Steve Rigby Co-CEO, Rigby Group
Legacy or purpose? I recently attended a virtual round table event for large multi-generational family companies to discuss legacy. Like Rigby Group, the business my father founded and where I am Co-Chief Executive, these companies employ thousands of people around the world and pay substantial amounts of tax. Most had strong ties to a particular town, city, or region, despite sharing a broad global outlook. While Chatham House rules exclude me from passing direct comment, one question stood out from the conversation: Does the world need legacy or purpose? For family businesses, this is a pertinent question to ask. While legacy is defined as the long-lasting effect of events or actions that took place in the past, I see purpose as the reason for which something is done or created. Multi-generational family businesses are unique things, personal, meaningful, confrontational, creative, entrepreneurial, community centric. There are many other words, but at the heart of the business is likely a founder or founders who are striving for a form of legacy. Legacy can take many forms, but in reality, it often revolves around a small number of common points: purpose or vocation, moral code, stewardship, building for the future, and hope. Purpose is often more subjective. In my experience, it is something that is open to possibilities. It has energy and emotion, intention, an ability to hold back negativity, and can push a business – and the people in it – through a period of adversity.
more associated with purpose than legacy. However, my father’s business career is probably more closely aligned to legacy. He started with nothing and is likely to leave behind something highly consequential. For our family, legacy and purpose are both highly relevant. The dual considerations of purpose and legacy are not specific to family business. A ruling government’s purpose is to ensure the welfare and security of its citizens and to provide a framework for the orderly functioning of society. Yet, all too often, government becomes obsessed with legacy. For those of us who care about business and the future of the economy, we need to hold our political elite to account. This is how we define purpose and generate success – and avoid decisions being taken with political legacy in mind. With an election fast approaching, I sincerely hope the new government approaches life differently, with less inward focus and more emphasis on our purpose as a country. That is what we need to drive us forward and help recover some of the years lost to Covid and a period of political instability and infighting.
In politics, as in business: Get the purpose right and the legacy will often look after itself.
We turn 50 next year at Rigby Group and my own journey as a part of one of the UK’s largest family businesses is one
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