Find your way to move upward and forward instead of being stuck in one place
This post was first published on my Medium blog—follow me there for the most up-to-date entries!
At one time or another, we feel stuck working in an okay-job with an okay-paycheck and okay-hours. Why are we in the “okay” situation and what are the first steps out of it? Maybe we’re stuck where we are and not climbing to the next level because we’ve created a lid to keep us there.
But what is the Law of the Lid? As described by John Maxwell, the law of the lid has to do with leadership, a concept we’ll return to in a moment. But there’s a more fundamental thing that might be holding us back that we need to cover first.
Be willing to learn
Without learning, we just keep doing what we already know. Without knowing anything different, we’ll keep doing what we’ve always done. That’s the Law of the Lid in action.
“When we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting what we’ve always gotten.” (Attributed to Henry Ford and others)
Today, we have a seemingly unlimited number of opportunities and ways to learn. We can learn from free resources or paid resources. We can listen to audio such as podcasts or audiobooks. We can watch videos or watch our neighbor perform a skill we don’t have. We can remotely attend live sessions that are halfway around the world to hear famous authors conduct master classes. And of course, we can use books, just like we did when we were kids.
There’s no shortage of opportunities. But we must be willing to take the time to learn. Without learning, we will be forever held down by that self-made lid that keeps us in the pits instead of atop the bowl of cherries.
Be willing to learn how to lead
In his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell describes the first law, The Law of the Lid. This law states, “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.”
When I was younger, I thought that being a leader meant being a CEO or a president or a chairperson or something like that.
As I’ve matured, I’ve realized that being a leader means having a vision for something better. Something better for ourselves, for the profession we’re in, or for the community we serve. Something better for the world we live in once we are no longer here.
There’s always an opportunity to lead. If you own a small business, you’re already leading, and especially if you have a team. But there are other opportunities, too. I’ve been a leader in one situation or another since high school.
You could be a leader by doing volunteer work. You could be a leader as the president of an organization. Here’s one you might not think of, but my experience as the founding editor of Nursing for Women’s Health was for sure a leadership experience! If you’re in any one of these or similar situations, you might find it helpful to have a few key phrases to lead a team in nearly any situation.
Set the intention to lead
Maxwell also says that we need to be “intentional” about becoming a leader. Meaning, we can’t just expect that becoming a leader will magically happen. To overcome the Law of the Lid, we need to make it happen.
I would argue that if we are not intentional about leading — about envisioning and moving towards a better future — then we have indeed put a lid on ourselves. Even if we haven’t actively tried to inhibit our potential, our non-actions keep us in a box with the lid firmly in place.
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re already leading something — even if it’s the local boy scout troop. You already have at least an inkling of the criticality of leadership, and you’re willing to go out in front to lead others on the journey. Here are the next steps.
Assess your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader in your field
If you aren’t constantly learning and improving, you aren’t influencing. If you aren’t influencing, you aren’t leading. How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1–10?
Every now and again, I force myself to review my strengths and weaknesses as a leader.
One of the best ways to do that is through the Clifton Strengths Assessment. There’s no one “best” strength for leadership. Rather, it’s a matter of being aware of strengths and using them. For example, I am strong in “maximizer” which means I’ll lean into stimulating personal and group excellence to effect positive change. I’m also strong in learning and focus, so I’ll figure out how to do something and set clear goals for myself and the team. Notice, too, that the Clifton Strengths are categorized into four domains:
- strategic thinking
- relationship building
- influencing
- executing functions
I’m guessing you have strengths in more than one of those domains (as do I). The key is to be aware of how to use those strengths in your leadership role. This is probably oversimplified, but as a leader, I look at the current situation, and ask myself, how do I:
- absorb, consider and analyze information and situations where I need to make better decisions, solve thorny problems, and create better outcomes? (Strategic)
- build and nurture strong internal and external stakeholder relationships? (Relationship building)
- take charge, speak up and make sure others are heard (Influencing)
- make things happen and get things done? (Executing)
Invest in your own professional development
I make a distinction between continuing education and professional development. Continuing education is more about learning in a formal or semi-formal way. Professional development is more about the experience of doing. Both can be game-changing factors for overcoming the Law of the Lid.
Here, I’m thinking about experiences such as
- noticing less-than-stellar habits and making adjustments
- dealing with obstacles effectively
- examining ways to be more productive
- eliminating negative self-talk
- joining an accountability or mastermind group
- challenging yourself or others to make better decisions and do better problem-solving — and knowing which one is which
- committing to focused discipline
Most of us could do a little better with discipline; if we can cultivate discipline, we can more consistently engage in those other behaviors I just mentioned. Best-selling author Kevin Daum mentions that the late, great Chet Holmes urged readers to have “pigheaded discipline.” (I loved Holmes’ book The Ultimate Sales Machine.) That’s the kind of discipline I’m talking about.
Don’t stay stuck: flip your lid!
If you find yourself settling for “okay” or “enough,” ask yourself what lid you have put on yourself to keep you stuck in place. And make yourself a promise today that you’ll do what it takes — whether it’s learning, leadership, or both — to keep yourself from being governed by the Law of the Lid.
How do you see your level of effectiveness as it relates to your level of job satisfaction? How does the Law of the Lid apply to you?
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This post was first published on my Medium blog—follow me there for the most up-to-date entries!