In Search of Legendary

One of my favorite words is “legendary.” Today it means merely something that is famous enough to be celebrated in our time. Yet it comes from the Middle Latin word that meant something worthy to be written down and remembered for generations.

I love that idea. Lives and deeds that are worthy to be written down and remembered. People who live in such a way that they inspire generations. Frankly, I want to live like that. I want you to as well.

Yet I will tell you frankly that one of the great errors leaders commit is assuming they are legendary and presenting themselves that way to others. In truth, it is the reverse of what great leaders should do.

A great leader is meant to inspire greatness in others. He or she is in place to awaken largeness and nobility and an epic vision in the souls of people. This lifts them to a higher understanding of themselves and translates their work into an offering on the altar of a holy cause. “We aren’t just making bricks,” the great leader says. “We are fashioning a civilization. We are protecting a generation. We are also building prosperity and an example of industry for generations to come.”

It is what Churchill did. It is what Booker T. Washington did. It is what Golda Meir did. I can name dozens of others.

In fact, not only should a leader regard his or her team as legendary, but they should also regard their customers this way, too. “I’m not just selling you a vacation package, Bob. I’m trying to give you a means of building a family culture, of creating experiences and connections that will shape your family line for generations.”

As my friend Don Miller says in his brilliant Storybrand material on marketing, you aren’t the hero. Your customers are the heroes. You are the guide to help them achieve the heroic.

Yet I have to tell you that many leaders wrap themselves in the aura of the legendary. This, I’m sorry to say, is particularly true among people in Christian ministry. They have some challenges. They achieve some victories. Good things come of it. Then, unfortunately, their vision shifts from making others legendary to presenting themselves as legends to be honored.

It changes them. I have some friends I’ve known for years who have lapsed into this. I was there when they met some adversity. I was there when they broke through to some significant victories. Years later, you wonder if these folks have themselves confused with Jesus. Rather than ennobling others, they seem to be preoccupied with their own assumed nobility. They are, as a result, less effective in changing lives, less given to a way of living that might actually be seen as legendary in time.

Here is the core truth. You might be a legend one day. I hope you will be. I’m here to help. Yet you don’t become legendary by assuming that you are and presenting yourself as such. You become legendary by ennobling other people, empowering them to rise to the greatness possible in their lives.

Leave the question of your own legendary status to others. Get on with the great task of lifting others to greatness. This is the key to epic leadership. Let me say this in the way I usually say it: You have a destiny, but your destiny is fulfilled by investing in the destinies of others.