Welcome to Watch Us Lead, I am thrilled to welcome you to the podcast! If you are a leader or executive who is committed to social impact and wants to create the systemic and structural change we need in this world, this podcast is for you. This show is a resource for all of us on this social impact purpose-driven journey, and I’m looking forward to being here with you each week!
For my first episode, I’m introducing myself, showing you what you can expect from the podcast each week, and sharing the unique perspective I bring to the conversation about lasting social impact. I’m kicking off the show by talking about legacy-level impact; what it is, why it’s important, and why it sets the stage for you as you begin your social impact journey.
Join me this week as I discuss the importance of having bold, deep, and sometimes difficult conversations and the role that large for-profit businesses must play in driving social, structural, and systemic change. Hear why legacy-level impact needs to be a necessary component of all business design, and how you can create the impact needed in the world.
To celebrate the launch of this show, I’m giving away Audible gift cards to 10 lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts.
I want your honest feedback so that I can create an awesome show that provides tons of value. Click here to learn more about the contest and how to enter.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
The 5 key brand shifts necessary to make a change.
What an impact-driven business and leadership entail.
How to assess your business and leadership to see how you’re showing up.
What true change requires.
A list of previous movements and people who have achieved this level of impact.
What type of imperfect action will lead to the world we’re all working towards.
LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE:
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
You're listening to Watch Us Lead where hard conversations become significant actions. I'm your host Kimberly Y. Bennett founder of K Bennett Law and Designing the New Legal. Together we’ll create the brand shifts that lead to sustainable change. Now, let’s dive into today’s show.
Legacy level impact is positive, purposeful change that breaks that status quo and has lasting influence for generations. I'm thrilled to welcome you to our first episode of Watch us Lead. Well, actually it’s not quite the first episode. It’s our first podcast episode. In fact, we were a live show for some time. Now we are bringing our live conversations and community here, and I am super excited.
So if you were part of our live community in the past or if this is your first time learning about it, we absolutely plan on continuing taping live shows. So stay tuned for future announcements because I would love for you to join us when we’re back live.
Like our live shows, I want this to be interactive and I want your engagement, your feedback, your thoughts, your insights on all the topics that we discuss. We need to have these bold, deep, necessary, and sometimes hard conversations that allow us to be the leaders and design the businesses that achieve legacy level impact. This show was meant to be a resource for you, for me, and for all of us on this social impact purpose driven journey. So hit me up on email and social so we can continue the conversation.
Today as we kick off the first podcast episode of Watch Us Lead, it’s only right that we talk about legacy level impact. What it is, why it’s important, and how it sets the stage for you as you begin or continue your social impact journey. So legacy level impact is positive, purposeful change that breaks the status quo and has lasting influence for generations. Take a moment and ask yourself what people, movements, organizations, or businesses have achieved this level of impact.
When I think about this, I think about Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Harriet Tubman, Zora Neale Hurston, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, the abolitionist movement, the civil rights movement, the NAACP, the McArthur Foundation. I mean so many organizations, peoples, and movements run through my mind. I'm sure the same thing is happening with you right now.
While I'm thinking about those from the past, I'm also thinking about those that are on this journey right now like the Black Lives Matter movement. A movement that I am personally involved in and care a lot about. But what’s always been painfully missing from this conversation is the role large for profit businesses have played in driving social, structural, and systemic change.
Local businesses have been part of this conversation. Some have and continue to do the good word, the necessary work. I'm sure you know them; the businesses lead by your neighbors and your community leads. But they can't do it alone. We need larger organizations, not just non-profits. We need the for profit businesses to do this work and to commit to driving social, systemic, and structural change.
2020 was yet another example of this. This past year it was hard, but it wasn’t shocking. Again, we are having these conversations about racial injustice and equality, discrimination, oppression. Yet it feels like so much of our progress keeps getting wiped out or it’s simply stagnant. Legacy level impact should not be a nice to have or an afterthought for businesses. It needs to be a necessary component of business design, and I believe part of the reason this conversation ebbs and flows is because some of those that hold the power in our society, namely businesses, just don’t care enough.
Quite frankly as a Black woman, it’s damn right frustrating that businesses are operating without regard to their impact. Because we have this conversation over and over again, and yet it feels like we’re only slightly moving this damn needle, right. We need to move the needle right now at this very moment as entrepreneurs and executives. We can and must build businesses that are designed to create this level of impact because we need this change now.
So we need you, the business leaders, of these new and established businesses to understand that how and your business operated in the past cannot be how you and your business will operate in the future. That means it’s time to shift to designing your business for legacy level impact. This is the conversations we’re going to have on this podcast.
For the first couple of episodes, I'm going to jump into the five shifts and go a little bit deeper. For today, I'm just going to talk about them so you can start understanding where they are and start doing a quick assessment of your business and your leadership to see how you're showing up. So the first shift is disruptive change. More specifically, radical change that breaks the status quo. This is going beyond what everyone does and saying it’s time to lead a new path. And that path is saying I want to change the way society, structures, and systems are set up.
The second is being a bold and activist brand. That’s being a protected brand but that’s also unapologetic and aligned with how they show up day in day out. The third is shifting towards having a thriving and resilient team, one that’s inclusive. People first. That amplifies wellbeing. The fourth is transformation leadership. Leadership that is empathetic, collaborative, authentic, you know. Gives people a sense of belonging. And fifth, it’s strategic, sustainable, and scalable growth. It’s innovative, efficient, data driven, scientific and systematized.
These are the key brand shifts that if you are ready to design a business for legacy level impact that you need to be making. Because while legacy level impact won’t happen overnight, we can accelerate it if we start doubling down strategically on how to make that happen. Then taking imperfect action aligned with that strategy every single day.
This is what Watch Us Lead is about. It’s recognizing that it’s up to us, the leaders, executives, rebels, and activists of the world to create the kind of impact we all need. All the good intentions in the world just won't cut it. Legacy level impact requires these key brand shifts that will fund and fuel the effort and momentum needed to move this mountain.
If you are a disruptive leader or an executive that wants to create the systemic and structural change we need in this world then intentionally designing a purpose driven business that funds your impact is crucial. Whether it’s day one of your business or you're running a multimillion or billion dollar business, it’s time to step up and lead in a way you haven’t before. It’s time to design and lead legacy level impact businesses y’all. No more hiding. No more playing it say. Step into your leadership.
Listen, you're beyond just giving face time to what matters. You know true change requires creativity, curiosity, commitment, and most importantly strategy. Enough of these actions are not tied to strategy. Let’s double down on strategy before we act. This is the conversation we need to be having. I'm sure you know there's a lot that goes into growing a social impact business. One that’s not only innovative and bold, but profitable and sustainable.
So I invite you to move beyond hashtags and well intentioned training sessions, and instead to join me each week to have the hard conversations. The ones that will move us forward. The kind of conversations that take us from wanting to do better to stepping into that better in every area of your brand and your being.
The reality is imperfect action isn’t only okay. It’s guaranteed. You won't wake up with the perfect plan for what to do every day are you're working towards creating legacy level impact. In fact, you're not expected to. Here’s the thing. Instead it’s about you continuously stepping up imperfectly day after day. It’s you listening, truly listening, so you're able to hear when you might have screwed up. It might hurt a bit, but you’ve got to hear it. So then you're able to learn and do better and be better, and then double down on your commitment to creating this legacy level impact.
Because that’s the work we need to be doing. Strategic, imperfect, focused, committed work every damn day. That’s the type of imperfect action that will create the future we’re all working towards. One that’s inclusive. That’s diverse. That’s equitable. That’s anti-racist. Because this impact work isn’t transactional. It’s not one and done. It’s long term ongoing relationship focused and generational.
So as we step into this conversation, let me introduce myself. My name is Kimberly Bennett. I'm an innovator, an entrepreneur, a legal industry disruptor, a brand strategist. And oh I happen to be a lawyer that runs my own private practice. I care deeply about scaling businesses that lead the change we want to see in this world. So I'm pulling together my diverse background in law, psychology, public relations, activism, and hell, being a Black woman of Caribbean decent in the United States. And all of that to bring a unique perspective into this conversation. Because I think it’s important that we bring clarity and strategy to what lasting impact really takes.
Because here’s the thing, and I just need to say it. We can do better, much better. I know it will take leaders and executives like you to challenge the status quo and to lead others to create the social, systemic, and structural change we require. I know stepping into that space might seem scary for some, but you know it’s time and you're ready to do it. So I'm inviting you to join me and my fellow disruptive guests to have the hard and real conversations around what an impact driven business really entails. What impact driven leadership really entails.
Each week we’ll come together and discuss how to strategically operate your disruptive impact driven business. Those conversations will cover everything from protecting your organization’s intellectual property to creating a kind of company culture where people thrive to developing living leadership day in day out even when you screw up. Then to discussing the key brand shifts that allow you to show up and put real action behind those good intentions.
So if you are a leader committed to social impact and you're ready to go beyond hashtags and trainings and blacking out your profile picture then be sure to hit that subscribe button because this podcast is for you. Of course, I have to say this because I'm a lawyer. But I'm not your lawyer. Even though legal topics are discussed on this podcast, and they will be. This show is for educational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.
If you need legal advice then you should contact an attorney to help you assess your facts, develop your strategy, and define your next steps. So now that you know where we are headed, I invite you to join me as we roll up our sleeves and look at the areas in your business and your life where change truly begins. It’s time for action.
To celebrate the launch of the show, I'm giving away Audible gift cards to 10 lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts. It doesn’t have to be a five-star review of course, although I sure hope you love the show. I want your honest feedback so I can create an awesome show that provides tons of value. Visit kbennettlaw.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. I’ll be announcing winners on an upcoming episode. See you soon.
Thanks for listening to the show. I look forward to sharing more insights with you on upcoming episodes. Let’s continue to take imperfect action. See you next week.
Legacy level impact is positive, purposeful change that breaks that status quo and has lasting influence for generations. I'm thrilled to welcome you to our first episode of Watch us Lead. Well, actually it’s not quite the first episode. It’s our first podcast episode. In fact, we were a live show for some time. Now we are bringing our live conversations and community here, and I am super excited.
So if you were part of our live community in the past or if this is your first time learning about it, we absolutely plan on continuing taping live shows. So stay tuned for future announcements because I would love for you to join us when we’re back live.
Like our live shows, I want this to be interactive and I want your engagement, your feedback, your thoughts, your insights on all the topics that we discuss. We need to have these bold, deep, necessary, and sometimes hard conversations that allow us to be the leaders and design the businesses that achieve legacy level impact. This show was meant to be a resource for you, for me, and for all of us on this social impact purpose driven journey. So hit me up on email and social so we can continue the conversation.
Today as we kick off the first podcast episode of Watch Us Lead, it’s only right that we talk about legacy level impact. What it is, why it’s important, and how it sets the stage for you as you begin or continue your social impact journey. So legacy level impact is positive, purposeful change that breaks the status quo and has lasting influence for generations. Take a moment and ask yourself what people, movements, organizations, or businesses have achieved this level of impact.
When I think about this, I think about Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Harriet Tubman, Zora Neale Hurston, Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, the abolitionist movement, the civil rights movement, the NAACP, the McArthur Foundation. I mean so many organizations, peoples, and movements run through my mind. I'm sure the same thing is happening with you right now.
While I'm thinking about those from the past, I'm also thinking about those that are on this journey right now like the Black Lives Matter movement. A movement that I am personally involved in and care a lot about. But what’s always been painfully missing from this conversation is the role large for profit businesses have played in driving social, structural, and systemic change.
Local businesses have been part of this conversation. Some have and continue to do the good word, the necessary work. I'm sure you know them; the businesses lead by your neighbors and your community leads. But they can't do it alone. We need larger organizations, not just non-profits. We need the for profit businesses to do this work and to commit to driving social, systemic, and structural change.
2020 was yet another example of this. This past year it was hard, but it wasn’t shocking. Again, we are having these conversations about racial injustice and equality, discrimination, oppression. Yet it feels like so much of our progress keeps getting wiped out or it’s simply stagnant. Legacy level impact should not be a nice to have or an afterthought for businesses. It needs to be a necessary component of business design, and I believe part of the reason this conversation ebbs and flows is because some of those that hold the power in our society, namely businesses, just don’t care enough.
Quite frankly as a Black woman, it’s damn right frustrating that businesses are operating without regard to their impact. Because we have this conversation over and over again, and yet it feels like we’re only slightly moving this damn needle, right. We need to move the needle right now at this very moment as entrepreneurs and executives. We can and must build businesses that are designed to create this level of impact because we need this change now.
So we need you, the business leaders, of these new and established businesses to understand that how and your business operated in the past cannot be how you and your business will operate in the future. That means it’s time to shift to designing your business for legacy level impact. This is the conversations we’re going to have on this podcast.
For the first couple of episodes, I'm going to jump into the five shifts and go a little bit deeper. For today, I'm just going to talk about them so you can start understanding where they are and start doing a quick assessment of your business and your leadership to see how you're showing up. So the first shift is disruptive change. More specifically, radical change that breaks the status quo. This is going beyond what everyone does and saying it’s time to lead a new path. And that path is saying I want to change the way society, structures, and systems are set up.
The second is being a bold and activist brand. That’s being a protected brand but that’s also unapologetic and aligned with how they show up day in day out. The third is shifting towards having a thriving and resilient team, one that’s inclusive. People first. That amplifies wellbeing. The fourth is transformation leadership. Leadership that is empathetic, collaborative, authentic, you know. Gives people a sense of belonging. And fifth, it’s strategic, sustainable, and scalable growth. It’s innovative, efficient, data driven, scientific and systematized.
These are the key brand shifts that if you are ready to design a business for legacy level impact that you need to be making. Because while legacy level impact won’t happen overnight, we can accelerate it if we start doubling down strategically on how to make that happen. Then taking imperfect action aligned with that strategy every single day.
This is what Watch Us Lead is about. It’s recognizing that it’s up to us, the leaders, executives, rebels, and activists of the world to create the kind of impact we all need. All the good intentions in the world just won't cut it. Legacy level impact requires these key brand shifts that will fund and fuel the effort and momentum needed to move this mountain.
If you are a disruptive leader or an executive that wants to create the systemic and structural change we need in this world then intentionally designing a purpose driven business that funds your impact is crucial. Whether it’s day one of your business or you're running a multimillion or billion dollar business, it’s time to step up and lead in a way you haven’t before. It’s time to design and lead legacy level impact businesses y’all. No more hiding. No more playing it say. Step into your leadership.
Listen, you're beyond just giving face time to what matters. You know true change requires creativity, curiosity, commitment, and most importantly strategy. Enough of these actions are not tied to strategy. Let’s double down on strategy before we act. This is the conversation we need to be having. I'm sure you know there's a lot that goes into growing a social impact business. One that’s not only innovative and bold, but profitable and sustainable.
So I invite you to move beyond hashtags and well intentioned training sessions, and instead to join me each week to have the hard conversations. The ones that will move us forward. The kind of conversations that take us from wanting to do better to stepping into that better in every area of your brand and your being.
The reality is imperfect action isn’t only okay. It’s guaranteed. You won't wake up with the perfect plan for what to do every day are you're working towards creating legacy level impact. In fact, you're not expected to. Here’s the thing. Instead it’s about you continuously stepping up imperfectly day after day. It’s you listening, truly listening, so you're able to hear when you might have screwed up. It might hurt a bit, but you’ve got to hear it. So then you're able to learn and do better and be better, and then double down on your commitment to creating this legacy level impact.
Because that’s the work we need to be doing. Strategic, imperfect, focused, committed work every damn day. That’s the type of imperfect action that will create the future we’re all working towards. One that’s inclusive. That’s diverse. That’s equitable. That’s anti-racist. Because this impact work isn’t transactional. It’s not one and done. It’s long term ongoing relationship focused and generational.
So as we step into this conversation, let me introduce myself. My name is Kimberly Bennett. I'm an innovator, an entrepreneur, a legal industry disruptor, a brand strategist. And oh I happen to be a lawyer that runs my own private practice. I care deeply about scaling businesses that lead the change we want to see in this world. So I'm pulling together my diverse background in law, psychology, public relations, activism, and hell, being a Black woman of Caribbean decent in the United States. And all of that to bring a unique perspective into this conversation. Because I think it’s important that we bring clarity and strategy to what lasting impact really takes.
Because here’s the thing, and I just need to say it. We can do better, much better. I know it will take leaders and executives like you to challenge the status quo and to lead others to create the social, systemic, and structural change we require. I know stepping into that space might seem scary for some, but you know it’s time and you're ready to do it. So I'm inviting you to join me and my fellow disruptive guests to have the hard and real conversations around what an impact driven business really entails. What impact driven leadership really entails.
Each week we’ll come together and discuss how to strategically operate your disruptive impact driven business. Those conversations will cover everything from protecting your organization’s intellectual property to creating a kind of company culture where people thrive to developing living leadership day in day out even when you screw up. Then to discussing the key brand shifts that allow you to show up and put real action behind those good intentions.
So if you are a leader committed to social impact and you're ready to go beyond hashtags and trainings and blacking out your profile picture then be sure to hit that subscribe button because this podcast is for you. Of course, I have to say this because I'm a lawyer. But I'm not your lawyer. Even though legal topics are discussed on this podcast, and they will be. This show is for educational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.
If you need legal advice then you should contact an attorney to help you assess your facts, develop your strategy, and define your next steps. So now that you know where we are headed, I invite you to join me as we roll up our sleeves and look at the areas in your business and your life where change truly begins. It’s time for action.
To celebrate the launch of the show, I'm giving away Audible gift cards to 10 lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts. It doesn’t have to be a five-star review of course, although I sure hope you love the show. I want your honest feedback so I can create an awesome show that provides tons of value. Visit kbennettlaw.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. I’ll be announcing winners on an upcoming episode. See you soon.
Thanks for listening to the show. I look forward to sharing more insights with you on upcoming episodes. Let’s continue to take imperfect action. See you next week.
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