Culture: How Personal & Family Habits Build Legacy
Legacies are built one habit at a time by intentional leaders. They’re experienced as culture in the present, & they’re our method of creating generational impact “by small & simple means”.
Table of Contents:
“Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.”
Why Culture Connects to Legacy
To Note:
Human-generated content.
My maternal grandpa taught a high school seminary class in the 1970s. While attending my Junior High School tennis match almost 50 years later, up came one of his old students (now a dad of adult children himself) to thank my grandpa for the impact he had on him. I’ve seen this happen multiple times since.
My paternal great-grandpa owned a bakery on the main street of my hometown. While it is no longer around & I have very few memories of him myself, my first & most meaningful connection with anyone who lived in the area years ago is that bakery. Memories of favorite pies, donuts & rolls are always to be shared.
I have countless stories of impactful members of my family, and the truth is—they are all ordinary people with extraordinary leadership habits. The building blocks of their lives built a culture tied to them that is remembered to this day. Now, the torch in many ways has been passed to each following generation, and in many ways it’s the reason I felt called to build this business.
So let’s dissect this a little more. Here’s how you can build an impactful legacy through culture by practicing leadership habits in your personal & family life.
What Culture Is
Culture can be understood as the foundation of legacy. It is shared values, rhythms, beliefs, behaviors, missions, etc. It is both about aligning your values with yourself and aligning with shared family values to accomplish continuous growth together. Culture is created by patterns of daily life that bring fulfillment to every member of the home. Many companies credit a good culture to their greatest successes as a team. These same principles apply in our homes. While less rigid in the home than in business, we will see common ascension as a family team as we choose to align together on what we define as most important.
The opposite of course, may be true as well. Culture doesn’t automatically denote a positive trajectory. When we allow our culture to be defined by defaults, we are at risk of the many attacks on individuals & families that are deteriorating even the idea of core values. To combat this, we need to hold a common vision. The first step for any family is for you to create a personal vision as the manager of your home. I created a simple path forward to help you complete this in a few days, committing only about 5 minutes a day. It’s my 3-day vision kit, which you can snag by clicking here! This will help you set a personal trajectory to get the momentum rolling forward, allowing your family culture to begin forming or refining.
Culture Requires Consistency
Once common values are established, culture can only thrive when it is treated as a living thing. Culture needs consistent attention to maintain & strengthen itself. The tactical solution is to develop strong habits. When we can introduce routines into our personal & family lives, we are doing the ‘reps’ that create a strong culture. In time, those things become a natural part of us and begin to shape our personal & family identities.
When culture helps define identity, legacy is the natural path forward. The key here is not expecting perfection. While it is natural to want to go “all in”, we need to be mindful of the principles of pace & grace. These two principles allow for compassion, stability, & peace to always be maintained while we experience ‘growth pains’ as individuals & families.
Habits of Strong Leaders
One of the ultimate differences between the existence of good vs. bad culture is the role of a strong leader. In the family, parents are assigned the roles of leadership to help guide & direct their children. Most importantly, as leaders, we need to be modeling what living by our values means. Some of the key characteristics I find in strong leadership include the following:
Strong leaders are servant leaders: the ability to guide & direct through loving service & modeling
Strong leaders prioritize personal health & the skill of optimism
Strong leaders maintain a mindset of progress over perfection
Strong leaders have a sense of humor
Strong leaders are mission, vision, & values-minded (and all 3 are dialed in for themselves, & their teams)
Strong leaders mentor human to human, eliminating unhealthy hierarchical thinking (without eliminating the responsibility we do hold in our roles)
Strong leaders help others see their potential
Strong leaders encourage everyone to take accountability & do so by taking accountability themselves
Strong leaders always affirm the value in each individual team member
While there are many more ideas, these are a few that stick out as major players in building meaningful culture.
You Are the Chief Culture Officer
As the manager or future manager of your home, you are responsible for creating the culture. That is made possible by developing the daily habits that build strong leaders. More than anything, I hope to affirm in you that wherever you are starting, you can become exactly what you want to be—as I heard recently, “You can change; you’re not a tree”. ;) Your secret formula is time, grace, & pace. Additionally, you are exactly what your family needs. Follow your intuitions, stay aligned with God, and find the mission you feel called to.
Where to Start:
Your very first step is to create your personal vision. This new target will help you to start moving in the direction of building a strong family culture by living according to your values. You can snag that for free here!
If you’re looking for something even more comprehensive that will help you to start developing the skills of a strong leader, & help you to see yourself as the most capable manager of your home, we created the Foundation First course. In the course, you will work from your inner world, to your outer world to develop function, direction & purpose. All of the work you will do there will help you to become much more intentional in your home for yourself & your family. This is the foundational step for building a true dream home! More information about the course can be found here.
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Legacies are built one habit at a time by intentional leaders. They’re experienced as culture in the present, & they’re our method of creating generational impact “by small & simple means”.