You Are the Ceiling and the Soil

Why Your Personal Growth Defines Everyone Else’s Potential

Author

Brett Esslinger
July 24, 2025

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HERE’S THE TRUTH MOST LEADERS IGNORE:

You don’t just lead the team.

You shape the environment in which the team rises—or stays stuck.

You are both:

  • The ceiling — the highest level your team can reach while you’re leading.

  • The soil — the hidden environment that determines if they grow strong, stay shallow, or wither from neglect.

“If you don’t grow, nothing else can.”

“If you don’t stretch, your team stays stuck.”

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THE MINDSET SHIFT:

Leadership isn’t just about strategy.

It’s about capacity. And your personal capacity becomes the corporate limitation.

When a leader stops growing:

  • Vision shrinks

  • Culture stagnates

  • Teams plateau

  • Innovation dies

But when a leader stretches—everything shifts.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

—1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV)

“The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.”

—Luke 6:40 (NIV)

YOU ARE THE CEILING.

Let’s not sugarcoat it:

Your emotional maturity, spiritual depth, and willingness to grow set the lid for everyone beneath you.

John Maxwell calls it The Law of the Lid:

“Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness.”

—John Maxwell

You can’t lead people where you’re unwilling to go.

You can’t raise people higher than the place you’ve settled.

Your lid becomes their limitation—unless you lift it.

YOU ARE THE SOIL.

Every team grows in the environment you cultivate.

If the culture is toxic, insecure, or stagnant—it’s not their fault. It’s your soil.

  • If you create space for ideas, people get creative.

  • If you disciple in love, people grow in strength.

  • If you stretch with humility, others learn to risk too.

Healthy soil doesn’t just support growth—it multiplies it.

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop…”

—Matthew 13:8 (NIV)

Be the kind of leader who doesn’t just plant vision—cultivates it.

PRACTICAL CHECK-IN:

Ask yourself:

  1. Where have I become the ceiling?

    Where has my comfort limited their calling?

  2. How healthy is the soil I’m creating?

    Is my team growing in strength, faith, and ownership?

  3. Where do I need to stretch first—so they can stretch next?

    Remember: growth starts with the leader. Always.

TOOLS YOU CAN USE RIGHT NOW:

Click the Book Titles below to Order Your Copy

CALL TO ACTION:

👉 Stretch. Then lead.

When you raise the ceiling, others rise.

When you enrich the soil, others thrive.

Leadership is never neutral. You are either lifting or limiting what’s possible.

Choose growth.

Be the ceiling that rises.

Be the soil that multiplies.

Your team is waiting.

P.S. Want help lifting your lid and stretching your leadership?

Book a one-on-one coaching call with me.

Let’s raise the ceiling—together.