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

by Dan Sullivan

If you’re ready to realize a much bigger and more powerful future, then you must stop asking yourself, “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.

When you’re trying to accomplish something challenging or difficult that you’ve never done before, you probably need a Who. Let me say that another way: You absolutely need a Who if you’re trying to accomplish something new and challenging, unless you’re fine not getting the result you want in the near future.

Not only must the Who fully own the How, but they must have complete permission to do so.

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.”

Paradoxically, procrastination is actually a form of wisdom. Procrastination is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when you really want something more for yourself, but you lack the knowledge and capability to do it.

Procrastination is a very powerful signal telling you that it’s time to get another Who involved. You’re stuck. You need help.

“Your eyes only see and your ears only hear what your brain is looking for.”

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?

“The purpose of the Impact Filter is first to sell yourself on the vision, because you can’t sell other people unless you’re sold yourself.”

there are two types of problems in business: technical and adaptive.

Technical problems are when the answer is already known. You just need to find out how to do it.

Unlike technical problems, adaptive problems do not have a known answer, according to Dean. Because they don’t have a known answer, they require a creator. That’s where you are the “Who.”

Individualized Consideration: The degree to which, as the leader, you attend to each team member’s needs, act as a mentor or coach to each member, and listen to concerns and needs.

Intellectual Stimulation: The degree to which, as the leader, you challenge people’s assumptions, take risks, and solicit ideas from your team.

Inspirational Motivation: The degree to which, as the leader, you articulate a vision that is appealing and inspiring to your team.

Idealized Influence: As the leader, you act as a role model for high ethical behavior, you instill positive pride and create a culture among your team, and you gain respect and trust. People follow you because of who you are.

According to Self-Determination Theory, every human being has three basic psychological needs related to their work: A sense of competence Autonomy in how they do their work Positive and meaningful relationships

when a team has 1) high autonomy, 2) high goal clarity, and also 3) gets regular feedback on their results, then their performance shoots through the roof.

Before Joe connects with someone, he does his homework. He wants to really know who the person is, what their context is, what they value, what they care about, and what they’re trying to accomplish.

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.

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?

Wherever you see incredible work happening, there is collaboration, even if it doesn’t seem so.

The first key to engaging in high-quality teamwork is to not think you know exactly what you’re doing. You’ve got to be open to other people’s ideas. You’ve got to realize that other people’s ideas, solutions, or strategies can be far superior to your own.

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.

“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” —Viktor Frankl

Freedom of Purpose is the sense of vision and purpose you have for your life. Your sense of purpose expands as you see deep meaning and value in what you’re doing.

When you focus on “How,” you quickly become isolated in your goals. Focusing on How comes from the faulty reasoning that you are 100 percent responsible for getting the job done. This may lead to a good work ethic, but ultimately, it’s not smart. There is no reward for doing lots of tasks and working yourself to death in mediocre fashion. Results are what count.

A keystone concept in psychology is known as the fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or over-attribution effect), which is the tendency for people to overemphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for how a person acts while underemphasizing situational explanations.

Unique Ability Teamwork is about seeing Whos as people with special gifts and abilities, not objects you can use.