I don’t think it’s ever too early to start thinking about what you want to be known for. We have the possibility to build several legacies – to our families, our communities, our workplaces (and most of us will have more than one), and it all begins with what people think about when our name is mentioned.

If you are currently in a leadership role or led before – whether in a work organization or a community group – you raised your hand for the opportunity, or you were asked if you wanted this challenge. What made you express interest and say yes? Did you ever consider saying no?

I'm usually not quite so bold in my subject lines or my statements, but I think it's important in this case to get my point across. I know work has traditionally been defined as the activities that you do that earn a paycheck so that you can support yourself, your family, and ideally have some extra left over to save and take a vacation. But it's time for us to pause and really think about this.

When was the last time you said, "no" to something you were asked to do or even "not right now?" These are powerful phrases and aren't used often enough at work.