Leadership growth requires vulnerability

A leader must withhold no area from growth, no matter how they wished it didn’t exist or wouldn’t be exposed, if they are to raise the ‘lid’ of their leadership.

A leader who reads Maxwell’s admission that he is below average in some leadership laws with any degree of humility must conclude there’s work to be done to become a better leader. To ‘raise the lid’ as Maxwell puts it (Laws). But I believe the first areas most leaders would name as areas for growth don’t require personal change. Areas like organizational structure, persuasion, or personal habits. It’s not easy to confess personal weakness or fault to oneself or others, which is necessary before one could possibly begin to improve. Therefore areas such as humility, anger, or distraction often go without improvement for a long time.

If an entrepreneur doesn’t address the areas he’d rather not admit exist, his lid will not raise much. Efforts to learn strategy and become an expert may help - after all these are listed in the factors to influence in Maxwell’s book (Maxwell, Laws, pg 21). They will not; however, overcome the publically unacceptable weaknesses such as fear, uncertainty, or inconsistency. If an entrepreneur does not regognize, repent, and develop these areas they run the risk that their venture will fail, not because of a faulty idea, nor from an unforseen circumstance, but from the entrepreneur’s own limitations.

The inclusion of a guided Bible study on the laws of leadership is helpful in the midst of our other reading. I’m glad we’re getting more Biblical content to help us apply these leadership laws to our own lives. Insight into the stories that Maxwell drew the laws from is also helpful to interpret what he meant. It’s also the most challenging.

I often see Saul’s stubbornness in my own life, and the same fears he experienced that all God wants for me will be lost due to my own mismanagement. But he also did not humble himself to listen to correction from his counselors, nor to seek feedback. Therefore I will take others correction seriously in my upcoming performance review and seek feedback from Amie as well.

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