Dear Leader,
I trust this meets you in pursuit of wisdom.
I remember my first “big” leadership role. I was 21, hyped, and convinced I was the next world-changer. I had the vision, the strategy, and I was given a team. But six months in, everything stalled. The team’s energy dipped, projects were hitting walls, and I couldn’t figure out why.
I thought the problem was the “system” or the lack of funding or something external. But It wasn’t. The problem was me.
In leadership, there is a concept called The Law of the Lid. I first read it from John C. Maxwell’s book on leadership when I was looking for a solution about my personal leadership. The idea is that your organization or your team will rarely grow beyond your own level of personal leadership – character and emotional intelligence. You are the lid. If you are a “Level 6” person in character, your impact will never reach a “Level 7.”
This is something young leaders need to learn very early – your greatest limitation is rarely external. It is internal.
I have seen brilliant young leaders stall, not because they lacked intelligence or exposure, but because something unseen kept limiting their growth. And more often than not, that lid showed up in subtle, everyday ways.
Let me share a few.
Fear: A young student leader once had the opportunity to represent his institution at a national conference. He had the ideas, the confidence, and the platform. But on the morning of his presentation, fear took over. This is not the loud, obvious kind of fear but the quiet voice: “What if you’re not good enough?”
Impatience: Another leader I worked with was exceptionally gifted, but deeply impatient. He wanted fast results. When change did not come as quickly as expected, he cut corners, skipped process, and burned bridges. Within months, the same people who once supported him became resistant. His competence was not the issue. He was just impatient.
Living a Double Life: This is the worst lid. When the “Public Figure” is a hero, but the “Private Person” is a mess, the weight of the secret eventually crushes the work. You can’t be a leader with a double life. Integrity isn’t about being perfect; it’s about being integrated, being the same person in every room. Leadership demands being integrated. Leadership cannot thrive where there is no integrity.
Jealousy is more subtle. It hides behind comparison. Your friend or colleague gets recognition, and instead of learning, you begin to compete in unhealthy ways. You lose focus. You lose clarity. Eventually, you lose yourself.
And anger: perhaps the most destructive of them all when left unmanaged. Anger is not about the emotion itself, but the inability to control it. I once observed a leader who lost a valuable partnership simply because he could not manage his temper in a critical meeting because things weren’t going his way. In leadership, composure is not optional. It is essential.
Each of these is a lid.
Fear.
Impatience.
Double living.
Impulsiveness.
Deceit.
Jealousy.
Anger.
The truth is that they do not always appear as weaknesses. Sometimes, they disguise themselves as personality or pressure. But if you leave them unchecked, they quietly limit how far you can go in life and leadership.
The question, then, is not whether you have a lid. The real question is: Are you aware of it? And are you willing to confront it?
If you are serious about your growth as a leader, then you must be intentional about dealing with what is within, not just pursuing what is ahead.
This is part of the goal for the Early Leaders Fellowship. It is designed to help student leaders build not only competence, but character. Not only vision, but discipline. Not only influence, but integrity.
Are you ready to lift your lid, or do you know a student leader who is currently hitting their ceiling?
- Apply for the Early Leaders Fellowship – www.greatowete.com/fellowship
- Nominate a Leader – Know a student leader who is “The Lid” for their campus right now? Help them break through. Share this link with them – www.greatowete.com/fellowship
Don’t let your talent take you where your character can’t keep you.
I’m rooting for you,
Great