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Carlsbad, CA—As 2013 winds to a close, The Centurion wanted to share a recent column penned by industry leadership expert Bill Boyajian in his weekly blog. Here are his thoughts on leaving a legacy:

“One of the best legacies you can leave is through the people you work with, live with, and lead. The mark you leave on them will live long after you. That's why leadership matters. It's a position of influence. 

Great leadership inevitably brings a strong legacy. We earn it by captivating the minds and hearts of people we work with to achieve a vision of the future and by knitting the collective wisdom of those people into a purpose beyond what they would imagine or achieve on their own. When work or volunteerism goes beyond the ordinary and becomes a mission in life, you are moving toward a legacy. 

A legacy is what's left behind when you are gone, and it comes from a place deep within. If you want to leave a legacy, set your mind on a higher purpose, be ambitious for the right reasons, pour your heart and life into people, attribute success to those around you, take responsibility for what goes wrong, balance personal humility with professional will, and never limit your company's potential. In an incredibly counterintuitive way, you'll leave a legacy -- a personal mark, not just a name -- by serving people, and a great cause, without regard to your role in the process. After all, the best way to live your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it. The key to leading is not how you start—important as that may be—but how you finish. Finish strong.”

Bill Boyajian of Bill Boyajian and Associates, Inc. is the author of Developing the Mind of A Leader, and consults for top firms in the gem and jewelry industry. Read his blog here or contact him at (310) 691-9562, email: bill@billboyajianassociates.com, or log onto www.mindofaleader.com.