Build, Model, Transfer, Repeat: Why BIPOC Leaders Must Continue to Build and Leave a Legacy of Excellence for future BIPOC Generations
By De Andra Judge, IO Psychologist
Leadership, excellence, and legacy go hand-in-hand. Together, they form a strong and harmonious three-strand chord that is not easily broken. But let’s face it, as leaders who are BIPOC, we often encounter overwhelming obstacles that are unique to us as a community. Thus, the simultaneous pursuit of leadership, excellence, and legacy building can be quite daunting. However, it is imperative that we constantly confront our obstacles and the temptation to leave the task of legacy building to the next generation. If we acquiesce in this area, we are choosing to subject our future generations of BIPOC to a world that is more entrenched in racism, bias, oppression, and detrimental exclusion.
For centuries, we have witnessed the effects of allowing non-BIPOC communities to become the standard-bearer of excellence and leadership for all peoples. It has led to a narrow, uninformed definition and view of leadership and excellence that excludes our brilliance and our depth of contribution we have to offer. The white washing of leadership and excellence has pushed our rich culture and creative genius to the margins, often relegating our unique vantage points of leadership and excellence as fringe views, or simply being seen as out of touch with the dominating standard of what is considered reality. Thus, it is critical that we as leaders pursue building a legacy of excellence that is inclusive of our BIPOC communities, incorporates our stories, our history, and our dreams.
When we consider the delicate balance of curiosity, resilience, sensitivity, fight, and antifragility, we have harnessed over the centuries and through recent decades, BIPOC communities bring a flavor of leadership and excellence that cannot be manufactured because it originates from our lived experiences. The way that we approach leadership and excellence is borne from our collective and individual trauma as much as it is borne of our collective and individual victories.
As a community, we have learned and continue to learn that being open and unguarded is not synonymous with being weak or naive. We can and do bring such a critical distinction from our diaspora to our approach to leadership and excellence. As a community, we have a level of true grit that has led us to build kingdoms and nations and overcome enslavement and rise out from the shadows of Jim Crow into our true radiant form.
If we do not take ownership of building our legacy of leadership and excellence, we silence the pain, victories, prayers, cries, chants, songs, speeches, and tears of all who labored, conceived, and birth the foundation of freedom, hope, leadership, and excellence we stand on today. As we endeavor to build our legacy of excellence, here are a few things we must remember:
6 Things to Remember When Building a Legacy
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, leaders undoubtedly leave a legacy in every space where they accept the call to lead. Legacy is what we leave behind for others to inherit. A passive approach to legacy building doesn’t lead to the absence of one’s legacy, instead, passivity becomes the theme of what one leaves behind. When we do not build our own legacy, we passively invite others to frame it for us.
Legacy is the gift of a roadmap. It is critical to view a legacy as a both a gift and the gifting of a roadmap. Those who come after us do not need to earn this gift. It is something we as the predecessor should desire to leave to our future generations to help them take the reins for the next leg of the journey. The people we serve, and lead are worthy of inheriting a rich legacy that built them in mind.
Idealism, realism, and pragmatism are friends, not enemies. Building a legacy will require us to be visionaries. To censor idealistic hopes wouldn’t be prudent. We must retain our capacity to dream and envision a different future. As leaders, it is, however, our duty to be aware of the present reality in which we are building a legacy. If we are to reach our future state, we cannot deny the very real obstacles we must overcome. And lastly, being pragmatic will help us put our legacy in action in meaningful and measurable ways. When we seek harmony between the three, we are best positioned for real and sustainable future results.
Everyone will not embrace the legacy a leader leaves, leave it anyway. This can be easier said than done. But this is where being a leader is critical. Sometimes we are going to be ahead of the curve and some people, even in our own communities, might not understand the legacy we are preparing for them in the present because it is for a future time. This is where we have to draw on our wisdom, experience, and foresight and remember we are gifting to those we serve a better transition to the future. Prepare as many as you can to take the reins and trust that the others will eventually follow.
Protect the legacy. No legacy is impenetrable. We must anticipate threats to the legacy and build in safeguards that will help us keep the legacy intact. One way to safeguard the legacies we are building is to invite others to build with you. This creates shared ownership and buy-in, and it invites others to share in the responsibility. Moreover, when we build legacy as a community effort, we strengthen the bonds of the community and the legacy becomes a community goal.
Leave the legacy in the hands of our future generation. Letting go of something we have built can be hard. This is why we must remember why and for whom we are building. We are not building a legacy so we can rest on our own laurels. That is not the flavor of our excellence. We are building a legacy for the future, and for our future. It is not a legacy if it is not passed on.
Building a strong, healthy, and purposeful legacy is hard work. As leaders who are BIPOC, legacy-building can bring unique obstacles that other communities may not encounter. However, the fruit of our tenacity will not be for naught. Be encouraged! When we build legacy, we are in great company, becoming the next tier of excellence upon which our future BIPOC generations can continue to build.
