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Building a successful legacy one purposeful act at a time

Written by: Richard Monette

Article Overview: In this article, Richard Monette expands on his popular article "The Success Formula". He uses the example of the Banff Centre - one of Canada's most well known and successful professional development hubs - 75th anniversary to present a clear recipe to building a successful legacy. Richard highlights the importance of broadening the spectrum of criteria organizations and individuals typically use to measure their success. More specifically, Richard explains how to go beyond the concrete, easily measurable and tangible results and account for the intangible, fleeting outcomes behind those numbers. Richard concludes that defining the fulfillment variable in the Success Formula is not a license to avoid the hard work required to deliver results.

Building a successful legacy one purposeful act at a time

Note to the reader: In this article, Richard Monette expands on his very popular article "The Success Formula". Richard uses the example of the Banff Centre - one of Canada's most well-known and successful professional development hubs - 75th anniversary celebration to present a clear recipe to building a successful legacy.

The Banff Centre, one of Canada's most well-known and successful professional development hubs, is 75 years old. How do you even begin to measure such legacy?

First you can list concrete achievements: the thousands of performances, exhibitions, and programs The Banff Centre has delivered over the years. You can also consider the more than 250,000 alumni who have attended different programs. However, to appreciate the true scope of this legacy, you must look further. You must account for the intangible, fleeting outcomes behind those numbers.

For instance, the effect those alumni had on their home communities following their time at The Banff Centre. How many others did they inspire?

How did they change their communities? The task of accounting for such outcomes is daunting, yet these are the true indicators of a lasting legacy.

As each of us aspires to build our own unique legacy, we too must consider both the measurable and intangible components of the equation. Here are some suggestions to help you build your own legacy, one purposeful action at a time.

Success = Results x Fulfillment.

The first challenge is to expand upon what you have traditionally considered important when you account for the outcomes of your actions. One of my main challenges as a coach and consultant is to guide my client in broadening the spectrum of criteria they typically use to measure their organizational and personal success. To achieve this, I have defined a simple formula: Success = Results Delivered x Fulfillment Lived. Over the years, I have realized that this formula, in which fulfillment becomes a multiplier of measured results, provides a perfect framework for planning and building a successful legacy.


Focus your energy by targeting concrete results.

The first variable in the equation ­ Results Delivered ­ is the most intuitive and rarely a challenge for individuals and organizations to grasp.

To build a successful legacy, concrete, tangible, and quality outcomes must be delivered. For example, the corporation must post profits, the quartet needs to record, and the Olympic athlete needs to achieve a gold medal.


Account for the intangible outcomes by defining a fulfillment multiplier.

The Fulfillment Lived variable tends to be more difficult for clients to comprehend ­ at first. It requires a concerted departure from results-oriented measurements to identify what truly creates fulfillment for an organization or individual. Yet note that this variable is a multiplier, so it is well worth engaging in "pragmatic imagination," the act of defining abstract yet critical outcomes of success. I like to illustrate this using the example of an Olympic athlete. If she defines her goal simply as winning a gold medal, her task is relatively simple: do whatever it takes to win ­ train hard, eat well, compete as much as possible. Consider this same athlete expanding her scope by valuing personal pride as highly as winning a gold medal. She begins measuring the level of personal pride she feels through each and every action she delivers on a daily basis. Her quest for success is transformed by this new sense of purpose in identifying and practicing actions that provide this sense of pride.

In the first scenario, win at any cost, there is latitude for our athlete to resort to performance-enhancing drugs as a viable option. In the second scenario, she will achieve her concrete goal in a way that also rewards her with a deep sense of personal pride and fulfillment. Her legacy will be an authentic, infallible achievement: for herself, for her country, and for all the young athletes, including future Olympians she inspires through her performance.

Defining the Fulfillment variable in the Success Formula is not a license to avoid the hard work required to deliver results. Like triple bottom-line accounting ­ Profit, Planet, People ­ or native wisdom ­ act with seven generations in mind ­ it involves sustained awareness, purpose and discipline, and leads to more efficient and effective actions. Most importantly, it sets the stage for building a lasting legacy, one purposeful action at a time. Bonne fête, Banff Centre, and thank you for the intangible, yet so critical, inspiration you provide.

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Article Tags: 75th anniversary, anniversary celebration, banff centre, challenges, exhibitions, fulfillment, home communities, hubs, lasting legacy, multiplier, personal success, professional development, purposeful action, richard monette, spectrum, success formula, success results, time success, true indicators, true scope



Related Forum Posts
Re: How important is your name? - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":19d1cpro] For instance, Donald Trump built his company's brand around his name, so he probably naturally wanted to call his son Donald Trump Jr. to continue the legacy.[/quote:19d1cpro] I wonder if it is a good thing to call one's son Jr.... or the third, or the fourth. On the one hand, it implies a long legacy of family achievement, but on the other hand, some kids really resent the pressure put on them by being the son of a famous father, and daughters of a famous mother, so it's really hard to say. Indeed, it would be intersting to have a survey of every successsful child of a successful parent, to see if those who are a "Jr." are more successful than those who were given their own name.
Re: How important is your name? - Hey: A couple of thoughts, here. If your name became the business name and you named your kid the same thing, if the kid resented the career path, he or she could just change the nature of the business! Sell the farm, turn their back on Dad's legacy, and start a communications business with the proceeds (or vice-versa). Get the old guy rolling in his grave before his time. Ha! My Dad is not famous or successful. But he does have my name, almost. I am GT; he is GA. And to be truthful, that's exactly why you folks call me GT! I wanted my own identity, so many years ago I started using my middle initial along with my first name. Even so, a few years ago we STILL had a problem with our numbers in the telephone book. So I added "Senior" to his name in the book and "Junior" to mine, even though I feared my friends would start calling me Junior. They didn't, but what happened was, when people saw the Senior and the Junior in the book, they assumed the "Junior" was MY teenaged son (not) and that I was the Senior, so we still had mix-ups. lol I gave my son the same middle name as mine, but gave him his own unique first name. And even if my Internet Marketing business develops into a Fortune 500 company or some such thing, I know he will want nothing to do with it, legacy or not. Even if he did, I still value giving a kid his or her own unique identity. GT :-]
Type of business with building - If you owned a building and Wal-Mart was opening its doors across the street in a previously unoccupied area (along with 12-14 small shops), what type of business would you start? Here are the considerations: 1. Money is a non-factor 2. Building is fairly large (10,000) square feet 3. Building is on the corner of a busy intersection (about to get much busier)
Re: What Is Your Forum Marketing Strategy? - Building an effective campaign is always helpful. By setting goals, you can also set the timeframe for your strategy and focus on achieving them. Progress reports, which include the project's strengths and weaknesses are also essential for a strategy to become successful.
Re: How important is your name? - I believe that your name is one of your most valuable assets. I believe in creating legacy, as long as its for the right reasons. Not just to fulfill your own ego. no matter who is a Junior, they still have a name and it still means something. J


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