Once upon a time, there was a CEO named Jane who had built a successful company from the ground up.
Jane was sharp, determined, and always focused on driving results. But there was one thing Jane never did: look in the mirror.
Every quarter, Jane demanded more from the team—higher sales, faster growth, tighter deadlines.
But while the team pushed themselves to the limit, Jane remained the same, never reflecting on personal performance, never considering how their own leadership might be influencing the company’s ceiling.
The team began to stagnate.
Despite their best efforts, progress plateaued. Frustration simmered below the surface, but Jane couldn’t see it. She had reached a point where her own limitations were holding the entire company back, yet Jane never paused to question whether the lid on her organization’s growth was actually her own.
One day, a mentor introduced Jane to John C. Maxwell’s Law of the Lid.
“Your leadership ability determines your level of effectiveness. And in turn, your organization’s success is limited by your own willingness to grow.”
For the first time, Jane looked in the mirror—not just at their reflection, but at the leader she had become. She realized that to take her team to new heights, she had to be willing to grow herself, to remove the lid she’d unknowingly placed on her company’s potential.
From that day forward, Jane committed to self-reflection, personal development, and leading by example.
The results were transformative.
The team, once stifled, began to flourish, and the company soared to new levels of success.
The moral of this story?
A leader can never take their team or organization any farther than they are willing to go themselves.
To lift the lid on your organization’s potential, you must first lift the lid on your own.
I find it ironic when a C-Suite leader hires me to coach someone on their team, or multiple team members, because “they need to be challenged!” My pushback is always, “Understood. Let’s start with your challenges first.” Their response to that pushback speaks volumes about the potential forward trajectory of that team and organization.
How does this story resonate with you?
When was the last time you accessed your most important resource…your mirror?
How might that honest reflection begin to shift your leadership impact?
What is the consequence of not doing this, to you, your team your organization, your family…
…your legacy?
