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As I pondered what to write for this month’s Presidents letter, I thought about many topics and wanted to have something that hopefully resonates with all of you, something that is talked about and important to think about personally and professionally.

As I was writing my ideas down, I was listening to a program on Sirius radio that hit me…. Legacy, what does it mean and why is it important?  I have thought about this topic in the past but for some reason this time it crystallized, “A legacy is not what you leave WITH people but what you leave IN people that will last forever”.  All of us have someone that has left a lasting impact on our lives whether it was a colleague, teacher, coach, friends, parents, grandparents and I could go on.  As coaches we have the opportunity every day to make an impact on someone’s life by helping them discover answers to their questions through the coaching process. More importantly we have an opportunity, every day, no matter where we are to help someone.  We never know what others are facing, what challenges they are experiencing and what their story is.  A kind word or a smile might be just the thing that makes their day.  As we look at the landscape of our life I would invite you to consider these questions:

• How can I make a difference today in someone’s life?

• What am I doing to pour into someone by sharing experiences, challenges and listening to what their needs are?

• How do I pass down my learnings and experiences in order to help others, so they do not have to start from square one?

The most important thing we can do is to help others move forward on their journey of life.  Sometimes the simplest thing makes the biggest impact.  During the program there was a story that was told about a fourth-grade teacher that asked all her students to write one thing they liked about all of their fellow students.  The teacher collected all of their answers and created a sheet for each student so they could see what had been written.  Many years later one of the students died while serving our country, many of the students including the teacher attended the funeral.  After the service was done one of the family members told the teacher that when they received his personal items, they found the list that she had given to him as a student folded up in his wallet.  The teacher teared up; she had no idea that the little exercise would make such an impact.  As other past students heard what had happened, they began to share that they too still had the list and that they all had looked at it over the years.  In fact, one of them pulled that very list out of his wallet.  The story left me in tears, the smallest things can make the biggest impact and create a lasting legacy.
The question I leave you with is; “What will your legacy be?”

Sincerely,

Deb Johnson

ICF MN President