John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership teaches us that leadership ability is the “lid” on personal and organizational effectiveness. In simple terms, your leadership skills set the ceiling on your success and your team’s success.

A highly skilled engineer, architect, or accountant might be excellent technically, but if their leadership capacity is limited, the entire team’s performance will eventually plateau. On the other hand, when leaders intentionally grow, they “raise the lid”—allowing themselves and those they lead to achieve more than they ever thought possible.

The Lid in Action: A/E Industry Examples

• The Project Manager’s Lid
  A project manager may be brilliant with design and technical details but struggles to communicate expectations clearly. The result? Confusion, rework, and loss of profitability. The leadership lid holds back the team’s effectiveness, and not because of skill, but because of limited leadership ability.
• The Department Head’s Lid
  A department head who refuses to delegate keeps all decisions at their desk. The bottleneck creates frustration, slows projects, and prevents team members from developing. The lid isn’t a technical ability; it’s a lack of trust and empowerment.

A principal who invests in developing emerging leaders lifts the lid. By providing training, mentorship, and opportunities for others to step up, they expand the team’s capacity. That investment multiplies the firm’s effectiveness and strengthens its future.

Why This Matters for Design Firm Leaders

In the A/E industry, we pride ourselves on technical excellence — and rightly so. But the Law of the Lid reminds us that technical skills alone don’t scale organizations. Leadership capacity does. The way we communicate, empower, delegate, and influence determines whether our firms thrive or stall.

The CDFO Connection

The lack of leadership skills is where the Certificate in Design Firm Operations (CDFO) comes in. Preparing for and earning the CDFO is one of the most effective ways to raise your leadership lid.

The program doesn’t just deepen your knowledge of finance, contracts, and operations — it broadens your perspective as a leader. It equips you to:

• See beyond your department and understand firm-wide dynamics.
• Make better strategic decisions rooted in both numbers and people.
• Influence outcomes across the organization, not just in your lane of expertise.

In short, the CDFO helps you raise your lid and, in turn, raise your firm’s lid. Where might your own leadership lid be showing up today? And what’s one step you could take to raise it?

The best leaders are lid-lifters. They invest in themselves so they can invest in others, raising the ceiling on what’s possible for their teams and organizations.

👉 Apply for the CDFO today and take the next step in raising your leadership capacity — and your firm’s future.

SDA does not endorse any products or services mentioned, and SDA does not assume responsibility for any circumstances arising out of the interpretation, application, use, or misuse of any information presented. SDA recommends that the reader consult the appropriate legal, financial, or human resource counsel before implementing the information contained herein.