When it comes to your business, what does creating a legacy mean to you?

When I was interviewing business leaders and owners for Fix This Next, I made a profound discovery. The ones who had already achieved the first four levels in The Business Priority Pyramid and were in the Legacy level, said they are not business owners.

Huh? I needed clarity. How do you leave a legacy for your business and not own it? You know what they told me? They are business stewards. They never really “owned” their businesses. Their job was to raise their business to be independent of them. Eureka! What a profound realization.

As a steward of your business, it is your responsibility to bring life to the business. More importantly, it is about that business continuing into perpetuity without you! To create a legacy, you must create permanence in your business. And, it must be designed to run on its own.

Boom. When that mindset shift occurs, a business is positioned for legacy. It will live on and continue to impact the world – permanently.

You see, legacy is not about money, power, or how much fame you have. Wait what? As a young entrepreneur, that’s sure what I thought it was about. Ends up, legacy for your business is all about it continuing to have an impact on your community, your customers, culture, and the world. And without your active participation.

Apple runs without Steve Jobs. Mary Kay runs without Mary Kay. Countless companies are living long after the involvement of the business owners ended. And that is exactly what the founders wanted.

We’ve been looking at The Business Priority Pyramid, and Legacy is way up at the top. To achieve the Legacy level the owner must care more about the corporate legacy vs his personal legacy. This should be the objective of your business.

In the current environment, your ideas about your legacy may have been changing. But be sure you always have an idea of what you want your legacy to look like.

So what is the recipe to leave your legacy (and your ego at the door?) Let’s get into the 5 Vital Needs of The Legacy Level:

1. Community Continuance
   Do your clients support your business? Do they support it in a way that is authentic to your intentions?
2. Intentional Leadership Turn
   Is there a plan for leadership to transition and stay fresh? Do you have a plan for people to take over leadership of your business when you are ready to move on?
3. Heart-Based Promoters
   Is the organization promoted by individuals inside and outside of it, without the need for direction? Do they see the greater mission and become curators themselves?
4. Quarterly Dynamics
   Does your business have a clear vision for the future? Does it dynamically adjust quarterly to make that vision a reality?
5. Ongoing Adaptation
   Is your business designed to constantly adapt and improve? Does it find ways to get better and beat itself?

This is just a summary of the 5 Vital Needs of the Legacy level, but you can see why, right? Review these 5 Vital Needs within your business and assess where you are in leaving your own, or your company’s, rather, legacy.

Remember – Legacy isn’t about going public, or making billions of dollars. Legacy is about making your mark on the world. The way you intended.

-Mike