How to Lead Like the Pros (Lessons From the Top 1%)

I've been blessed throughout my career to learn a lot from a lot of incredible people, coaches, mentors, close friends, people in my entrepreneur network. So I want to share some of them with you because there's real power in sharing knowledge and wisdom, especially when it's worked for you. So there's probably something within all of this that you'll appreciate or be able to learn from or take away and go apply yourself. So. So here goes. My old coach, Dan Sullivan, taught me a concept called who not how. Who not how was a game changer for me. And it's a simple concept. You don't have to know how to do everything, you just have to know who does. We talk a lot about your unique ability and being able to be in your highest level skill that you love and that you're really good at as much of your day as you possibly can be in. And being within your unique ability is a blessing. And you can't be within your unique ability when you're doing things that you don't like or that you're not good at. And unfortunately for most leaders and entrepreneurs, they get stuck doing things because they have to, because maybe it's a financial issue or they don't have anybody. Whatever the case is, you break through ceilings, it creates new complexities, and you get stuck doing things that you don't want to be doing. And so constantly elevating so you can delegate all your responsibilities to the right people, to the right who is a skill. And it's like you're building your own little black book of who's and every who that you pick. It's critical that one, you build a great relationship with that person, whether you're collaborating or you're hiring them, or you're outsourcing or they're working for you, whatever it is. And then you want to cultivate that relationship so that anytime that responsibility comes up, you know you can go to that who. That who should have a unique ability that gives you what you need for that responsibility. So that if you're going to delegate something to somebody and that's going to be your who. So, for example, maybe video editing, you want to give it to a video editor who loves to edit videos, then you have to make sure that one, that person can do it better than you, and two, that you feel that they're the best person that you can go to. Because if there's a different person who's a better who, then you should be going to them. And you can spend your entire career building up your Database of who's. Again, the who has to have a unique ability that you don't have, they have the capabilities that are stronger than yours. That's why you want to outsource it. And I like to tell people that you want to use your four Ds. The 4Ds are going to be that when you're doing something, you're either going to do it, you delete it because you don't want to do it, you delay it, or you delegate it. If you're going to delegate it, you want to make sure you get it to the right who. Someone who's got that unique ability, they've got that set of skills that you don't have, they've got the time, the resources, whatever it is. And if you can fill your day doing what you love, things that you're good at, while delegating out all the things that you don't want to be doing that you're not that good at to people who have a unique ability that fits what you need. Imagine how much more successful you can be. Imagine how much more productive you'll be when you can fill your world with all these people who are your who's. Again, you don't have to know how to do everything. You just have to know who can. So remember who, not how. It's an incredible, incredible leadership lesson for entrepreneurs who are busy and have a lot on their plate. Another thing I love that I learned was about being we call ccd. CCD means clear, concise and direct meaning. When we speak, we want to make sure that we're speaking to the least sophisticated person, whether it be reader, whether it be a teammate who just started, because they don't know anything. Whether it be someone in your audience, whoever is your target that you're trying to talk to, sell to, market, to advertise, whatever it is, you want to make sure that you speak in a way that is not up for interpretation. Meaning anyone who hears what you're saying understands what you're saying. And so this is why UI ux, when you go to people's websites, is so important, because you have developers and you have people who are making these, who assume that everyone's going to know what maybe the three dots are, and they don't. You know, why not just put the word so that people can read it and they know what it says and they can see exactly what it is that you want them to see instead of assuming that everybody's going to understand it because everybody doesn't understand it. And people hear and they understand what they hear and understand where they come from. And typically, you intend to say something as a leader, but if you can't say it CCD clear, concise, and direct, you're going to miss a percentage of your audience that is going to either walk away thinking the wrong thing, they're going to take what you said the wrong way. And one of the ways that you can ensure that that doesn't happen is to have people play back what they heard. So just play it back. Tell me what you heard. Tell me more. Right. So you have them play it back, and it allows you to kind of close that circle, close the gap of any miscommunication and be able to kind of, you know, hit home exactly what you want them to hear. Because again, as a leader or as an entrepreneur, as someone who's in sales, you have a lot to share, a lot of value. And if you talk fast, you'll go right over people's head. So it's important always to circle back. It's important to put things in writing. To be clear, concise, and direct is a skill that master communicators, they just have it down. And this is why people can tell good stories and people who kind of just make people engaged and they're on the edge of their seat when you're talking. It's really important that you're just always clear with what you want to say. Try not to go off topic too much. And if you do bring it back, and then always again, you know, check in and have people play back what they heard. I had a really good friend tell me one time, he used to say, play it out until the end. And I thought this was a very powerful concept. And they're nuances, but they're the nuances that make a big difference, especially the difference between becoming good or being great at whatever it is that you do. Playing it out to the end, what that means is that you can look at a situation, especially if you're not a visionary, you're someone who's more of an operator. You're more someone who can just execute on things. And you can look at your situation. You can kind of play out what's going to happen. So a lot of people struggle to be visionary, to be able to see forward. But the most successful leaders, the strongest leaders and the great entrepreneurs, they have this ability to kind of see out in the future and be able to kind of play things out, that if they unravel a certain way, they can see what that result's going to be, and they can pivot before they even walk into a new situation. And so as human beings, we get tested daily and we make certain choices that have consequences. And before you deliberately make a decision, hopefully consciously try to play it out. Try to play it out and see where it's going to go. Look at your two decisions that you can make. And you can go this way or you can go that way and play out both of those and see which result you want. Playing it out can save you from landing on the front page of a newspaper because of a stupid decision that you made, trying to chase money or question and compromise your integrity before making a decision in your business or personally or professionally with one of your employees. People are tested every day. They do stupid things. They send stupid emails, text messages that they shouldn't say, things they shouldn't say. Play it out to the end and see that result before it happens. And if you're not a visionary, you can become better at this skill by just slowing down and pausing and asking yourself that question and inevitably save yourself from just a lot of pain and suffering by just playing it out. And then in the moment, make a better decision.