The Law of The Lid and Your Team's Development
“If you want to lead, you must learn. If you want to continue to lead, you must continue to learn.”
— John C Maxwell
Personal development assures that your future will be more impactful than the present. Success isn’t an occurrence; it’s a lifestyle of achieving personal bests. To live on the cutting edge of advancement, you must be comfortable with risk.
Personal development and lifelong learning are synonymous; lifelong learners make a lifestyle of The Law of The Lid.
John C. Maxwell writes, “I often open my leadership conferences by explaining the Law of the Lid because it helps people understand the value of leadership. If you can get a handle on this law, you will see the incredible impact of leadership on every aspect of life.
So here it is, leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower an individual’s ability to lead, the lower the lid on his potential. The higher the individual’s ability to lead, the higher the lid on his potential.
To give you an example, if your leadership rates an 8, then your effectiveness can never be greater than a 7. If your leadership is only a 4, then your effectiveness will be no higher than a 3. Your leadership ability—for better or for worse—always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your organization.” (1)
Recognize and Yield to the better Idea
Secure leaders are most effective when yielding to a team member with a better idea or course of action. An open mind with a collaborative bias enables them to raise their lid by allowing others to do likewise.
The value of highlighting others on your team will be seen in the exponential growth in the productivity of those on the receiving end.
Disciplined and Determined to Succeed
The habit of discipline is the first sign of an effective leader; raising your lid includes being relational and respectful, a habit that’s both attractive and inspiring to your people.
You will certainly be admired for your discipline and loved by team members who feel accepted and respected by the relationship. Being disciplined and determined to maintain a high level of cohesiveness is a powerful force for success.
Since success requires a team effort, it’s only natural that raising your lid includes mentoring your team members in raising theirs. Raising Your Lid requires strategies specifically tailored to you, as does your team.
DevriX CEO and Business Advisor Mario Peshev says, “Leaders focus on self-improvement, invest a lot in building smart goals, broken down into milestones that they can follow and celebrate as part of their success strategy. This prevents them from adding too many distractions to the list and only focuses them on the most important accomplishments they want to pursue.”
Peshev continues, “There are many areas you can work on as a part of the journey. But the hidden traits that top leaders possess are the main reason we want to follow through and accomplish what they have done as well.
The way most leaders start and run their venture is fully contingent on their ability to focus and prioritize to handle stress and to employ empathy, take ownership, improve their soft skills, communicate clearly with the media and other people, and live a healthy life.” (2)
In Closing, It’s helpful to remind ourselves that that raising our lid takes some skill wisdom and knowledge. We should ask ourselves what are the most important things we can do for ourselves that bring the greatest returns for our investment in personal development? And always remember, your people are watching.
End Notes
(1) The Law of the Lid - https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/the-law-of-the-lid/
(2) 22 Self-Improvement Areas for Effective Leadership - https://bit.ly/45W4ldD
*** This article was authored by John Picarello, Chief Leadership Officer at Lions Pride Leadership Co.***