What happens to the 6’s?

Grow your leadership.

John Maxwell’s Law of the Lid is an often quoted leadership theory. And one that rings true. The level of your Leadership ability determines the level of your effectiveness. And the good news is that Leadership ability can be trained.

I have clear examples of this with two leaders I mentored in a previous role. The leaders are Jim and Will, Jim was an 8 and Will was a 4. The impact of networking within this dynamic was interesting. It was a struggle. It added another dynamic to the belief that Leadership ability can be trained, but the leader needs to be open to it. Will struggled to learn or build from Jim and could never move upwards due to this.

When networking both inside and outside work, the Jim’s (8’s) associated with other Jim’s and Will’s(4’s) with other Wills.When interchanged networking was forced, they would network ok, but when left under preferential networking they stayed apart.

The other interesting dynamic was the 6’s. When networking the 4’s stayed together and the 8’s stayed together. The 6’s however were left in the middle and didn’t know where to go. Some felt comfortable networking with the 8’s as they wanted to learn, or at least give the perception that they did. Rarely did they network with the 4’s, unless they were clearly out of place in the 8’s.

The distinguishing difference was the desire to learn, the ability to ask questions and the ability not to make it about themselves. The ones that grew were the sixes who desired to learn and the 8’s who desired to give.

A fundamental and rudimentary approach maybe, but one based on experience. So to truly raise your lid, you need a desire to give and a desire to grow. If that comfort zone of yours snuggles around you so tightly that you cannot be enticed out….you don’t stand a chance.

Tony Curl

Brisbane Workshop for our New Year: Better You designed from Steve Maraboli’s 4 Pillars of Success
Online Workshop for New Year : Better You.