A Legacy Worth Leaving

By Jonathan Dahl, Chief Content Officer

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“If you’re going to live, leave behind a legacy.”

–Maya Angelou

When we think of legacies, we think of great leaders and their accomplishments. John F. Kennedy inspiring a country to put a man on the moon. Franklin Roosevelt restoring the health of a devastated economy with a great “New Deal.” Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. teaching the world about the power of nonviolent resistance. Seen in this light, the legacy of a mere CEO might seem silly.

But it’s not—least of all to the men and women who have served in that role. You see, the topic of our cover and special report this issue is “CEO Breaking Points.” We’re exploring how various factors—from AI to serious geopolitical events—are making the job tougher than ever. But we didn’t mention one pressure point that hounds the best (and worst) CEOs: the desire to leave a legacy. Many CEOs feel it, even if they won’t talk about it.

Often, of course, a new CEO has visions of leaving the firm in better shape than they found it. The metrics to evaluate that are fairly simple: earnings, stock price, and employment growth. Some CEOs might also seek out intangibles, such as strengthening the firm’s culture, fostering an environment in which more people can reach their potential, or creating new products that improve the state of the world.

Whatever the goal, there’s no question that it’s become harder for chief executives to reach, given that their tenures are now so short. Think back to the days of Thomas Watson, who ran IBM from 1952 to 1971: That’s almost two decades to create a legacy to be proud of. And Steve Jobs was at the helm of Apple for 14 years. Today, the average tenure for CEOs is basically half that, with record numbers of them leaving or being fired. With that kind of fate in mind, what modern CEO can expect to have enough time to put their stamp on a company?

It’s just another way the role has changed and—some would argue—been greatly diminished. One of the longest-tenured CEOs today is Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway. If you had purchased $10,000 worth of Berkshire stock in 1970, the year Buffett became CEO, you would have over $170 million today. Now that’s what you call a legacy!

Today, a CEO’s goals need to be much more modest. No, they can’t expect to completely overhaul their organizations from top to bottom. Nor, barring a merger, can they count on watching their company quadruple in size. Instead, the best ones set smaller, but meaningful goals—like improving the work-life balance of their people. Or finding a way, some way, to set aside R&D for a special product. Whatever it is, even if there’s no statue in the lobby to commemorate it, people will know the mark their leader left.