Fix This Next: Building a Legacy with the Fifth Level Principles

Community Continuance – Do you clients defend, support, and help your business?

Let’s face it, we have a highly charged society at the moment.  Emotions and tensions are high.  Let say you have some false things written about your company and it hits Facebook and goes viral.  Will your customers come to your defense?  Will they post truths about your company to overwhelm the false statements?  Will they fight for you?  That’s what Community Continuance is about.  It’s about having your community step in and support you.

Intentional Leadership Turn – Is there a plan for leadership transition?

At some point you are going to want to step back from your business. 

You may want to build another business, have less stress, or even retire. 

Are you intentionally growing leaders in your company that can step into your role?  Is that leadership being groomed to continue the Legacy you’ve created?

For example, providing clarity is our mission. 

I want to grow my leadership team with the legacy of always providing clarity to our clients.  This is the reason we exist and what our clients need from us and I don’t want to see that diminish if I step back from the day-to-day operations.

Heart-Based Promoters – Is your organization promoted by people inside/outside of the organization without guidance?

I love the story Mike writes about in this section.  It’s about Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a TV series that gets cancelled.  The fans are in an uproar and starts a #saveB99 campaign on Twitter.  It doesn’t get the network to reinstate, but it did get the attention of a competing network which picked it up within a day of the campaign.  That fan based save the show without being promoted by anyone related to the show.

I want raving fans like that.  How about you?

Quarterly Dynamics – Do you have a clear vision for the future and quarterly dynamics to adapt and change to ensure you reach your vision?

This level is all about getting your team on board.  Do you meet with the team each quarter to see which way the “wind” is blowing?  Do you know the obstacles in your way?

The part I loved about this section is hearing that sometimes to make one department successful another department may need to slow down.  It’s all about each department working together to realize the vision.  So, if your deliverable team is backed up, then maybe your sales team must slow for a moment.  It’s about being in this together.

Ongoing Adaptation – Are you designed to adapt, improve and find ways to be better?

There are few things in this world that are absolutely certain – Change is one of those few things.  The final core need in Legacy is basically – Survival.  Technology will continue to change how we live our lives.  So, are you constantly looking at the ways we will change?

For me, it’s being aware that technology will take away the “nuts” and “bolts” of bookkeeping. Getting the data into QuickBooks is no longer the primary focus of my company.  I’m focusing on the human need of clarity.  Sure technology can spit out the information for clarity, but I’m building a business on talking my clients through the information.  I’m a sounding board for them.  A place to ask the questions.  A place to brainstorm solutions to problems.

What are you doing to make sure your business survives?