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2 Laws of Effective
Leadership
Rhees Jackson
Every organization wishes to find success . To the
untrained eye it may appear that LGCY Power is
very successful. Over the past year LGCY Power
has quadrupled in size from 100 solar sales
representatives to over 400. That is explosive
growth, however something is lacking. Not
everyone in the company is reaching their full
potential.

success, but if his or her leadership ability rates 4,

the effectiveness wont increase past 4.
This means that the impact of a manager without
good leadership skills is only a fraction of what it
could be. The larger the impact a manager wants
to make the greater his or her leadership needs to
be.5

The Law of the Lid

The problem that arises isnt from lack of

opportunity, the problem comes from the lack of
quality leadership. Studies have shown that, one
of the best ways to grow organizations is to
develop their leaders.1 The opportunity for
professional and financial success is found at
LGCY, but only managers with strong leadership
skills will take advantage of it and thrive.
Figure 1
This brief will help managers and aspiring
managers take advantage of their opportunities for
success by improving their leadership skills. This
brief will discuss two fundamental laws of
leadership: (1) The Law of the Lid, and (2) The
Law of Navigation. Understanding these two
simple principles will enable this companys
managers to become effective leaders.

The Law of the Lid

The Law of the Lid is the foundation to the laws
of leadership taught by John C. Maxwell in his
book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.2
This law helps prospective leaders and current
managers understand the value of leadership. The
law teaches that a persons leadership ability
determines his or her level of effectiveness.3

A Persons
leadership
ability
determines his
or her level
effectiveness

To give an example, if a
mangers leadership ability
rates at 8 on a scale of 1 to 10,
then his or her effectiveness
can never be greater than 8. As
shown in figure 14, a manager
can rate 9 on dedication to

The Law of Navigation

In a Harvard Business Review article titled
Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills, Paul
Schoemaker writes about great leaders and how
they react when they come to organizational
crossroads. He says, Strategic Leaders dont
get locked into simplistic go/no-go choices. They
dont shoot from the hip but follow a disciplined
process that balances rigor and speed and takes
both short- and long-term goals into account.6
The Law of Navigation is the disciplined
process that he talks about. The law states that
anyone can steer a ship, but it takes a leader to
chart the course.7 John C. Maxwell created steps
that all leaders should follow to chart the course
for their organizations.
To remember the steps he used the mnemonic
PLAN AHEAD.8 Each letter in the mnemonic
coincides with a step that managers should follow
when faced with setting new goals, making tough
decisions, or dealing with crisis.

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Predetermine a Course of Action: This means
that a manager should have an idea of what the
plan is ahead of time and be ready to present it.
Being able to form a plan beforehand shows that a
manager is aware of his or her surroundings.
Martha Mangelsdorf of MIT Sloan Management
review says, The ability to make sense of whats
going on in a changing and complex environment
is a particularly important predictor of
leadership effectiveness. Sensemaking' in
business requires executives to let go of their old
mental models and some of their core
assumptions; to take in data from a wide variety
of sources. 9
Lay Out Your Goals: In any plan, a manager
should have a clear goal in mind before heading
into action. These goals should be shared with the
members of the organization.
Adjust Your Priorities: A manager must be
adaptable. Adjusting to new ideas from the team
or new changes in the organization is important.
This is different from the traditional perception of
leadership. This style stresses that a leader has to
change his/her style as opposed to having a fixed,
dominant style.10 Ultimately, Being adaptable
means that a manager can be trusted in highpressure situations.
Notify Key Personnel: A manager must be able
to recognize other key leaders on his or her team
and notify those who have the most influence
within the group.
Mangelsdorf of the MIT Sloan
Management Review says,
Leadership is not a solo act. It
is no longer possible for
companies to thrive with great
leadership only at the top.
Instead, companies need
distributed leadership. 11 To
have success organizations
need to have people with quality leadership skills
at all levels.
Major
barriers to
successful
planning are
fear of change
and lack of
imagination.

Allow Time for Acceptance: Maxwell says that

major barriers to successful planning are fear of
change, ignorance, uncertainty, and lack of
imagination.12 To overcome this a leader must

present the plan and give his or her team time to

accept it and adjust.
Schoemaker from the Harvard Business Review
says, Strategic leaders must be adept at finding
common ground and achieving buy-in among
those who have disparate views and agendas.13
Head Into Action: Once the group has adjusted
the manager takes the first steps toward the goal.
Expect Problems: Along the way there are going
to be problems, things will not go as smoothly as
planned. A manager must have that expectation
and be ready to pivot at any given moment.
Always Point to the Successes: Although there
will be problems, it is important for a manager to
put the focus on the successes. The morale of the
group can be easily swayed unless a manager
takes control and points to what is going right.
Daily Review Your Plan: A manager must check
the plan daily to review results and make sure the
team is on track.
The secret of The Law of Navigation is
preparation. When a manager is well prepared he
or she conveys confidence and trust to the team.
Using the steps outlined in PLAN AHEAD will
help teams be united, work efficiently, and
ultimately be successful.

Conclusion
The article in the Harvard Business Review gives
a great analogy of the importance of leadership. It
says, The storied British banker and financier
Nathan Rothschild noted that great fortunes are
made when cannonballs fall in the harbor, not
when violins play in the ballroom. Rothschild
understood that the more unpredictable the
environment, the greater the opportunityif you
have the leadership skills to capitalize on it.14
The Law of the Lid and the Law of Navigation
are a couple of the foundational elements of great
leadership. If managers in this organization can
remember these two laws and continue to work
towards greater leadership ability, they will be
able to capitalize on the opportunities in their
markets. The success of LGCY Power starts with
effective leadership.

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1. Shadi Ebrahimi Mehrabani , Noor Azmi Mohamad,

(2015) "New approach to leadership skills development
(developing a model and measure)", Journal of
Management Development, Vol. 34 Iss: 7, pp.821 - 853.
2. Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of
Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You.
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998.
3. Ibid. pg. 6.
4. Ibid pg. 5.
5. Ibid. pg. 6.
6. Schoemaker, Paul J.H., Steve Krupp, and Samantha
Howland. "Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills."
Harvard Business Review, January 2, 2013.
7. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Pg. 42.
8. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Pg. 41.
9. Mangelsdorf, Martha. The Elements of Good
Leadership." MIT Sloan Management Review RSS.
Accessed February 26, 2016. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/
article/the-elements-of good-leadership/.
10. DuBois, Melissa, John Hanlon, Jodi Koch, Betty,
Nyatuga, and Nathan Kerr. "Leadership Styles of
Effective Project Managers: Techniques and Traits to
Lead High Performance Teams." Journal of Economic
Development, Management, I T, Finance, and Marketing
7, no. 1 (03, 2015): 30-46. http://search.proquest.com/
docview/1681254193?accountid=4488.
11. Mangelsdorf, The Elements of Good Leadership.
12. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, pg. 44.
13. Schoemaker, Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills.
14. Schoemaker, Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills.

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