One Love: How Bob Marley inspires us to leave a legacy
“My music will go on forever. Maybe it’s a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.” — Bob Marley
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Legacy Tour featuring the Marley Brothers. Ziggy, Stephen, Julian, Ky-mani, and Damian Marley hit the road to play and celebrate the music of Bob Marley on what would have been their father’s 80th birthday. I’m a big Bob Marley fan, but I was born a few months after his death, so this was about as close to seeing him live as it comes for me.
As I reflected on the concert experience, I thought about the name of the tour—Legacy. In this case, Bob left a legacy of his music, his message, and his children that carry it on. He was only 36 when he died in 1981, but 43 years later his music still brings thousands of people together and reminds us that “every little thing is gonna be alright”.
Legacy means something different for each of us. For some, it may be the career that we built. For others, it’s the family we raised and the relationships we made along the way. Or it may be the difference we made in our communities and the people we helped. It could be all those things and more.
I am very fortunate to lead a credit union that has been around for over 70 years. I am only the 5th CEO over that time, and as I come up on finishing my 5th year in this role, I have thought a lot about the legacy that each prior CEO has left, as well as my place in our credit union’s history.
“Live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others, and you will live again.” — Bob Marley
Legacy is all about the impact that we make and how it affects individuals and communities. Every decision we make, large or small, has the potential of forming part of our legacy. We aren’t limited by our roles. If you look at it in terms of the number of individual interactions, each employee at the credit union probably has more impact than the CEO on the lives of our members. Each smile as someone walks into the lobby, each kind word on the phone, each solution offered to someone struggling to make payments, and even each digital interaction with the credit union makes a difference. I’m not going to pretend that what we do saves lives or is some great thing to be remembered, but we interact with members in a very personal way. We know their challenges. We see them when they are excited to buy their first home, and work with them as they say goodbye to a loved one. All these small moments create individual and collective legacies.
“The people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. Why should I?” — Bob Marley
Leadership is about small selfless acts that build up over time. Impact isn’t a one-time thing; we get to choose each day the kind of impact we want to make on others. In a world of short-term decisions and instant gratification, we may not live to see how our actions affect others. The connections we make, the lives we touch, and the wisdom we share can all create opportunities for others to sing our songs long after we move on.
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” — Bob Marley
