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Are you following a legend in your organization?  Whether it’s church, the office or sports, there will be a time most of us follow a “legend”.  Or so we’ve been told that they were a legend.

People may receive that moniker for a numbers reasons.  Maybe they increased worship attendance, productivity, or won a bunch of championships.  Odds are, you are not following a legend.  You are following someone who did a solid job, but did not improve the role you now occupy.

Perception is reality.
Numbers rarely lie, although they can be manipulated.  Championships do not lie.

For example:

Two of the best coaches in NFL history are Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson.  They have 5 NFL Super Bowl Championships between them, a bunch of division and championship wins, college and bowl victories and other coaching awards!  They are two of the best coaches of all time.

Walsh created the “West Coast Offense”, utilizing a small ball approach to advance the chains.  He drafted and coached multiple Hall of Famers, including Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.  As the 49 ers head coach, he became a legend.

Johnson is similar.  He left his mark on the game by assembling one of the greatest turnarounds in NFL history.  His first year as head coach, his Cowboys yeilded a 1-15 record.  Absolutely abysmal.  But, over the next four years he went to the playoffs three times, and won two Superbowls!  That is some coaching.  He also had amazing players, such as Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith.

Both of these coaches are legends.  But, who followed them?  Interestingly, two more lesser known legends.

George Seifert followed Bill Walsh as head coach.  He inherited an amazing team, put together by Walsh.  Essentially, he was handed a Super Bowl team.  What did he do with it?  He won a Super Bowl his first year as head coach.  Then, 5 years later, he won another Super Bowl with a different roster.  Few coaches win one Super Bowl, even fewer have won two.  Seifert is a legend, following a legend.

Barry Switzer followed Jimmy Johnson at the Cowboys.  And two years after taking over, he won a Super Bowl.  Amazing.  He also has three collegiate National Championships, which included seven bowl wins.  Barry Switzer is a legend, following a legend.

It is rare to take over for a legend, and continue the winning streak.  Usually, the coach that follows the legend struggles to transition, does not make it to the Super Bowl, and rarely makes the playoffs again.  Who knows why it’s that difficult, and I’m sure there are plenty of leadership books to describe “healthy transitions”, but it’s rare to win like the legend.

Ultimately, it’s how you define championships, not wins, that really matters.  In business and in church, it’s fairly easy to identify a win.  Whether it be profits, sales or stock price, a business can quantify a win.  The church has a tendency to struggle with quantification.  It used to be that wins the church were see as the ABC’s of ministry (attendance, buildings, cash).  I’m personally not a big fan of the ABC’s.    For many it’s worship attendance, baptisms, professions of faith and those evangelizing and serving.  Those are standards I personally choose to focus on as “wins”.

Whatever you measure, you will focus on, as will those who follow and serve.  The struggle though is during times of transition, it is difficult to score big victories.  We are people connected through our relationships.  It’s not just the playbook, the practice or the passion.  We are connected.

One of my favorite coaches of all time is Marty Schottenheimer.  During the 1990’s he coached the Kansas City Chiefs.  He was a great coach and utilized every player to the greatest of their ability to win games.  He never won a Super Bowl for Kansas City, but we were always there in the playoffs, not too far off.  Was he a legend?  For some, yes.  For others, no.

However, it was a true joy to watch a Schottenheimer team play football together.  He spent 10 seasons in KC.  And he had some amazingly memorable players.  Some included: Steve Deberg, Christian Okoye, Barry Word, Stephon Paige, JJ Birden, Neil Smith, Derrick Thomas, Will Shields, Marcus Allen, Joe Montana, Rich Gannon, Tony Gonzalez and Andre Rison.  Now that was a walk down memory lane.

You may not be the “legend”, or even seek after it.  You may be training up the next “legend” in your industry.  These coaches have an amazing coaching tree under them.  Coaches that trained under the legends have exceeded their legends number of Super Bowls.  Not only do legends win, but they train up winners.

If you are not sure if you are following a legend, check the numbers.  Don’t assume you are following a legend.  No matter how many people tell you there were amazing, even if you thought it too.  Search for victories.  Ignore the hype, and get real.  And see what their coaching tree looks like.  Are there a significant amount of good leaders that have been influenced by your predecessor, or did people just tolerate them?

Victories can be had after the legend leaves, and new legends are made.  It takes strength, vision and relationships to get the job done. And if you are not the legend, maybe you are setting up the next person for victory, because everyone follows someone.