In this episode, Brin’na discusses the true essence of legacy, emphasizing that it is not defined by grand achievements but rather by the small, often unnoticed choices we make every day. Through personal anecdotes, she illustrates how these moments of connection and integrity shape our leadership legacy. Brin’na challenges listeners to reflect on their daily choices and the impact they have on others, reinforcing that true leadership is about making meaningful connections, especially when no one is watching.
✨ Key Takeaways ✨
🌱 Your leadership legacy isn’t built in the big moments.
🧩 It’s the small choices that define your legacy.
💖 People remember how you made them feel.
🤝 Choose connection over convenience in leadership.
👀 Legacy is built in moments when nobody is watching.
🪞 The choices you make shape your team’s perception of you.
🛡️ Integrity matters, even when it’s inconvenient.
🔍 Reflect on your daily choices and their impact.
⏳ Patience and curiosity are vital in leadership.
🌟 Your legacy is created through everyday interactions.
I challenge you to think about the thousand small choices that you made throughout this year. Did you choose patience over frustration Did you choose curiosity over judgment Did you choose to listen when someone needed to be heard?
Those choices, those are your legacy.
'na And as we're winding down:
reflection and pondering of life. But it's not the big flashy put this on your LinkedIn kind of legacy, but real meaningful legacy. The one that's built in the moments when there is nobody else watching, when there is no audience, when it's just you and a single choice. And I posted something this week that resonated, or at least from the feedback so far has really resonated.
And it's this, your leadership legacy isn't built in the big moments. It is built in the thousands of small choices that no one else sees. And honestly, I think we get this backwards majority of the time. A lot of times we think that legacy is about the big promotion or the big win that we've been working towards for so long. It's the company-wide recognition based off where you stack or the achievements.
that get you the publicity and your name ripples throughout the company. But that's not what people remember about working with you. So let me tell you about two moments from my target days that taught me what legacy really means. The first one is when I was rushing to a meeting and I sadly was running late because I left late. And as I'm speed walking through a store, I see a team member.
And it's one of our newer team members. And I can tell that he was struggling with a customer that was not very happy. And to be quite honest, the customer was being a little bit harsh. And I could see this team member getting so flustered in that moment. And it was like they were crumbling right in front of my eyes that I just, couldn't continue to walk past it without intervening. But.
I share this because I did have two choices in that moment. I could keep walking to my important meeting that I knew I was already running late to, or I can stop and help them out. Nobody would blame me for walking by. Nobody was watching or saying, ooh, missed opportunity. You better turn back around. But I chose to stop. And I helped calm the situation and diffuse the frustration from the guest in that moment. Spent five
minutes of my time navigating the situation and then going through how to best support the team member in that moment. And afterwards, I asked the question, so do you feel like you can handle this type of situation if it happens again? And it was three years ago. So this Q4, I still live in the area of the 10 targets that I used to manage.
and who doesn't go to Target during Q4. Even as a prior employee, I love the company and I love to still shop there. And I walked into the store this week just to browse the holiday stuff and of course see the good deals that are running. And guess who is still working there? Same team member at the service desk. And as a former employee who knew
It had to have been their first week in role when I caught that interaction. And this time I just got to stand back and observe. And as I was in the checkout line, they came up to me and we kind of giggled and I caught up and I'm like, it was so great to see you in action today. How things been? And in that moment, they made a point to say,
You know, I'm still so embarrassed that like you saw that happen because I should have handled it differently. And I'm like, no, you shouldn't have. You were new. And this is part of growing. And it's my job to also teach you how to be confident in those situations because they do happen, especially when you work in retail. And they went on to say how that specific moment changed how they viewed themselves as a leader, even though they didn't have the title of a leader.
Pretty wild. The second moment is a different day when I was in back-to-back meetings and it was during talent review season, which is just a lot of heavy weighted conversations. I was exhausted and I could not wait to get in my car and go home. And as soon as the last call ended, I closed my computer, loaded up my bag, headed out to the parking lot and I saw a pyramid sitting in her car and it looked like
in my eyes in a quick glance, it looked like she was crying. And if not, she was about to. And in that moment, I had two choices, keep walking, act like I didn't see her, not allow her to feel like maybe she was embarrassed or she was trying to hide, hence why she was in her car right after our call. And it had been a long day for her too. Or I could have decided
to drop my bags in my car, walk over and tap on her window and ask if she's okay. Shocker, I dropped my bags and I went and tapped on the window. And it turns out she was really overwhelmed and she was feeling like she wasn't cut out for this position. She wasn't sure if this is what she wanted to do long-term. And I asked, you have somewhere to be right now? Or can you talk for a little bit? She's like,
I don't know, I'm just, I just, I'm going to cry. And I'm like, can I sit with you? Cause I might cry too, but also you can cry with me while I just sit here. So I jumped in the front seat of her car and we didn't even drive anywhere. We just sat there for about 15 to 20 minutes. And I shared some of my own struggles, some of my own frustrations when I was new or to the position, the weight of talent discussions and how I had to navigate that.
to still take care of myself and my own wellbeing when I go home at the end of the day. And before I got out of the car, the tears had stopped and she asked for a hug, which I always love and embrace. And since then she promoted and she's one of the strongest leaders to date from the market.
And I share those two stories, not because of the choices that I chose to make in those moments, but to draw a point home that every moment is a choice. And as a leader, you have to be able to catch those moments and actually say, what do I want to do? Because the choice is yours.
Your legacy is not built in the boardrooms. It is built in parking lots. It is built in a walk-by moment. It is built in hallway conversations. It's built in moments when you choose connection over convenience. Because most of the time, the most powerful moments of your leadership show up when it is the least convenient for your schedule. It is when people think they don't have time to stop and say anything.
They don't care anyways. This is the last thing on their list of follow-up.
The thousand small choices that you make, that's your real legacy in the making. But here's what makes this tricky. In the moments that these choices don't feel significant, there's no immediate reward either. There's no recognition. There's nobody that's gonna pop up and say, you did the right thing. There's no metric that tracks times you chose to care for someone when you didn't have to. But the people
that you chose to show up for, they remember. They remember how you made them feel in that moment when they were struggling, when they realized that you remember that you saw them. You saw them as a person, not the position that they also happened to hold. They remember when you choose integrity, whether or not it's convenient or inconvenient.
I've been coaching leaders now for years, but under my own company for coming up on two years. And I can always tell the difference between someone who understands this concept and someone who thinks they do, but they actually don't. The ones who get it, their teams will follow them anywhere. And the ones that don't, they actually wonder why their team doesn't seem engaged.
So as we close out:
Did you choose integrity when nobody was watching? Those choices, those are your legacy. So here's your challenge as we start to close out this year. Pay attention to the small choices each and every day that we make. The moment when you can choose connection over convenience, patience over productivity and people over process. Because years from now, your team won't remember
most of the meetings or your metrics, but they will, without a doubt, remember how you made them feel in those small moments when nobody else was watching. That's legacy. That's your leadership legacy. And that is what lasts. Until next time, keep choosing connection over small moments. And remember, you've got this, and I am right here rooting for you. This is Brin'na I'll catch you on the next episode.
