The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is a powerful, definitive book describing timeless laws to help you be a great leader. In each chapter, John Maxwell goes straight to the heart of a profound leadership law, showing you the successes and failures of others and how you can apply the law in your life. If you’re a willing student, you can learn the 21 Laws and put them into practice. Once you apply these leadership laws, you will be encouraged, and your ability to lead will expand. You may not be able to perfect all 21 Laws, but by learning them you will be able to build a team to help support you in leading well.
2. 1 – The Law of the Lid
Main Phrase |
"Leadership Ability
Determines a
Person’s Level of
Effectiveness”
3. 1. Law of the Lid
Leadership determines
the level of
effectiveness
Of the team
Of the organization
4. Leadership lid and effectiveness
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
12345678910
Effectiveness
Effectiveness
INCREASES
Leaders Lid
Success Dedication
LeadershipAbility
5. What is your leadership lid?
1.What is the number on my
leadership lid?
2.Would others around me
agree with my
assessment?
3.What is my plan to
increase my leadership lid.
4.What are the lid numbers
of those who work with
me?
5.What is my plan to
increase the leadership lid
of others?
?
Leaders Lid
6. Lifting the leadership lid
1. How can someone lift
his or her leadership
lid?
2. Who has been a good
“lid‐lifter” in your life?
What characteristics
make them so good at
being “lid‐lifters”?
3. How can you more
effectively help other
people raise their lids?
Main Point | A person’s leadership ability determines his or her 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. For 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.
Everything rises or falls on leadership.
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 leadership, the greater the effectiveness. Your leadership ability – for better or for worse – always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your organization.
Maxwell uses the McDonald brothers as example of weak leadership putting a lid on their ability to succeed. The brothers started the McDonald’s hamburger chain but lacked the leadership to take it to national prominence. Ray Kroc had a vision for a national hamburger chain and bought the brothers’ business and turned McDonald’s into the successful giant restaurant chain it is today..
Ray Kroc’s lid was high and obviously the McDonald’s leadership lid was low.
(John’s story)
I know this for myself.
You may already know this, but I was born as a chef. Actually that’s not quite true. I was born as a baby and became a chef. Or at least that was my first career.
I started cooking because my mother, God bless her, was a terrible cook. And when I say terrible, let me give you an example. My mum overcooked everything. On Sundays we would often have roast beef for lunch. Roast beef in my home was a charred blackened, rock like substance that would not be out of place in a stone quarry.
Everything was overcooked. We used to joke that on Sunday morning, mum would put the brussels sprouts on to boil before we left for church. By the time we returned home, 2 or 3 hours later, the cabbage, potatoes and carrots would be a grey mushy slop, whilst the roast meat would make up for this with an entirely inedible texture.
Mum would put the Christmas treat of Brussels Sprouts on in October… OK, perhaps a little exaggeration but still.
So I started to learn to cook. Mostly so that I would have something I could enjoy eating.
I even got pretty good at cooking. I worked with some of the very best chefs and became a lot sure of myself and my fantastic abilities.
Brilliant. Now of course, I knew everything there was to know about leading and running a kitchen.
In my first real leadership test came in the Isle of Man, when after assuring everyone how brilliant I was, I was (rather foolishly as it turns out) given charge of the Palace Lido kitchens. Our first event was for 800 delegates at a telecommunications union conference. And just so you know, the telecomms union was at the time, a very militant bunch.
Well, it was a disaster. I had 30 kitchen staff, 30 waiting staff, a great kitchen and had even ordered enough food. My planning however was, well let me say, there wasn’t really any.
Lunch for 800 hungry, angry and loud delegates was late… by 2 hours!
It was not pretty.
It was not good.
Perhaps my mum had a better way after all.
I didn’t know the Law of the Lid at the time. But very clearly, what I had demonstrated was a very low number on my leadership. All the skills and competence to do the job of cooking, had not prepared me to effectively lead a team of 60 to deliver something.
I was ready to quit in shame. Already to hide out and hopefully disappear. But along cam the Executive Chef for the hotel. A big Swiss guy, renowned for his violent temper. I wasn’t going to be fired, I was going to be sliced into pieces… or so I thought. He, on the other hand wasn’t about to let me get away with it. He immediately called the entire team together, issued instructions and took command. Hey, we had a dinner to prepare and we were already running late.
I realised as I watched and listened in awe. My job wasn’t about cooking at all. My job was to lead a team of people and prepare and serve meals to the customers.
Looking back on this day in my life, I now realise that this was the day I chose to develop as a leader and raise my leadership lid. After all, a team of great people were expecting me to guide them to deliver and a whole multitude of hungry people were relying on me to make sure they were served.
I wasn’t fired that day, by the way. Chef later told me that such a very expensive experience wasn’t something he was about to throw out. His name? Just Chef! I never ever knew.
(Bullets)
Your team, your organization, your church. Are limited by your leadership lid.
It’s the maximum headroom (picture) of your organization. The team must fit under the bridge.
If the leaders lid is at one, then, in spite of the team or organizations success dedication, or their competence at doing the job they do. The effectiveness of the team or organization is held down by the leaders lid.
As the leader increases their leadership lid. Improves their ability to lead… so the room for effectiveness grows.
How many of you have worked for a leader who’s leadership lid was low?
We all have, haven’t we?
Now, how many of you are sat next to that person right now? OK, there’s no need to put your hands up
Very often, when I work with leaders in organizations on the leadership lid, they will tell me that their own boss should really be learning about this. Well that may be true. But what matters here and now, is that we consider your own leadership lid.
So, here’s five questions for you…
What is the number on my leadership lid?
Would others around me agree with my assessment?
What is my plan to increase my leadership lid.
What are the lid numbers of those who work with me?
What is my plan to increase the leadership lid of others?
In your groups.
I believe that all of you have lifted your leadership lid. We do so as we grow and develop in our early years. The odd thing is that once we get into the workplace, we tend to forget to continue doing this.
So, question one… how can someone lift his or her leadership lid?
It’s happened for you in the past.
The second question… who has been a good lid lifter in your life? What makes them good at it? Think of those people who’ve really impacted you.
For me, remember my Chef? He was patient, organized and service led. He valued the fact that I had made a very expensive and potentially catastrophic mistake and wanted to leverage it.
And the third question. How can you more effectively help other people raise their lid?