What would the world look like if we were, “All out of legends?” The day when the good guys grow tired and weary. When those who sacrificed so much for others finally fade into the sunset.
All Out of Legends
I often keep notes on my phone of potential blog topics. It’s a list of random things that are my go-to on a night I can’t conjure up a topic. In scrolling through the list, I found this gem.
This particular note was thumbed in while watching an episode of Yellowstone. Rip, who is one of the main characters in the series, visits a real-life cowboy named Billy Klapper. Rip was there to pick up a bit, a bar that goes in the horse’s mouth, that one of his friends had ordered.
While there, he meets the frail version of the legend. A man well into his eighties, with slowed speech, and worn down by life…but still working.
As they talk, Rip picks up a set of spurs on the shelf. He is surprised at the fact they are one piece of steel. He asks “how much?” Mr. Klapper ends up giving them to Rip at no cost.
In the following scene, Rip is back at the ranch. Another ranch hand familiar with the legend asks him about the “Klappers” he was holding. Rip shared how impressed he was that they were, “all one piece.” Rip said, “I hadn’t seen that in thirty years.”
The ranch hand responds, “When he’s (Klapper) gone, we’re all out of legends.” This single phrase really had an impact on me. What is this world going to do when we are all out of legends? It’s sad and scary all balled up in one emotion.
With that said, how do we prevent legends from fading away? Here are two thoughts.
Honor Legends
It would be uncommon to place a normal person in a scene like this. But, Klapper was a local legend and the makers of Yellowstone wanted to honor him. If it wasn’t for that decision, millions of people may never have known who he was. He could have just faded away.
We honor legends through gratitude. Gratitude that isn’t just held within, it’s expressed through spoken and written words.
We can all be guilty of desiring to blaze an ambitious new path in leadership. It’s natural. It can also be dishonoring to the people who came before us. Those giant’s shoulders on which we stand on today. If not for them, we would not be who or where we are today.
Simple acknowledgement through gratitude honors legends.
Absorb Legends
My Paw Paw was one of these people for me. I absorbed as much as I could from the man, whether it was working in the garden, cooking in the kitchen, or playing Jeopardy on nights I slept over. When he received his cancer diagnosis, I ramped up that effort to absorb as much of his wisdom as I could before he left this world.
In leadership, there is great value in absorbing the wisdom of legends. Wisdom is experience. We gain wisdom one of two ways, either through someone else’s experience or our own. Their experiences hurt a lot less! The more we learn from legends, the higher percentage of success we have to look forward to.
There is so much leadership wisdom to absorb from legends.
Raise Up Legends
I once heard that there are three phases of Santa Claus. First, we believe. Second, we don’t believe. Third, we are Santa!
Well, there is a time and a place as leaders where we must realize that we are those legends to someone else. It’s that sobering reminder that we hold the awesome responsibility to raise up the next generation of legends. They are in dire and desperate need of legends. It’s time to coach, teach, and reach them…at all costs.
We owe it to the legends that came before us to raise up more legends.
Conclusion
I have faith that there will always be legends to look up to…the world certainly needs them. But, I do have genuine concerns.
We have watched a pandemic, supply chain challenges, labor shortages, and the rise of cowardly keyboard warriors take their tolls on today’s leaders. I often say those who have led since 2019 can count their service in dog years!
Our leadership legends have either chosen to fade into the sunset early or they are just simply worn down from the wear and tear. It is saddening to watch, but there is hope.
At the end of most books, there is an epilogue. It essentially sums up the entire book.
Our leadership stories will contain an epilogue. It will be written by those we lead, the ones we are entrusted to love and care for. The messages that we will send to a generation of which we will never see.
My hope is that somewhere within our hearts lies a deep desire to honor legends, absorb legends, and raise up legends. Just provide the author of that epilogue, our legacies, with good content to work with. Content rooted in the purposeful pursuit of being a good and faithful servant.
With that…we can make certain this world will never be, “All out of legends.”