Author Russ Kathrein, VP of LBM, Do it Best

This article was originally published in the LBM Journal

If the numbers were strong, I assumed I was doing my job well. If they were exceptional, I assumed I was building a legacy.

Over time, I have come to see that legacy has very little to do with numbers.

The scoreboard matters. We are in business to perform. But when your career is over, no one gathers around to reminisce about the quarter you exceeded your plan by 3%. They do not tell stories about your reload optimization strategy or the year you expanded margin by 50 basis points. Those metrics may have earned you a bonus or a promotion, but they do not define your legacy. What people remember is the impact you had on them.

Maya Angelou said it well: “People will not remember what you said or what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel.” In leadership, that statement carries real weight. Your team will not recall every directive you gave or every initiative you launched. They will remember whether they felt respected, challenged, supported, and seen.

I once worked with a manager who was intensely focused on short-term results. He was intelligent, driven, and highly competitive. Senior leadership noticed. He earned promotions and increased responsibility.

From the outside, his career appeared to be a success story. But if you looked more closely, you saw something different.

He spent the majority of his time managing upward. He was highly attentive to what his superiors wanted and made sure they saw his accomplishments. Very little of his energy was directed sideways toward peers or downward toward the people who worked for him. He equated leadership with personal advancement and organizational performance.

He did not invest much time in developing his team. Coaching conversations were rare. Feedback was transactional. Delegation was about efficiency, not growth. If someone performed well, he took the result as confirmation of his leadership. If someone struggled, he often replaced them.

Over time, the impact became clear. People did what they were asked, but little more. They met expectations, but they did not stretch. They complied, but they did not commit. They understood that their manager’s primary interest was in how their performance reflected on him. Trust never fully developed. Collaboration was limited. Innovation was minimal.

When he eventually moved on, there was no deep bench of leaders ready to step up. There were no protégés who spoke about how he had shaped their careers. There was no lasting imprint on the culture of the organization. The numbers had been good. The legacy was thin.

That experience forced me to reexamine my own definition of success. As I have progressed in my career, I find that the most meaningful moments are not tied to quarterly performance. They are tied to people.

It is the call from a former team member who has been promoted and wants advice. It is the message from someone who says that a difficult conversation we had years ago changed the way they lead. It is watching someone you once coached develop confidence and competence that exceeds your own. Those are the moments that endure.

For newer managers, this can be difficult to accept. Early in your career, results are visible and measurable. Development is slower and less tangible. It requires patience. It requires you to invest in conversations that may not pay off this quarter. It requires you to care about the aspirations and growth of people whose names may never appear on a scorecard.

But if you want to leave a legacy, you must shift your focus. Ask yourself a simple question: if you left your role tomorrow, who would be better because you were there?

Would your team have grown in capability? Would they have more confidence? Would they trust leadership more because of your example? Would there be people ready to take on greater responsibility because you prepared them?

Results matter. They always will. But results are temporary. People are enduring.

At the end of your career, your title will be given to someone else. Your office will be reassigned. Your performance reports will be archived. What remains are the leaders you developed, the confidence you built, and the culture you influenced.

That is your legacy. Build it intentionally.