When it is all said and done, what do you really want to be known for? One of the most aspiring leaders in the Bible had quite an impressive resume (humorously adjusted for 2026 vernacular):
- Completed a 40-year executive mentorship program under the Founder (Exodus 24:13)
- Maintained an after-hours presence at HQ after leadership logged off (Exodus 33:11)
- Led market-entry due diligence, then authored the dissenting recommendation on a 10–2 no-go vote (Numbers 13–14)
- Retained through a 40-year workforce transition that sunsetted the entire legacy team (Numbers 32:12)
- Tapped as successor in a board-approved leadership transition (Numbers 27:18–23)
- Executed a cross-border relocation of 2 million headcount with zero attrition (Joshua 3–4)
- Removed major barriers to entry with an unconventional 7-day go-to-market strategy (Joshua 6)
- Conducted a root-cause analysis on an underperforming project and delivered a full turnaround (Joshua 7–8)
- Negotiated extended business hours to close the deal (Joshua 10:12–14)
- Closed 31 hostile takeovers (Joshua 12:24)
- Rolled out territory allocations to 12 regional divisions (Joshua 13–21)
- Achieved 100% of deliverables against the original strategic plan (Joshua 21:45)
- Built a scalable culture that sustained performance beyond his tenure (Joshua 24:31)
His name was Joshua.
When he died at 110, his memoir didn’t mention any of it. It simply said:
“Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died.” (Joshua 24:29)
“The servant of the Lord”. After a lifetime of impressive wins, when it was all said and done, he was simply “the servant of the Lord.” That is servant leadership at its core (to read more about the attitude of a servant, click here).
And really, for any of us, isn’t that the only legacy that truly really matters?
What legacy are you truly pursuing today, and why? How does it compare to Joshua’s?
(Joshua’s tongue-in-cheek résumé list was built with the help of Claude AI.)