I recently worked with two teams at a Fortune 500 client who were still suffering from the legacy of a toxic leader who left over 10 years ago. One of my clients asked, “Why do you think we’re still feeling the effects?” I told her that it was like the former leader had left a handprint on the organization, and we were just now starting to address it.
The truth is, leadership isn’t just about hitting quarterly targets or building great companies, though those aren’t bad goals in and of themselves. Great leaders know the invisible threads they weave through an organization can continue to influence culture, decisions, and people long after they’ve moved on – sometimes for decades. In fact, every leader leaves a legacy that outlasts their tenure; the question is whether it’s one that elevates or destroys.
I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders across industries, and I’ve seen firsthand how leadership styles ripple through organizations for years. Some legacies inspire greatness; others serve as cautionary tales that make you wonder how things went so wrong.
Leadership Outlasts Your Office
Your legacy isn’t determined by your intentions – it’s built by your actions, and it doesn’t end when you leave the company. It’s determined by your impact, and that impact keeps reverberating through the organization long after you’ve been removed from the Slack/Teams/Fill-in-the-Blank account.
You can crush people in pursuit of results or power, and that toxic culture can persist for years. Conversely, if you handle challenges with integrity and care for your people, that becomes the foundation others build upon.
When Leadership Goes Right: The John Wooden Way
Obviously, as a UCLA graduate, I’m biased (Go Bruins!), but I count Coach John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach, as one of the greatest leaders of all time. Besides winning 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, his true impact lies in developing whole human beings, not just basketball players.
Wooden’s famous “Pyramid of Success” wasn’t about winning games; it was about building character. He emphasized that success isn’t about being better than someone else – it’s about being the best version of yourself.
The ripple effect? Decades later, his former players still quote his philosophies. Organizations that hired his former players often found themselves transformed by the leadership principles they brought with them. Wooden’s legacy didn’t stay confined to UCLA – it spread throughout corporate America and beyond. That’s the power of a positive leadership legacy: it multiplies far beyond your direct sphere of influence.
When Leadership Goes Wrong: A Cautionary Tale From Bobby Knight
Bobby Knight was also a winning NCAA basketball coach. He won three NCAA championships and 902 games, making him one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history. But his explosive temper and abusive behavior were what he’s remembered for.
Knight’s approach created a culture of fear rather than respect. As I mentioned above, negative impact doesn’t die when the leader leaves, so it’s no surprise that years after Knight’s departure from Indiana University, the fear-based mentality he instilled persisted and then took years to fully eradicate. New coaches struggled to rebuild trust. Players had to unlearn toxic patterns.
The lesson? You can achieve remarkable results through fear and intimidation, but that legacy’s damage lingers long after you’re gone.
A Tale of Two Business Legacies
This same dynamic plays out in corporate America every day.
Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft not just through strategic pivots, but through a fundamental shift in culture. When he became CEO in 2014, Microsoft was known for internal competition and a know-it-all attitude. Nadella introduced a growth mindset, emphasizing learning over knowing, collaboration over competition.
Microsoft’s market cap grew from $300 billion to over $3 trillion under his leadership. But more importantly, he changed how people feel about working there. The cultural transformation he initiated continues to influence Microsoft and will likely persist long after he moves on. The leaders he developed are now spreading that growth mindset to other organizations.
Elizabeth Holmes, on the other hand, built Theranos through deception and intimidation. She cultivated a culture of secrecy and silenced whistleblowers. When the truth emerged, her legacy became one of the most spectacular corporate failures in history.
The toxic culture she created didn’t disappear when Theranos collapsed; many former employees carried that trauma into their next roles, struggling to trust leadership. The ripple effects of her destructive leadership style continue to impact the biotech industry. Holmes showed us how a leader’s character flaws can destroy not just a company, but lives – and how that destruction echoes far beyond the organization’s walls.
The Choices Every Leader Face
Here’s what I’ve learned from working with leaders at every level: your legacy isn’t something that happens to you – it’s something you actively create through hundreds of daily decisions. And that legacy has a life of its own that extends far beyond your time in any particular role.
Every time you choose transparency over secrecy, you’re building trust that will outlast your tenure. Every time you choose to develop someone rather than just use their talents for your gain, you’re creating leaders who will carry your positive influence to their next organization. Every time you choose to do the right thing when no one is watching, you’re establishing cultural norms that become “how we do things here” long after you’ve moved on.
The most influential leaders understand that their primary job isn't to be successful – it's to make others successful and build systems that will thrive without them.
What Legacy Are You Building (and Eventually Leaving)?
As you think about your own leadership journey, ask yourself these questions:
- If I left my organization tomorrow, what would people say about how I treated them?
- Are the systems and culture I’m building strong enough to thrive without me?
- Do my actions align with the values I claim to hold?
- What lessons that I’ve willingly or unconsciously instilled will former team members carry into their next roles?
- Am I creating a culture that will elevate future leaders?
The beautiful thing about leadership legacy is that it’s never too late to change course. Every day gives you new opportunities to choose the kind of leader – and the kind of lasting influence – you want to leave behind. Remember, your impact doesn’t end when you clean out your office; it continues through every person you’ve led, every standard you’ve set, and every cultural norm you’ve established.
A Final Word
The question isn’t whether you’ll leave a legacy. You will. The question is what kind of legacy it will be, and how long its effects will last.
Choose wisely. The people you lead – and the world – are counting on it.