Influence Multiplies
Have you ever looked back over your career and realized that your greatest accomplishments weren’t projects at all?
What if your greatest legacy isn’t what you built but who you built?
I have spent the majority of my life in leadership roles—in the military, in competitive athletics, and in the corporate world.
After all of those years, I don’t remember most of the accomplishments, the goals we reached, or the projects we delivered.
What I remember are the people I had the privilege to help on their leadership journey.
Influence isn’t simply getting people to do what you need done.
That is a relatively low level of influence, and with enough authority, almost anyone can accomplish it.
Real influence is helping people believe what you believe, discover what they are capable of becoming, and then equipping them to get there.
When that happens, your influence is multiplied.
Andy Reid and Bill Walsh are remembered as two of the greatest football coaches in history, each winning multiple championships.
Yet their greatest legacy may not be the games they won.
It is the coaches they developed who have gone on to build winning programs of their own.
Their influence continues long after they have left the sidelines.
The same principle applies in the military.
You can influence people to accomplish a mission simply by giving orders.
But if you fail to develop them into leaders who can think, decide, and lead on their own, your influence extends only as far as your own presence.
When you intentionally develop others and push decision-making to the lowest capable level, something remarkable happens.
The unit becomes stronger.
It becomes more adaptable.
It becomes more resilient.
Most importantly, your influence no longer depends on your presence.
It lives on through the people you have developed.
That is the mark of great leadership.
The highest calling of leadership is not accomplishing great things yourself.
It is helping others accomplish great things long after you are gone.
Who are you intentionally developing today?
If you stepped away tomorrow, who is ready because of your investment?
What legacy are you building through the people around you?
CHALLENGE
Today, invest a few minutes in someone’s growth.
Teach.
Coach.
Encourage.
Develop.
Because your greatest influence may never be measured by what you accomplish, but by what those you develop accomplish long after you’re gone.
