Weekend Thoughts, 9/11/21: A legacy

On the 20th anniversary of 9-11, it’s hard to ignore how fleeting life is. What we accomplish during our time is up to us.

What do you want your legacy to be? Are you fulfilling it? Do you maintain awareness toward your goals and what impact you want to have?

While I’m most proud of my family and the legacy I will leave through my kids, we are also afforded opportunities to leave a legacy professionally.

Building great products is an incredible opportunity to help and serve others. The trust and confidence customers place in our hands is not a responsibility we should take lightly. We need to bring urgency and passion to solving their problems and innovating on their behalf. We are trusted to do so.

Investing in open source, and specifically efforts with SimplyTest.me, reminds me that volunteer efforts also leave a legacy. It is important to help create future generations. Everyone deserves the same opportunities I have been afforded. This is especially so for those underserved and underrepresented. While tech can be a difficult and demanding career path, it is our responsibility to create opportunities for those to learn, grow, make a living, and also have impact. Open source is critical to lowering barriers and bringing an equitable, accessible foundation to build upon. All ships rise.

Covid-19 has brought new found awareness and urgency for many to fulfill their goals in life. Many have chosen to chase their dreams, try new careers, and test an employers market at the chance of a better path ahead. While the world re-opens, many are not turning back to the jobs which didn’t have a good culture or held them back from earning a reasonable living. Employees have a ton of opportunities right now and employers need to evolve. It is overdue that our priorities evolve in such a way. Businesses doing so are thriving and many studies demonstrate that a good culture retain employees and the employees are actually more productive. It’s an environment that helps people thrive. I want this to be a cornerstone of my legacy.

During this somber day, I hope and wish we all do our part to find and foster opportunities to establish a new and more equitable future, demand better work environments and work culture, and help ensure all people reach their goals during their time on the earth.

Finally, don’t forget to recognize and celebrate impact when you see it. Recognize the accomplishments of your teams for the amazing work they do for customers. Cherish people who show up every day fighting for a better culture and the impact you want to see. And celebrate those who reach their goals both at and even outside of your company. Spread more good news than bad and drive the kind of culture that isn’t purely about business objectives but one that raises up the people that help businesses achieve them. People are, in fact, the most important thing a business has.