{"id":10216,"date":"2012-02-06T23:48:14","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T04:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=10216"},"modified":"2022-08-30T08:07:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T12:07:11","slug":"the-legacy-of-your-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2012\/02\/06\/the-legacy-of-your-name\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy of Your Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As I read the news today, I was reminded of a powerful illustration of\u00a0how legacies are attached to\u00a0names, and what significance that has for leaders.\u00a0Sixty years ago today, Queen Elizabeth II<\/strong>\u00a0ascended to the throne and became Queen of Canada upon the death of her father, King George VI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King George VI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In July 1972, I stood in a small side chapel within St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. After seeing elaborate graves all over London with wonderfully carved statues, long inscriptions about the person’s importance and so forth, here was a simple marble slab in the floor bearing just a name: George VI<\/strong>. His name, on its own, is all that needs to be recorded, such was his legacy of leading Britain and the Commonwealth through World War 2 while caring for the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"George<\/a>
George VI tomb Source: BBC News (c) 2003<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Queen Elizabeth is another remarkable inspirational leader whose name, I’m sure, will bring a legacy to mind for a long time. She is to be congratulated for a remarkable reign of sixty years and counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Queen<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Queen<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"George<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"George<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"George<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Official<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Queen Elizabeth is an amazing woman who provides leadership as Head of State not only to the U.K., but also as Head of State to fifteen other nations (including Canada). Furthermore, another 38 member nations of the Commonwealth<\/a> also follow her leadership. Her dedication to her role, her ability to stay steady through turmoil, her simple style and her graciousness have inspired me. I believe her greatest legacy is simply the way she’s lived her life in service to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, one columnist wrote about Queen Elizabeth <\/strong>saying,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In this present time of glaring, intrusive, nasty media, it is hard to imagine the proportions of the Queen\u2019s achievement in serving 60 years, every one of them as one of the most prominent and publicized people in the world, without one gaffe, one embarrassing photograph, one injudicious utterance or slip on a banana peel, literal or metaphoric. Queen Elizabeth II has personified the British middle-class virtues: moderation, unflamboyant consistency and unflappable reliability.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Queen Elizabeth, as her father did, represents the best of the figurehead leader. While every leader has at least a small figurehead role, those who are only figureheads have very little real power. What power they have is pretty much ceremonial and their ability to get anything done depends more on leading by example than by authority. But in spite of that, some figureheads have so much personal power they can accomplish a lot. The Queen fulfills the figurehead role admirably and embodies the aspirations of people everywhere to live lives of civility, graciousness and a whole lot more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s your legacy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a senior leader, you fulfill a figurehead role for sure, but you also have the authority to direct an organization and get results. How will you be remembered<\/strong> twenty or thirty years after you retire? What attributes will people talk about? What will be your lasting imprint on your ministry? It would be really nice if in 2060 or so someone mentioned my name with regards to CCCC and a listener said, “Ah yes, John Pellowe.  He…” and then some nice thing or other is said. What would you want said?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is life about individual accomplishment<\/strong>? About doing? Is it really “all about me”? Or is it about us and how we lived together and what we did for each other?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope to accomplish a lot, through my own work and that of the CCCC team, during my time in leadership here. However, given that Christianity<\/strong> is fundamentally about relationships<\/strong>, between us and God and us and other people, I think our legacies that endure will be about how we cared for each other, inspired one another, and helped our neighbours. Here are some things I think would be worthy to be on a leader’s wish list for a legacy<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n