Management Versus Leadership in the Lens of The Law of the Lid

Management Versus Leadership in the Lens of The Law of the Lid The Law of the Lid is the first chapter in “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell (2007). It is a very interesting and insightful reading on the significance of a leader’s role and responsibility and how it is related to organizational growth. Maxwell talks about the famous fast food company, McDonald’s, that is known by people all over the world. However, only a few people know that the person who made McDonald’s famous was not the inventors, the McDonalds brothers, but a man name Raymond Albert Kroc, an American businessman. He turned the restaurant chain into a nationwide and global franchise, making it the most successful fast food corporation in the world.

McDonalds’ story shows that effective managers like the brothers were not enough to raise the lid of the organization beyond their ability. However, leadership is the key to success, as Maxwell said, “to reach the highest level of effectiveness, you have to raise the lid.”

In order to understand the concept of the Law of the Lid, I would like to describe the difference between management and leadership, so that we have a clear concept of those terms since they often overlap. Although many people see them as the same thing, leadership and management are actually different, yet complementary skills. According to Monnappa (2017), there are three key differences between managers and leaders.

1. A leader invents or innovates while a manager organizes.
Maxwell explains that the McDonald brothers did an outstanding job on the idea of organizing and managing their restaurant. On the other hand, Kroc developed the restaurant by buying the right to a franchise, which made McDonalds’ grow beyond their initial ability and become an international entity.

2. A manager relies on control whereas a leader inspires trust.
The brothers’ aimed to be successful with their restaurant business by doing everything they could to get things done in the way that customers desire. For example, they had the policy to control the price and the time of service. Kroc, however, believed in a vision and inspired trust in the brothers and the team, leading them to become a global franchise. In doing so, he sacrificed a lot, such as all salary for the first eight years in order to make McDonalds so successful.

3. A leader asks the questions ‘what’ and ‘why’ whereas a manager leans more towards the questions ‘how’ and ‘when.’
Dick and Maurice McDonald focused on what could make them become a success as restaurant owners. Dick did not even care when the first franchisee wanted to name the restaurant McDonalds’. Kroc saw the potential of the McDonalds’ and found the way to develop it into a global franchise.

At this point, the difference between management by the McDonalds’ brothers and the leadership of Kroc shows us an example of the Law of the Lid. Dick and Maurice did very well as restaurant owners, but in regards to expanding the business, simply having good management did not accomplish it. Clearly, Kroc played a major role in leadership to lift up the McDonalds’ Lid.

Law of the Lid in Public Administration 

The law does not only apply to the business world, but also in the public sector. A good example of the Law of the Lid in the government organization is the United States Navy (U.S. Navy). I would like to share some information about the U.S. Navy Advancement programs that I believe is a way to raise up their lid by recruiting effective leaders. There are two ways to advance enlisted sailors that serve on active duty. (Burke, 2017).
  1. The sailors may use a combination of their Advancement exam and evaluation. The exam result will evaluate their professional skill level. For the performance evaluation portion, each member is evaluated twice a year to determine their leadership skills. The exam score and the evaluation scores are combined; sailors that score the highest can get promoted to the next paygrade. 

2. The sailor may be eligible to get advanced through the Meritorious Advancement Program (MAP). This Program allows the unit to make recommendations to promote a sailor who has outstanding performance and who they see will be a benefit to the U.S. Navy based on their demonstrated leadership skills and job knowledge. These two methods help the U.S. Navy find the people who are suited to be leaders and recruit those into leadership positions, which escalates the lid of the U.S. Navy. 

Management and Leadership in the Lens of The Law of the Lid in Public Administration 

Guy Kawasaki, who wrote “Top Ten Lessons From The US Navy: Management Lessons on an Aircraft Carrier at Sea,” had the opportunity in 2009 to visit the USS Nimitz. While aboard, he observed ten components that he identified as key to the Navy’s success (Kawasaki, 2009): 
1. Inspiration 
2. Perspiration 
3. Teamwork 
4. Recruiting and Training 
5. Accountability 
6. Respect 
7. Overcoming fear 
8. Work/Life balance 
9. Reverence and irreverence 
10. One-hundred percent performance 

In 2017, however, the USS Fitzgerald was in a collision that resulted in the death of seven sailors. The question that I wondered was if the Navy still has good management like Kawasaki observed and described, then what caused the mishap on the USS Fitzgerald. According to the Memorandum for the Vice Chief of Naval Operations ( Davison,2017), a reason for the collision was “leaderships’ loss of situational awareness” (p.13). Based on Maxwell’s point of view, the answer does point to the leader. For example, Maxwell communicated with Don Stephenson, the chairman of Global Hospitality Resource, Inc., of San Diego, California, an international hospitality advisory and consulting firm” (Maxwell, 2007, p.9), about his solution when the resort was not doing well financially. The solution was to fire the leader because if he or she had been a good leader, the outcome would not be in the mass, which is true. After the mishap, the Navy decided to do the same thing as Stephenson by relieving the entire chain of command, from supervisors to the admiral (Davison, 2017) The two incidents described above demonstrate that leaders are the ones who can boost up the lid for themselves, their followers, and the organization. Therefore, the leader is a major role to become successful, and the Law of the Lid applies to leadership in every type of organization.


References:

Burke, R. P. (April 4, 2017) FY-17 Meritorious Advancement Program. Retrived from https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2017?NAV17079.txt

Davidson, P. S. ( October 26, 2017). Comprehensive Review of Recent Surface Incidents within the Department of the Navy [Memorandum]. Norfolk, VA: Department of the Navy. Retrieved from https://navylive.dodlive.mil/files/2017/08/MEMO-FOR-USFF_COMPREHENSIVE-REVIEW-OF-RECENT-SURFACE-FLEET-INCIDENTS.pdt

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). The Law of The Lid. The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership: Follow them and people will follow you (pp. 1-10). Nashville, Tenn: Thomas Nelson.

Kawasaki, G (2009). TOP TEN LESSONS FROM THE US NAVY: MANAGEMENT LESSONS ON AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER AT SEA. Retrieved from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/top-ten-lessons-from-the-us-navy-management-lessons-on-an-aircraft-carrier-at-sea-1/

Monnappa, A. (2017). Leadership vs Management: What is the diffrence? Retrieved from https://www.simplilearn.com/leadership-management-diffrence-article