When someone passes away, people rarely talk about the awards.
They don't recite the win/loss record or the résumé highlights.
Reading tributes to NBA coach Rick Adelman, what keeps coming up is how he treated people. His integrity. His mentorship. The way he made those around him feel.
Accomplishments matter. But they're rarely what we're remembered for.
At the end of a career, legacy tends to come down to the lives we touched, the opportunities we created, and who we helped along the way.
Recently, I had the privilege of witnessing a beautiful moment at the San Francisco Symphony: three musicians were honored as they performed their final concert before retirement. As the CEO reflected on their decades of service, what moved me to tears was not their remarkable virtuosity, but the recognition of who they were as teammates, mentors, and contributors to something larger than themselves—the culture of the organization and the community it serves.
So here's a question to consider: What do you hope people say about you when it's all said and done?
