The Legacy Drawing Board

Do you show before you tell?  Have you established your identity before assuming responsibilities?  Listen to appreciate the importance of placing indicatives before imperatives in your legacy design and building.  Doing so will position your legacy to empower than to burden.  

Persistent or stubborn?  Collaborative or indecisive?  Honest or indiscreet?  How you channel your core energy will either build or destroy.  Listen to design a path for your essence to engage others in sharing a clear and consistent message.  

How do you view your children's spouses?  Do you consider them in-laws or on as your own children?  Listen to prepare for this family addition with open arms, open hearts, and an enduring loving message of acceptance.  

Will people know your faith by your works?  And, are works grounded in loving others?  Listen to begin examining how you are living your faith and how your works shape your legacy.  

Money has three fundamental functions: it is a medium of exchange, a unit of account/measure of value, and a store of value.  Have you examined the function of your legacy?  Does it promote dialogue, be held up as a standard for living, or continue to influence people after you are gone?  Listen to build a better legacy by combining form with function.  

Your legacy is your kingdom.  How do you treat your subjects: your hopes, dreams, fears, and your message?  Listen to understand whether your rule or govern and what will be the lasting impact of your reign.  

Running barefoot improves form because we receive unmediated input from the ground.  As we build our legacies, are we taking the time to go barefoot to ensure our perceptions are aligning with the truth?  Listen to let your legacy run a better course by shedding comfort for the fullness of life.   

Your legacy.  Your story.  Yet, who are the individuals who are part of the story, who have contributed to expanding your vision, and shared in the labor of telling it?  We have examples of the value of partnerships in business, the arts, and in sports.  Have you identified and thanked those who opened doors to collaboration and synergism?  When you do, you enrich your legacy.  

I interview Amanda Moss, founder of AMG Creative, a marketing and design studio for small businesses.  She shares how she developed AMG from her work with museums and as a photographer.  Amanda has a passion to connect with people who have a mission, but are unsure how to clarify and amplify their message.  She has a particular interest in helping non-profit organizations.    

My guest, Victor Varnado, discusses how AI lower barriers for people to produce artistic content.  He is a New Yorker cartoonist, filmmaker, and comedian.  He has developed AI platforms for education and his mission is to make creativity accessible for all.  

Parenthood matures you through joyous challenges.  Among the challenges is the art of giving of self without being intrusive.  Your child will always need you as a parent, but the seasons of life shape and direct those needs.  Listen to build a relationship with your child that will last beyond your lifetime.  

The options for college have increased with more online offerings.  With increasing costs and a tough job market, what is the value of a college education?  How does the growth of AI impact higher education and skill acquisition?  Listen to this episode to start the exercise of designing a college.  This exercise will help you focus your messaging and evaluate how you impact other people.  

I interview Jermaine Ee, founder of HeirLight, an app for writing your will.  Jermaine developed this platform to help people achieve clarity in their decisions regarding loved ones.  He defines clarity as love in action.  We discuss how different generations view death and their comfort level in discussing the future.  

Once your bring people or elements together, what happens?  Do you elevate those involved to bring about a mutually beneficial experience?  Have you increased the lead when you pass the baton?  Your legacy has the power to unite people and inspire them to go in directions previously unimagined.  Listen to make amalgamation and synergism foundations of your legacy design and building.   

Your character is the story you tell to an audience of one: you.  Your reputation is how others choose to edit your story.  Take the time to craft your story with a strong singular voice that can withstand the harshness of envy and pettiness.  Listen to understand how the dynamic between character and reputation is central to your legacy design and building.    

When you are faced with imperfection in life, do you hide it?  Or, do you work with the imperfection and see it as an opportunity to expand possibilities?  Kintsugi is the Japanese art form that repairs cracks in pottery with lacquer mixed with precious metals.  Imagine applying this art form to your legacy to create something beautiful from something flawed.  

Are you seeking happiness, joy, or contentment?  This episode defines the differences among the three and makes the case of why joy and contentment are vital to building a lasting legacy. 

A portfolio is a collection of documents.  It can pertain to your financial investments or your artistic works.  The function of a portfolio is to provide clarity regarding the direction and pace of your journey towards a goal.  Have you reviewed the contents of your legacy's portfolio to evaluate if your efforts are moving you towards a clear, concise, and consistent message that is the core of y...

Maps provides us with location and orientation.  They help us explore and understand around us.  They provide a path to progress.  Maps deliver a clear message as to what we need to get from here to there.  Does your legacy have the clarity of a map?  Are others able to journey through your world with the signs, landmarks, and guideposts you have left with your thoughts, words, and deeds?  

Rhea Wessel, founder of The Institute for Thought Leadership, provides three steps to find the heart of your story for thought leadership.  1. Listen for the signal.  2. Find the core shift.  3. Frame the tension.  These steps can be extended to telling the story of your legacy.  I discuss how these three steps provide clarity, incorporate good design principles, and align leadership with storytel...

AI users are reshaping the entertainment industry.  More AI-generated content is associated with less work for humans.  The entertainment industry is driven by storytelling.  I asked AI to provide me with an outline for an episode of this podcast.  I share the AI-generated content and comment on the potential benefits and pitfalls of AI in storytelling and legacy building. 

Endeavors are framed by time, cost, and scope.  Then, you have to align scope with scale and magnitude.  As you design and build your legacy, begin with what you can and cannot do and what you should do.  Do not view containment as limiting, but as a means to distill and to streamline.  Doing so will ensure a clearer message with greater resonance.  

No clarity, no leadership.  No leadership, no legacy.  As we strive to increase clarity in our messaging, we need to ensure we have the proper tools for this endeavor.  Began with self-examination with others to align what you think you are saying and what is being said and heard.  Next, assess your current relationships without assumptions.  Finally, use clarity to bridge what you envision in you...

Anger can quickly escalate from mild irritation to rage.  A lifetime of good can be marred by a moment of mindless savagery.  What are the safeguards you have designed to ensure your anger does not have the last word in your legacy?  

Parents, as you prepare for your last child to leave home and become an empty nester, take a page from the workplace to ease this painful stage.  You are transitioning from CEO to consultant.  Be proactive and design a succession process that will lead you from final decision-maker to trusted advisor.  Instead of carrying them along, be the guide who will show them new worlds and help them scale n...