Hello and welcome to the fourteenth edition of Getting Teamwork Right!

I've recently been working with a leadership team as they sat down to imagine their next ten years. It's a bold vision. If everything goes to plan, their business will be ten times the size it is today. That's a big business, and a big responsibility for the people leading it.

As you'd expect, we talked about strategy, markets and growth. But the conversation kept coming back to them as leaders. How much of a team's culture comes from the person at the top, whether they mean it to or not. How people watch what the leader does and take it as permission to do the same, good or bad. And the difference between leaving that to chance and doing it consciously, with intent.

Then we asked a question that stopped the room. Imagine the day you retire and look back on these ten years. How would you like to be remembered? What do you want people to be saying about you?

It's stayed with me, and it's got me thinking about legacy. We're all so caught up in the day to day that we rarely step back and take stock. Yet think of the bosses you had ten or twenty years ago. You still talk about them, don't you? So how would you like people to talk about you?

There's a bigger picture here too. When we take on a role, we tend to think about ourselves: our goals, our plans, our first ninety days. We rarely stop to ask who sat in that seat before us, what they built, and what they handed on. Or who will sit there after us, and what we'll be handing on to them. Every leader is one link in a longer chain. Seeing yourself that way changes things. It turns a job into a purpose.

That's the theme of this issue. I'd love to hear how you'd answer the question for yourself. Just hit reply.

What Legacy Do You Want to Leave as a Team Leader?

Think of a boss you had twenty years ago. You can probably still sum them up in a sentence. This piece looks at why your team is already learning from you, who sat in your chair before you, and five questions to help you shape how you'll be remembered.

Book Review: Legacy

My review of James Kerr's Legacy, and what the All Blacks can teach any leader about the culture they leave behind.

Building a Team That Outlasts You

If you stepped away for three months, would your team carry on without you? Five practical ways to build a culture your team owns, so it keeps thriving long after you've moved on.

Try This With Your Team This Week

At your next team meeting, ask one question: "When someone new joins this team a year from now, what do we want them to hear about how we work?" Capture three answers, keep them somewhere everyone can see, and check back in a month. You'll have started writing your team's legacy together.

Ask Andy

Do you have a question that I can help you with? Send it to me on the link below and I will answer it. I'd like to publish one answer every fortnight – so that any readers with a similar concern can benefit. I will ask if you are OK for me to use your question, and I will make you and your situation anonymous before I share it.

Book a Call

If you want to find out more about how we could help your team or organisation, I'd love to hear from you. You can book a Microsoft Teams call with me here: