The Weltchek Weekly

Our legacy is built on finding and knowing the essential.

That’s what a leading financial company says on its website. Expertise or reputation would be more accurate than legacy, which is what you’re remembered for after you’re gone.

Or take the magazine executive who said he wanted to be sure that his publication carries its legacy into the future. It’s kind of hard to leave something behind and take it into the future at the same time. My head spins at the thought. The executive could have said he wanted to ensure that the magazine continued to thrive in the future.

I was heartened, however, when the head of Weight Watchers, which was being renamed WW and repositioned as a wellness company, said, “Weight Watchers is an incredible legacy brand, and we want to recognize that, but we have to move forward, and we have to recognize what the world is today.”

When you talk about legacy, you’re memorializing the past. And in business, we’re mainly concerned about the future.

For more perspective on this often misused word—and more alternatives—read, “Legacy—It’s What You Leave Behind.”