Episode Transcript
You know people from your career experience who have made their mark in your organization. And in the profession and the community.
These are people who have retired or moved on. But you remember them or know of them because they left a legacy.
Some people are remembered because they made outstanding technical contributions. Some have made great discoveries or spearheaded the development of a successful product or business.
Some excelled at cultivating relationships. Were strong mentors and servant leaders. And focused on helping people. Some donated money.
So now you’re wondering about your own legacy. What can you offer that is everlasting? How will people remember you? How do you want people to remember you?
Ideas for Planning Your Engineering Career Legacy
Some legacies naturally happen. Others are carefully planned.
You can plan to leave a legacy from your engineering career if you wish. Popular recommendations are that you:
- Strive to consistently deliver high quality work
- Be exceptionally adaptive to change
- Maintain a strong professional network
- Take the initiative and go above and beyond.
- Mentor people; share your knowledge.
- Create a succession plan.
- Contribute financially.
But most of these are things you should do for a successful career anyway. Legacy or not. And if you follow these recommendations, your legacy is not necessarily guaranteed.
I never actually thought about intentionally leaving a legacy in my career. But as I got closer to retirement I did worry about being forgotten.
Is all your hard work worth anything in the end? What will all your contributions mean after your career is over, or after you leave?
Ultimately I came to the conclusion that, yes, some day you’ll be forgotten. Your legacy will fade.
But here’s the thing:
The results of your work will live on forever.
The Results of Your Engineering Work Become Your Invisible Career Legacy
People will eventually forget who you were and what awesome work you did. What projects you worked on and what you volunteered for.
The decisions and contributions and sacrifices you made. How talented and creative you were.
But the results of your good work will continue to benefit people forever. It’s your invisible legacy.
No one’s gonna know why, exactly. Or even how. But your good work has repercussions and continues to help successive generations of engineers. It reverberates throughout the universe.
So let me give you some advice.
And if you want to follow up on any of this advice, sign up for a strategy session with me. We can go deeper and come up with a plan that meets your needs.
And check out the other episodes of this podcast. Because all of this advice I’m about to give you is covered.
Your Engineering Contribution and Fulfilling Career Power the Future
Here’s my advice to you:
- Focus on the vision you have for your dream career. Find the place where you can make your contribution, have the most influence and impact, and be most fulfilled.
- Learn about your energetic center and stay in touch with it. Align yourself with work that leverages your strengths and has meaning for you.
- Own your career. Own your vision, your workload, and your calendar. Set your boundaries for work-life integration and enforce them. Advocate for yourself.
- Build your courage and confidence so you’re more comfortable with risk-taking. Invest in yourself to learn and develop professionally. And stretch yourself into leadership roles.
- And finally, connect with people. Cultivate trusting relationships. And practice career messaging by sharing your goals and aspirations.
In this way you’ll have opportunities to have impact and make a difference. You’ll thrive in a fulfilling career. And, who knows, maybe you’ll leave a legacy.
And remember that, whether it’s intentional on your part or not, you are blazing a trail for others. Someday a young woman engineer will have an easier time with her job because of you.
She will not know why, she will not know how. But she’ll be grateful. And she’ll also do a great job – and go a little farther in her career – because of you.
I don’t know about you, but I’m happy with that.
Next time on Her Engineering Career Podcast, we’ll explore ways to ease you way in after a career pivot. I hope you’ll join me for Episode 105.