Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork

by Dan Sullivan

Michael Jordan was not a self-contained entity. His “potential” was not innate or fixed, but rather, contextual and relational. Michael Jordan was literally changed and expanded through his team, coaches, and experiences. He became more than he would have become on his own, both as a person and as a talent.

Do you have Whos in your life that give you the perspectives, resources, and ability to go beyond what you could do alone? Or are you keeping your goals so small to make them easier to accomplish them on your own?

It can be easy to focus on How, especially for high achievers who want to control what they can control, which is themselves. It takes vulnerability and trust to expand your efforts and build a winning team. It takes wisdom to recognize that 1) other people are more than capable enough to handle much of the Hows, and 2) that your efforts and contribution (your “Hows”) should be focused exclusively where your greatest passion and impact are. Your attention and energy should not be spread thin, but purposefully directed where you can experience extreme flow and creativity. Results, not effort, is the name of the game. You are rewarded in life by the results you produce, not the effort and time you put in.

“How can I accomplish this?” That question, although common, leads to mediocre results, frustration, and a life of regrets. A much better question is: “Who can help me achieve this?”

That’s what real leadership is: Creating and clarifying the vision (the “what”), and giving that vision greater context and importance (the “why”) for all Whos involved. Once the “what” and “why” have clearly been established, the specified “Who” or “Whos” have all they need to go about executing the “How.” All the leader needs to do at that point is support and encourage the Who(s) through the process.

The bigger the vision, the more you need Whos and not Hows. By the same token, your vision grows as you get more and better Whos involved.

If you’re going to apply higher levels of teamwork in your life, you’ll need to relinquish control over how things get done.

A core aspect of leadership is being explicit about the vision. The more explicit you are in what you want, the faster you’ll attract the right Whos to help you achieve that vision. The leader explains the “What” and “Why” and then allows the “Who” to execute the “How.”

Richie’s dad was an entrepreneur and thought differently about time and money. When Richie talked to his dad, his dad became Richie’s “Who” in showing Richie a more effective way to make money with the least amount of effort. If money is the desired outcome, then what’s the most effective and simplest way for that to be accomplished?

The first Who is always yourself: Improve yourself, value yourself, and ensure that you are in optimal form—happy, creative, and connected to the most important people in your life.

Time is finite. We all have 24 hours. Before you can master any of the other freedoms, you must become a master of your own time.

Ultimately, anyone who becomes highly successful does so through relationships. Success becomes increasingly about Who and less about How as you grow. This fact cannot be escaped.

The more people you are a Who for, the more successful you will become. As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

The Impact Filter, as a one-page document, solves this most pervasive leadership conundrum, and is comprised of the following questions: What is the project? Purpose: What do you want to accomplish? Importance: What’s the biggest difference this will make? Ideal Outcome: What does the completed project look like? Best Result: If you do take action? Worst Result: If you don’t take action? Success Criteria: What has to be true when this project is finished?

You can’t achieve massive goals in a day. Some of your goals may be so big that they take years to achieve. Even still, you can make massive progress every 90 days. Breaking down your goals into 90-day increments is good for focus and motivation. By chunking down your goals into smaller steps, you can focus more directly on what is right in front of you. You can make tangible and short-term progress, and then look back every 90 days and measure tangible progress. This gives a sense of movement and momentum.

I Know I’m Being Successful When: I can wake up every day and ask, “What would I like to do today?” My passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs. I can live anywhere in the world I choose. I’m working on projects that excite me and allow me to do my best work. I can disappear for several months with no effect on my income. There are no whiny people in my life. I wear my watch for curiosity only. I have no time obligations or deadlines. I wear whatever I want all the time. I can quit anytime.

Connie came on board because when she read the Impact Filter, which clearly defined the vision and her role, she immediately identified with it. She knew she could do a brilliant job. The job was objective based and results focused: Get me on 200 podcasts in 2020. Make the process incredibly easy for me, so that the only thing I have to think about is showing up. Involved in completing that task was handling the key relationships, such as with the publicist at the publisher, and then doing all the pitching, scheduling, and back-and-forth with the various parties. When it came time to start doing the podcasts, all I had to do was look at my calendar and show up. From February 2020 on, I’d regularly wake up and have five podcasts scheduled that day. I’d have an e-mail in my inbox with all the links to where the podcasts would be recorded. I didn’t have to think about anything. No decision fatigue at all.

She couldn’t be present with loved ones. On top of that, she was feeling a deep desire to have a child. Something needed to change. She wanted Freedom of Time to be a mom. She wanted Freedom of Money to have the life she knew she could have for herself and her family. While “grinding” and killing herself, she was not even making six figures, despite her talent and the insane hours she was working. She decided not to leave the legal profession, but instead, to do it differently. She made the leap and hired her first employee, which ended up being a disaster because Nicole was not yet clear on her own vision, nor was she clear on what the new hire’s specific role should be. She was scrambling and in reaction mode. But she learned many crucial lessons from this first hire and has since mastered Who Not How.

Every time you invest in a vision, your commitment to that vision increases. By investing in that initial Who, as well as experiencing the painful lessons along the way, Nicole got committed. Psychologists call this Escalation of Commitment: Every time you invest yourself in something, you become more committed to it.

For Nicole, it’s essential to commit to specific results and get your team on board. In order to do so, you can’t let them off the hook. You’ve got to allow them to be challenged. They’ve got to face obstacles and break through them; otherwise, they’ll never develop the confidence and commitment they need to fulfill your vision—and their own goals. Nicole practices what psychologists would call transformational leadership.

Dan Sullivan has this to say about risk and confidence: “Entrepreneurs have crossed ‘the risk line’ from the ‘Time-and-Effort Economy’ to the ‘Results Economy.’ For them, there’s no guaranteed income, no one writing them a paycheck every two weeks. They live by their ability to generate opportunity by creating value for their clientele. Sometimes, they—and you—will put in a lot of time and effort and get no result. Other times, they don’t put in much time and effort and get a big result. The focus for entrepreneurs always has to be on results or there’s no revenue coming in. If you work for an entrepreneur, guess what! This is true for you too.

Don’t reach out to someone unless you have something meaningful to offer them. That “something” needs to be real and relevant, not just a compliment or flattery. True and real value. And if you want the relationship to continue, you must continue creating value. When creating relationships with Whos, ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?” When creating a vision, be sure that vision aligns with your Whos’ objectives and clearly helps them achieve what they personally want.

Kate built a small team, and together they’ve created much firmer ground rules about the types of clients and people they want to work with. In the past, Kate would willingly, although frustratingly, engage in phone calls and e-mail correspondence with people who, it turned out, were clearly not a good fit. Many times, random people who hadn’t done their homework would reach out to her for basic business advice, information that was clearly available through her podcasts and blogs.

She’s trained her assistant to filter through the e-mails and inquiries that come in. They’ve created an approval process for people to get access to Kate. If people don’t meet the specs of what Kate is looking for, they are graciously rejected. Consequently, Kate’s time is now spent far more powerfully. The conversations she has are more relevant and in-line with how she wants to serve her particular audience. There is little time wasted. Kate’s former self was willing to tolerate conversations and clients that didn’t fit. Now she only engages with the types of Whos she wants to work with—people who can truly utilize what she has to offer.

Chad was able to make this choice because, in the past, he’d seen the impact of working with clients who were not the right fit. With such clients, there was always a strained relationship and dissatisfaction. Their values and vision didn’t align, and nothing could be done about it. They hired Chad’s team but didn’t want to take their advice or appreciate their service. In those wrong-fit cases, the relationship would eventually end, with one party suggesting they part ways.

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” —attributed to Mark Twain

Take some time to reflect on the following questions: How have you changed over the past five years, when it comes to the types of people you surround yourself with? What things do you no longer tolerate? How have you become a better Who for the people in your life?

Rather than sitting by yourself, trying to perfect the idea without feedback, it’s far more effective to throw your ideas out there fast, get feedback from your team, and then adjust as you go.

The faster you get at throwing out incomplete work, the faster it will transform into something great. Dan calls this the 80 percent rule. You can get to 80 percent of a project very quickly, such as writing a rough draft. However, going from 80 percent to 90 percent is exponentially more work than going from 0 to 80 percent. Going from 90 to 100 percent is a mountain.

Dan has said, “All progress starts by telling the truth.”

Humans have survived and thrived because of their ability to communicate and collaborate with others. Even still, most people have not developed their abilities to create a vision, make decisions, be leaders, or build teams.

The traditional education system supported the industrial model, wherein students were not taught to collaborate, lead, and do teamwork, but instead were taught to generalize in a bunch of Hows and take meaningless and abstract tests.

Your identity is not fixed, but rather based upon your current experiences. Your identity and purpose will expand as you have experiences of encouragement and support through the right Whos. Moreover, by getting certain Whos involved in your current goals and vision, that vision will expand and grow dramatically.

They encourage their employees to set huge ambitions far beyond JANCOA and to use JANCOA as the means to get there. In an industry that averages a 400–500 percent annual turnover rate, JANCOA boasts an 85 percent annual turnover rate. The reason for that significant difference is that their employees love being there. There is a culture of caring at the company. But more than that, the employees of JANCOA become more capable and empowered human beings by working there.

Without purpose, your work can become shallow because it is solely about making money. When driven by purpose, you stop doing the minimum required. You really go deep within yourself. You become a creator. You become willing to go above and beyond the “call of duty.” You put your soul into your work. You genuinely seek to address the particular problem you’re trying to solve. You genuinely care about the people you’re serving.

You’ll have to define what you want. You may need to write it down every single day for 25 years, like Dan did in his “What I Want” journal. As you define what you want for yourself, and as you fuel that desire, you’ll begin living out that purpose and serving the people you want to help. You’ll become a hero for people, helping them achieve their goals.