TIME TO READ: 3 MINUTES

Welcome to The Sunday Shift.

I’m scrolling LinkedIn when a speaking panel catches my eye with three men. Two I recognize, and 1 I don’t.

Curious, I do a quick search.
It leads me to his Wikipedia page.

He has impressive credentials, a loaded résumé, and global impact. What catches my eye is a moment from his childhood when he witnessed firsthand a healthcare problem with children in India, his native country. An experience that shaped everything that followed.

That’s when I felt it.
This story is just beginning.

Reading his page, I realized this is the opposite of that question people love to ask:

“What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?”

I’ve never liked that question.

It’s not uncomfortable. It’s powerless.

You have no control in that moment.

Someone can live their whole life causing harm and be sainted after death.
Someone can be deeply flawed and suddenly remembered only for their best traits.

I suppose that’s not entirely a bad thing.

But I don’t want that.

I think the funeral question bothers me because it asks us to reflect from a place where change is no longer possible.

It turns legacy into a performance for others. Not a responsibility we actively hold.

And yet, we do have a place where our story is written while we’re still alive.

It’s private.
It’s public.
It’s evolving.
And it can be changed.

Imagine this instead:

Your Wikipedia page.

Not as an ego exercise or sales pitch. Imagine it as a leadership one.

A living record of what you stood for.
The problems you chose to work on.
The impact you made on people and systems.

If you don’t like what it says today, you still have time.

That’s the difference.

You can’t rewrite a funeral speech.
But you can rewrite how you live.

Leadership isn’t about being remembered well.

It’s about living in a way that doesn’t require revision later.

You own your story.
You get to write it, and live it.

I’m trying, too.

Exercise

Write your Wikipedia page.

Here’s a simple template to use.

Don’t edit for perfection.
Edit your truth.

Ideas to Ponder

• If your story were written today, what would feel unfinished?
• What impact are you delaying that you still have time to make?
• What chapter are you actively writing — versus avoiding?

This Week’s Focus

Draft your Wikipedia page as it exists today.

Then circle one sentence you still have the power to change.

You’re the most powerful person you’ll ever know.
One small shift will help you believe it, too.

To bold moves,
Jenn

P.S. Legacy isn’t what people say later. It’s what you choose — and live — now.

P.P.S. About those three men on the panel — only 32% of professional public speakers are women*, even though audiences are significantly more likely to attend events featuring women as keynotes or panelists. The demand is there. The visibility isn’t. I want to see more of us on those stages — because our perspectives belong there.
*Bizzabo

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