Broken Jars & Glass Ceilings

By Dr. Shawna Norris | April 1, 2025

Every leader faces obstacles…some visible, others internal. Broken Jars & Glass Ceilings explores how resilience, accountability, and courage can reshape both your professional and personal journey.

This post delves into the key themes from the book and how they apply to real-life leadership.

Breaking the Jars: Confronting Self-Limiting Beliefs

A jar can only hold what it’s designed for…until it breaks.

Leadership often operates within invisible boundaries—beliefs about our worth, ability, and potential that dictate how far we think we can go.

These jars are filled with:

• Expectations from our upbringing: What we were told was possible.
• Workplace culture: Unspoken rules about who gets to lead.
• Past failures: Self-doubt and limiting beliefs reinforced by setbacks.

How to Break the Jar:

• Challenge imposter syndrome: Your experience is enough.
• Reclaim your expertise: Own your leadership voice.
• Stop apologizing for taking up space: Confidence is not arrogance.

Real leaders don’t just accept the limitations handed to them…they shatter them.

Breaking the Ceilings: Pushing Beyond Systemic Barriers

Ceilings weren’t built to be admired…they were meant to be broken.

Many workplaces send an unspoken message:

• Stay in your lane. Be grateful. Don’t ask for too much.
• You’ve gone far enough.
• Leadership isn’t for you.

Types of Ceilings That Hold Leaders Back:

• The Glass Ceiling – Invisible barriers that keep women and minorities from leadership.
• The Concrete Ceiling – Systemic barriers that make career growth nearly impossible.
• The Self-Imposed Ceiling – Internal doubts that convince you leadership is out of reach.

How to Break the Ceiling:

• Take on leadership roles where success wasn’t expected.
• Speak up when silence is safer.
• Advocate for yourself and others to create space for future leaders.

The greatest leaders don’t just break ceilings, they leave ladders for others to climb through.

Accountability: The Bridge Between Jars & Ceilings

Resilience is powerful. But without accountability, it’s just survival.

Many leaders are great at overcoming adversity, but the true test is what they do after they break through.

Questions Every Leader Should Ask:

• Are you calling out the same barriers that once held you back?
• Are you mentoring others instead of just celebrating your success?
• Are you holding yourself accountable to your own growth, not just external rewards?

Leadership isn’t just about breaking through, it’s about building something better on the other side.

Final Thoughts: Are You Ready to Break What’s Holding You Back?

Every leader has a choice:

• Stay within the jar and accept your limitations.
• Admire the ceiling and assume it’s not meant to be broken.
• Shatter them both and redefine what’s possible.

What will you choose?

Continue the Conversation

• Glass Jars & Glass Ceilings is available now. Get your copy to start breaking barriers today.
• What’s the biggest “jar” or highest “ceiling” you’ve faced in leadership or life ?