Harvard Business Publishing

Even if you are not a serious sports fan, it would have been hard to escape at least some of last week's news coverage of a spying scandal involving one of the leading teams in professional sports. The largest fines and the most severe penalties in the history of the sport were levied in connection with the unauthorized acquisition and gathering of information about one team by another. To those of you who have immediately filled in the name of Coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots of the National Football League, think again.

The penalties described above were actually assessed last week against the McLaren Mercedes Formula One Racing Team, to the tune of $100 million. That's not a misprint. At least in quantitative terms, it makes the $750,000 in fines and loss of a few potential draft picks levied against the Patriots pale by comparison.

It is likely that in neither case did the individuals involved think about their legacies when they engaged in the behavior in question. Let's be realistic. Leaders are, all too often, overtaken by the need to win the current battle. That's how they frame the question of their survival. But if we can take anything away from these and other recent episodes, we can see that such a frame is far too narrow. Our greatest leaders broaden the measures, knowing that while victory in last night's game, or the recent race, or even last quarter's results are the most immediate indicators, they are not the ones for which they will ultimately be remembered. Those leaders know that their true performance will be questioned or judged on how well they have built, sustained and, yes, even repaired what their efforts have wrought.

Those are questions for all leaders, regardless of the stadium in which we play. The spotlight shines brightly on all of us, doesn't it?

Editor's note: For insights on how leaders can more effectively build and protect their legacies, please listen to this HBR IdeaCast interview with Rob Galford:

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