In his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell indicates that the first irrefutable law of leadership is "The Law of the Lid." Maxwell's "lid theory" is that leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The point of this law is that the lid on your leadership must be raised to increase your leadership ability and influence.When you stop and think about it, this is such a brutal law. It means that if you can't find good leaders to serve with you, it's probably... gulp... your own fault. Great leaders don't follow good leaders. And good leaders don't follow bad leaders. At least, not for very long.
This doesn't mean you have to be better at what they do than they are. Most definitely not. In fact, if you're leading well, you'll be surrounded by talented specialists. But an indicator of your leadership ability is who is standing around you.
So... who's standing around you?
