Legacy is demonstrated in different currencies – not just money, but in bodies, creativity and spirit.

Creating a movement is one way to build, live and leave a legacy, and here’s an amazing example: Bill McKibben speaking at PowerShift 2011 in Washington D.C. :

(Click here to open YouTube if video does not appear)

As of April 2011 people will have commemorated Earth Day for 41 years – at the first one, 20 million Americans came out to march and rally in support of a clean healthy planet. There are new leaders in the environmental movement. 

Also in April 2011, the third PowerShift Summit was held in Washington D.C.  The first, in November 2007, was a youth climate summit including more than 6,000 young people from all 50 states. They gathered at the University of Maryland for a weekend of training prior to the 2008 elections to learn how to rally for the creation of green jobs and restoring economic and environmental justice.

 In February of 2009, 12,000 young people from every state and Congressional District in the U.S. joined in the second PowerShift event. Over 6,000 of them participated in the largest citizen lobby day in history; thousands more in a successful demonstration to shut down the Capitol’s coal-fired power plant. 

At the 2011 event, a year after the worst oil spill disaster in the U.S., 10,000 youth leaders from around the country held a polluter protest in front of the White House, demanding that the President and Congress stand up to Big Polluters, like BP, and make them pay for their pollution. They also made hundreds of Congressional visits to demand protection of the Clean Air Act and that members of Congress stop taking money from corporate polluters. Using technology and social media, these young people organized numerous flash mob protest events to call clear attention to their message:

 “We and Our Future Matter”

 These events are just part of the work of the Energy Action Coalition. http://energyactioncoalition.org/about The EAC is a cooperative effort joining 50 youth-led environmental and social justice groups working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement.  Among their goals are coordinating efforts at the state, regional and national levels in the U.S. and Canada to win local support for their efforts and define their vision of a clean energy economy to solve our economic and environmental crises by moving their own communities beyond dirty energy to clean energy solutions.

 How much more could these young people do with the support of preceding generations who are currently in power (and whose leadership roles they will inherit)? As legacy building goes, these young people are way ahead of their elders.

They see that the infrastructure and support that will provide for their jobs, and careers that help make the world work better, are missing – not being developed because of the vested interests of an older generation addicted to a fossil fuel economy. They see the sad state of the planet they are inheriting, and they’re not happy about it. And they are taking action, even as members of the older generation with those old vested interests try to keep their heads in the sand about the science and what is happening to the planet, as the U.S. House of Representatives Energy Committee did in March 2011 in a formal vote to deny climate change.

Well, Bill McKibben is one of those leaders into whose shoes the younger generations will step – and they are stepping up. Keep your eyes and ears open for Moving Planet September 24, if you want to witness how one person and all the amazing people he inspires are approaching one of the biggest legacy projects ever.  Even better, consider participating so you can say it was part of your legacy, too.

Legacy is all about powerful, positive leadership.  It is about looking forward, thinking long-term, and creating something sustainable – not just focused on current income, but on long term value. 

I found a quote recently that aptly addresses all these considerations.  As a lawyer, I found the source to be quite remarkable, though not surprising.  While coming from an entirely different ethnic background and part of the planet, I share many Native American philosophies on living and working in harmony with our planet Earth – and in tune with what they call Great Spirit.

So what is this legacy wisdom – this significant piece of enlightened leadership?  It’s this:

“In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions
on the next seven generations.”
(From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy)

How would your life and your work be different if this was your decision-making focus?  What would you be doing differently? How quickly can you shift to that mindset and make the changes you need to make? 

The world is waiting for your own exercise of real power – the power to do good while doing well, and the power to positively impact the people around you and those who follow (and who follow them, and follow them, and follow them …).  Are you up for that challenge? 

Our 7 Steps To Creating Your Legacy program has been a joy to deliver – and to watch what participants develop from there.  Keep an eye on the site to get details on how you can do something different in your work and life to incorporate this wisdom and make a positive impact on your partcular corner of this world!  Sign up for the Creating Legacy Kit (top right) and we’ll keep you posted on upcoming events.

Here’s to a better planet 7 generations from now – heck, hopefully yet during this generation!  Cheers, Dolly

Used to be when I used the word legacy, people cocked their heads to one side like a curious puppy hearing a new command for the first time. Huh?

It gives me great joy to see the concept out from under the wraps of heads of state and philanthropists with enormous financial estates. While these folks may or may not create great legacies, it seems more and more people are stopping to consider what their lives really mean, and what difference it will make for them having been on this planet. And, oh boy, that’s where it starts.

I read a great post by a guy named Chris Guillebeau in Seattle, Washington, USA. Chris has a great take on his own legacy and his post inspired the comments of a great number of kindred legacy spirits including me. If you’re interested in these notions, you may well find it a great read too!  I couldn’t have said better what he did if I’d written it myself, and I swear I didn’t hire him to write about it. These notions of giving back and social entrepreneurship are springing up spontaneously all over the place. I am so glad to see the trend forming.

I am struck how common the concept of creating a legacy project seems to be among Gen X, Gen Y and the Millennials – even more than it is with people often of considerably greater financial means in the Boomer and beyond generations. There is a legion of humans developing on this planet with a penchant to give forward (as well as give back) and make a difference. And it is from that mindset they will find the means to get it done. You don’t have to start with a great deal of wealth or power to ‘leave a legacy.’ You just have to care about something and decide to act on it. Money can be raised to support something worthwhile.

What would you throw yourself into, whole-heartedly, that would be a joy to promote and even raise funds for if you had to because it did so much good and made you feel incredible?

And it’s a great key to leadership and social enterprise. 

We’ve become a two Vee-Dub family.  Partly that’s because they really are fun to drive, and economical.  Small, but lots of room, and great gas mileage.  And did I mention zippy?  Remember Fahrvergnügen?  (Then you’re older than I thought). 

German car manufacturer Volkwagen used the term in a 1990 advertising campaign, with the slogan “Fahrvergnügen: It’s what makes a car a Volkswagen.”  I “got it” immediately probably because my first car during high school in the ’70′s was my brother’s hand-me-down 1961 VW Karmann Ghia.  It looked pretty much like this one, except that it was originally really close to that cool ‘British racing green’ color like the old MG’s.  Anyway, it’s a word that in German means “driving enjoyment.”

I guess I’m taken by all that because joy is one of my values.  And it’s clear that it’s a value this company has embodied. Since the original Ghia, I’ve driven two VW buses (actually one that my father and I repurposed from the best parts of two into one, as one of my summer home vocational training programs - can you say “Bondo”?), a couple different Beetles, a Rabbit, two GTI’s and now the new (1997) Jetta my sweet husband just bought in VW solidarity.   

 Remember Turbonium?  I’ve had that, too, do now and wouldn’t be without it:  a ‘whole new element’ of extra fun.

But back to leadership and social enterprise.

One element of leadership is knowing your mission, built on some solid underlying value – one you can really get behind and that motivates others.  While the VW company has many we could identify, I’ll just focus on fun, because it’s one that is fundamental to their mission.  To which has been added social responsibility in a much more visible way.  VW has now created a program of positive social change devoted to the notion that fun may just be the best way to change people’s behavior for the better.  It’s called The Fun Theory - check out the site devoted to it to see how the company has incorporated a social enterprise element into its business operations.  Now that’s what I call positive leadership to power sustainable change.

As for why my husband just bought a new-to-us 1997 VW Jetta just about to roll over 100,000 miles, that’s a whole different story for another time.  But for me, while I am devoted to the notion that transportation should be economical and likewise am committed to keeping a low carbon footprint (a hint to that “other story”), I still value driving fun. Here’s my current ride:

Dolly's Vee-Dub

Dolly's Tunnel Permit

Bravo on the Enlightened Leadership scale, for Senator Bill Nelson of Florida’s commitment to the environment.  He has introduced Senate Bill 1250 in Congress.  It is the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act of 2009, which would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the definition of cellulosic biofuel to include algae-based biofuel for purposes of the cellulosic biofuel producer credit and the special allowance for cellulosic biofuel plant property.

In plain English, that means that producers of biofuels from algae would get a tax break for pursuing their work.  Finally, some sensible support comes to the clean energy industry along the lines of the subsidies Big Oil and Big Agriculture have enjoyed in building their businesses.  (Can you say “corn subsidies”, and “high fructose corn syrup”? – the latter of which seems to be in just about everything these days – both of which started in the 1970′s right around the time the obesity epidemic began … but that’s another story). 

Interestingly, Exxon and BP are beginning to invest in this arena according to the Business Exchange forum Clean Techies.  As the Clean Techies article notes, these oil production companies know from whence support for fossil fuel production comes, and hopefully reailze that to continue to command market share in the new clean energy space they’ll need to change from a focus on taking every last drop of oil out of the earth. 

We can only hope.

My new program, 7 Steps to Creating Your Legacy, debuts today! I can’t wait to see what the participants do with the materials – what they consciously choose to create in the world, how they decide what they want their impact to be and in what manner they’ll carry it out.

Watching all that unfold will be magical!

And the program itself is brand new, so it will be a creation unfolding as well – with the added energies of the group members.  Beginning any new process always carries with it excitment “with an edge …”  That’s how it is with the process of creation, and we’ll all be in that together adding the potential for the experience of some great synergy.  This pioneering group of leaders will be taking action that makes changes in the world – we will have our own “butterfly effect” (maybe many of them).  So exciting to see what that will be.

Right foot, left foot, one at a time begins the “journey of a thousand steps” that any significant project includes.  Will keep you posted on how it all unfolds.  If you want more information, please feel free to contact me!  Here we go …

Strength, vision, foresight and care – for people and the planet.  Here’s great evidence of a woman’s leadership taking us into a future in better harmony with our natural ecosystem: http://article-url.com/MIgreen 

Go Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan.

I got this email today, twice before I responded to it.  It was one of those chain things that asks you to pass it on.  And usually I don’t (especially when they have some superstitious warning in them!!)  But I liked this one.  It said:
——————————
I am supposed to pick 12 women who have touched my life and whom I think would want to participate. I think that if this group of women were ever to be in a room together, there is nothing that would be impossible. I hope I chose the right twelve.  My hugs, love, gestures and communications hopefully remind you how special you are.
Please send this back to me. Remember to make a wish before you read the quotation. That’s all you have to do. There is nothing attached.
Just send this to twelve women and let me know what happens on the fourth day. Sorry, did you make a wish yet? If you don’t make a wish, it won’t come true.
This is your last chance to make a wish!…
“May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts  that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”
Now, send this to 12 women within the next 15 minutes. And remember to send this back. I count as one… you’ll see why.  Suggestion: copy and paste rather than forwarding it.
————————————————————————-

But I had to include this note:

This found its way into my email today, coming in from somewhere else as these email things do. Generally I don’t participate in them, but I liked this one.  So my apologies to anyone who dislikes this sort of email; I’m truly not sure if you’d want to participate or not.  

I just liked the idea of including you and telling you so, because if I ever needed to do the impossible and had to assemble a group of women to make it happen, I would definitely get you in the room. And I’d include my mother, but she’s not on email.

So here it is, do with it what you will if anything other than read it.  As for the ‘you’ll see why,’ I’m thinking we may or may not see why, but just knowing you’re thought about as special and powerful may well be enough. I enjoyed recognizing my connection to you in this way.  If you receive duplicates, I guess that shows just how special and powerful you really are.  On that score, I’m glad it made its way to me at least once! 

And truth is, I sent it to more than 12 women.  On that score, it made me realize how many incredible, powerful, capable, strong, trustworthy and loving women I know.  I’m glad of that – and of their presence in the world doing great things.  I see the “legacy power” in what they each are able to change for the better in their own spheres of influence. That makes me glad.

It also spurs me into action on my quest to help more of them exercise more of that power in greater ways, for the benefit of an improved planet.  Call me a dreamer, but I think if we all dreamed a little bit bigger for better and better outcomes, rather than status quo, maintaining vested interests, and keeping things as they are (okay, I know that’s a bit redundant, but it seems to be a pattern humans persist in) we really could improve a lot of things.  And I see the positive thinking, nurturing and collaborating power of women leaders — of all feminine thinking (no matter who’s doing it) — as a most important way in which such results will come into being.

So hear this: women leaders and those embracing the power of the feminine – it is your time to shine, to rise up, to make your voices heard, to get on with being more visible and building more projects in this world!!  You are powerful beyond measure, especially when you get together and create some synergy toward a goal.  And we know how to get together – another strength in the feminine – generally with really good food to fortify us for the road ahead.

Previous articles explored how great legacies are inspired, thoughtful, heart-filled, beneficial, touching and meaningful. We’ve discussed how being generous, wise and creative – powerful human attributes we can each nurture and develop – endows a legacy with those same characteristics. Creating from that place, you can bring a once intangible legacy idea to fruition – something that produces positive and tangible results. Those results have recognizable and reproducible characteristics as well:

GREAT LEGACIES ARE WORKABLE. A great legacy accomplishes something – generally a socially beneficial purpose. A great legacy incorporates important values into its vision and mission, and it delivers great value to someone or something. Consequently, it works to bring about its intended results.

And the effort that goes into making that happen is good work or even great work, not just hard work. Yes, there often perspiration involved in the expenditure of energy, for the “doing” of it. But, it is the sort of work often experienced as being in a flow state where the passage of time may not be noticed, rather than toiling in a way that the hands of the clock seem to move backwards. And the results are measureable – quantitatively and qualitatively, not just measured in net profit.

Doing the work of creating a living legacy involves the efforts of others – including the need to properly coordinate professional advisors. The work of making the legacy operational may also involve volunteers and sometimes the beneficiaries of the effort themselves. Developing a workable legacy is a great training ground for children and grandchildren to come to understand the broader purposes of wealth, to learn to create meaning as well as money, to give back in exchange for what they’ve gotten, and to learn to be grateful and appreciative for what they have that others may lack. All of that adds to making a legacy truly workable.

GREAT LEGACIES ARE SYSTEMATIC. Building a legacy has definite steps. They are steps others have taken. Their path and successes have left clues, and give you a roadmap to follow. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, even with a new or novel idea. There are both structures already developed – derived from estate, financial and business planning – and methods to develop recurring steps or processes for smooth operations that are known and time tested. Basic business and marketing development principles are likely applicable whatever form your legacy takes to be sure lasts for generations.

The key is to develop whatever you create, what is done and how it is done, into something that others can easily repeat – so you can pass the activities on to others, short-term, and ultimately long-term. As the applicable steps to making your legacy operational are discovered, designed and taken, they can be documented so others can replicate them in ongoing fashion. That not only allows others to get involved, but also the scale of the project to be replicated and even expand. As it expands, you will likely want to give others the opportunity to revise methods of operation or service/product delivery. That is inherent in any system, that it be self-correcting so it improves over time.

For example, this principle caused a revolution in the auto industry most everyone will recognize. Edwards Deming worked with Japan after World War II to improve design, product quality, service and testing – particularly with car makers there. He helped turn a statement of ridicule (“made in Japan”) into the preferred brands of car worldwide coming from their factories.

In his 1982 book Out Of The Crisis, Deming aptly noted: ”The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught. Pleasant dreams. The workers are handicapped by the system, and the system belongs to the management.” Hence the importance of both leadership and systems development: when they are well designed with self-correcting mechanisms built in, people can produce good work at a level of quality that is designed into the process and methods.

This is what supports the principle that:

GREAT LEGACIES ARE ENDURING. They start with an idea and as it takes on mass, it grows. You build a network around you, and others who are moved by it want to be involved, too. It develops exponentially. The money needed to build it appears, either because you can contribute it or because funding is available from others – or both. Professional services needed to expand the project are identified (and may even be contributed).

The project takes shape, and each aspect of it is developed with an identifiable and replicable method – a system that others can learn, teach to yet others, and correct along the way as may be needed. Your legacy begins to take on a life of its own. Other people show up to help operate it and carry it on, allowing you to let go. You can step away, knowing it will continue as designed, to accomplish its defined mission and create a benefit for the intended recipients that can last for generations to come.

Templates, and tons of existing resources, exist to help you create your legacy. Starting with only your passion, your good and beneficial idea can be developed using time-tested structures and methods that allow you to get it started, involve others in a systematic way, stay involved as long as you like and then step aside to allow it to continue to make a positive enduring difference in the world.

Is there a great idea and some good work you want to drop into this template? The journey begins with a single step …

My own legacy includes a focus on my value for the preservation of nature.  There is currently legislation in the United States attempting to deal with global climate change – which is, in fact, happening; and which, whether you believe is caused by human activities, will only be solved by human activities.  Or rather changed behavior.

If you value the natural world, part of your developing legacy might be to regularly involve yourself in legislative issues affecting it and participating more actively in representative government. You don’t have to run for office to do this.  One way to do it is to become more informed and then making your views - concerns and recommendations for action – known.

There is legislation currently pending before the U.S. Congress dealing with climate change, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, known as ACES.  What each of us with this legacy interest can do is learn more about it, AND ask our representatives to create meaningful law that benefits people and not special interests, better yet demand it. 

A list of important items to include in that law was compiled by Jim Hansen, himself an actual rocket scientist – someone who I’m sure knows a lot more about all this than I (and most people, including our legislators) do.  His latest views, concerns and recommendations were recently published at the Huffington Post blog.  He also wrote a very clear summary of what needs to be done at the first of 2009, published at the online magazine Grist.  Another source of good information is at 350.org. 

You can read the views of Hansen and others, and then use that information to write something to your congressional representatives.  Here are links to find where to write representatives in the U.S. Senate and House.

Go for it!  Be the change you want to see!!