's really about providing a legacy. For that, in that sphere of influence that you have right now, because most CEOs, when they're at the top, they are thinking about the day-to-day challenges that they're in, right. They may be thinking a bit further ahead towards retirement or something like that, but they're not really ever thinking about that legacy and legacy is not just about, you know, a library and library named after your university. I mean, don't get me wrong. That's fantastic. But it's not really a longer lasting legacy. Really what legacy becomes is making a grand change in the world. Taking that responsibility with these tens of thousands or millions of customers, tens of thousands of employees and families. You've got a huge responsibility there. And what was interesting about the leaders of old is they took this responsibility seriously. They would provide. How has it in care for their employees, they would build schools for their kids or their employees. They'd really go the extra time to really understand what it meant to be a leader, to create a legacy beyond the years that they're on this planet. And that's something that I think has got, gotten quite lost most recently with CEOs that responsibility in that power that they have. Often is shown through. Simply money and it doesn't have to be like that. So a lot of the word that I do with the enterprise series that I work with is looking at that longer legacy. How do you want to be remembered after you retire? How do you want it to be remembered in 50 years time? What stamp, what dent do you want to make in the universe? Based on your time on this planet with this huge amount of responsibility and power that you bring, how do you want that to be. Everlasting for you. And I know that's a big question, but it's really important question and something. All of us face. I have a video, which I'll share here, which is, which talks about really the only two people you need to impress in your life. The two people you need to press your life for the eight year old you and the 80 year old, you. The eight year old, you, you know, that. It's about looking at how successful you are now. Isn't it cool doing what you're doing? Maybe the eight year old you was impressed, the 80 year old you is looking back and going well, what did I create? And what did I build in this world? And the 80 year old year is much, much, much harder to impress. And that's really where legacy starts. So you're interested if you're interested in taking this deeper with me and you want to explore your legacy, I've got a few options here for you. The first thing is I work with six CEOs every year. I do have an upcoming slots to work with the CEO. Right now. There's some questions down there that we'd love you to answer, to see if. We're a mutual fit and legacy is something you want to work on. But I equally, I offer a retreats where you can come down and join and spend three days walking with me down here. Um, and this beautiful part of the world where I live in endorse it. And we can start to explore this legacy element of your life. We can spend some time really focusing on you and what you want to build in this world. So let me know if you'd be interested in coming down and spending three days with me to build your legacy. Thanks for your time. And I'm looking forward to speaking to you. Bye now.