Brent Kelly’s Agent Leader podcast episode explains the “law of the lid” (from John C. Maxwell): leadership ability sets the maximum effectiveness of an individual or organization. Kelly argues insurance agencies often hit a leadership 'lid' that caps results; raising a leader’s abilities (people skills, vision, planning, influence) multiplies organizational results. He uses a Chicago Bulls coaching anecdote to illustrate changing leadership can raise the lid, and closes with reflective questions and a call-to-action to improve leadership and join his masterclass.
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There is a lid, a lid that is preventing your insurance agency from greatness. What is that lid and how can you remove it to improve your effectiveness and your results? I'll discuss that on today's AgentLeader podcast. This episode of the Agent Leader podcast is brought to you by the Becoming a Person of Influence masterclass. Go to brentmkelly.commasterclass to learn more. Kevin Cruz, CEO of leadx, says this. He says leadership is a process of social influence which maximizes the efforts of others toward the achievement of the goal. One of my favorite and also the most challenging, at least one of the most challenging concepts that I enjoy when I do speaking and training workshops with insurance agency leaders is something called the law of the lid. Now, if you haven't heard the law of the lid before, it comes directly from the number one leadership expert in the world, which happens to come from his number one leadership book, which just happens to be the very first law in this book. Now, the book is the 21 irrefutable laws of Leadership. And the author, if you haven't guessed it yet, is also my mentor, John C. Maxwell. Now, here's what the law of the Lid simply states. It says this. The law of the lid is this. Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person's level of effectiveness. Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person's level of effectiveness. Now, I love teaching this law with agency leaders because it illustrates that by raising their own leadership ability, they don't just add to the results, they multiply their agency results. Now, at the same time, if you can imagine, this creates a challenge. Because by understanding this law, it means that you must also acknowledge that you as the leader are often your own problem and your own solution. See, it's easy to look outside of ourselves, isn't it? I do this all the time. You know, I wish this would have happened. I wish this person would have done this. You know, I wish our organization was getting these results. So, you know, what are we going to do? What changes are we going to make? And oftentimes the changes you need to make are those changes you have to look within to make. Now, I work with many successful insurance agencies that have come to realize that they are only achieving a small part of their true potential. They're having success, but it's only a small part of their true potential. And that's because personal success without leadership ability only brings limited effectiveness. Now, every agency I work with, every organization that I've worked with, they get stuck time to time. It doesn't Matter the size of the book, of your business or your results necessarily. I mean, you can get stuck at a million dollars, $10 million or $100 million. But we all get stuck time to time. See, every organization reaches their lid, right? You get to a point, you kind of hit that cap and then you go, what now? What do we do next? The key is to having the awareness to understand that you've hit your lid so that you can begin to look at ways to improve your, your leadership. Because I truly believe that everything rises and falls on leadership. Everything. Now, when most organizations are stuck, they focus only on ways to work harder and dedicate themselves to success. It's just how can I put more hours and how can I put more time in? Now, while this is a very noble pursuit, at some point you're going to run out of time and you're going to run out of energy for only a small level of return. However, if you focus on increasing your leadership ability. Now, what do I mean by leadership ability? Well, it could be a lot of things, but people skills, planning and strategic thinking, vision. If you increase those abilities, you will begin to increase your results rapidly. That's because when you understand and apply leadership skills to your insurance agency, you will realize that it has a multiplying effect. I can remember being a kid now in 1989, I was all of 11 years old, but I was a huge basketball fan, like a lot of 11 year old boys. And I watched my favorite basketball team at that time, that was the Chicago Bulls lose to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals. In fact, I remember watching that vividly where the game was over. And remember I was an 11 year old boy. I actually cried. I actually cried. Now even after this disappointing loss, most people, including myself at that young age, believed that the Bulls were a rising team. Well, because they had one of the most exciting and talented players in the entire league. Of course you know him as Michael Jordan. However, what's interesting and looking back at this after this season, the ownership of the Bulls did a very surprising thing. And they fired their energetic, young and I would say, well liked head coach Doug Collins. Doug Collins really did appear to be well liked by the fans and his players. But others felt the Bulls. For the, for the Bulls to take the next level, to get to that next step, they would need a different kind of leader. Whether the fans liked it or not, the organization felt the Bulls were reaching their lid with this particular coach. Now, while we'll never know if the Bulls would have ultimately won a championship or more With Doug Collins as the coach, we do know that their next coach, the great as well known now the great leader Phil Jackson, successfully guided the Bulls to six NBA championships from 1991 to 1998. Now, when I tell this story, does that mean that if you're stuck in your agency, you've got to fire the leader? No. No, of course not. That's not what I'm saying. Now, there are times when leadership change is needed, but in most cases, that's not what I'm talking about because all of us have the ability to raise our leadership lid. Now, while I do believe that we have differing levels of natural leadership ability, I also truly believe that leadership is a learnable skill. And like all skills leaders, you can improve. Now, while there's nothing wrong with working harder and working longer to increase your results, here's the key. Here's the truth that I want to share with you on today's podcast. To ultimately increase your performance, you must learn to become a better leader. Let me say that one more time. To ultimately increase your performance, both individual and as an organization, you must learn to become a better leader. Remember, raising your leadership lid doesn't just improve your results, it multiplies your results. As your agency continues to grow, the need to increase your leadership becomes more and more important. Remember I said you can get stuck at any level. Oftentimes you think of being stuck as just getting started. That happens some cases. But as you continue to grow and have levels of success, leadership becomes more and more important. As my mentor John Maxwell states, the higher you climb, the more you need leadership, the greater the impact you want to make. The greater influence needs to be understanding. The law of the lid is what separates average insurance agencies from high achieving insurance agencies. It also requires you to be open. You've got to be open and willing to make changes that will challenge you. A lot of leaders I work with say they want change, but they resist being changed. See, there's a difference there. The good news, though, is that these changes will also grow you and your organization. So I want to leave you with just a few questions to ponder to think about over the next days or weeks. After you listen to this, think of some of the major goals that you want to accomplish in the next year, some of the major goals that you want to accomplish the next year. How many of these goals will require the participation or cooperation of other people? My guess is most. How would raising your leadership lid impact your effectiveness? See, regardless of your title or your position, your ability to lead yourself and others is the lid that will determine your level of effectiveness for your insurance agency. Let me ask a final question. What areas do you need to improve and when will you start? Hey, thanks again for listening. My name is Brent Kelly and if you enjoyed this episode of the Agent Leader Podcast or past episodes, please go to itunes or Stitcher Radio and give me a review. That way more people can learn about the Agent Leader Podcast. I also want to remind you that I have a upcoming Becoming a Person of Influence Masterclass workshop for insurance leaders. So if you're looking to gain influence with your team, with your community, or your clients, go to brentmkelly.com masterclass. Learn more and you can register there. Hey, thanks again for listening. Until next time, go out and raise your leadership lid. Your results will thank you.
