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See that question mark? That’s the key to shifting your mindset and growing your business.
As a Cybersecurity Sherpa who helps MSPs scale and grow their business, I often talk to clients who seem to be on the absolute verge of insanity.
“How do I get to the next level of success without pulling my hair out?” they ask. “I mean, I’ve already lost enough hair. I seriously can’t afford to lose more! I’ll go bald!”
I totally get it. A similar thing happened to me about two months ago. I was asking myself the very same questions: “How do I grow my business more? How do I reach my goals?”
That’s when a long-time MSP colleague shared a concept with me that absolutely transformed my business.
Now, I know this is a big claim, but the mindset shift I’ve experienced since then has been so beneficial to my business that I honestly think it deserves the hype.
My colleague gifted me a book called Who Not How and explained the basic premise. I skimmed the book myself, and I’m going to share three key takeaways with you today.
Before we start, though, here’s the most vital point of the book: The way you ask a question matter. If you keep asking yourself how questions, your brain automatically assumes that you have to be the answer.
How questions put unnecessary pressure on you because you feel like you must have the skillset to complete every single task and make every single decision yourself, no mistakes allowed.
And since how questions cause your brain to select you (and you only) as the problem solver, how questions add to your already insanely full plate.
Business owners and executives tend to believe that because it’s your company, you should be the one in charge of every aspect of it, right?
Wrong.
Instead of focusing on the arduous journey of getting to your destination, ask yourself who can walk down that path for you and with you. Maybe they’re so good they’ll even run the race and break records!
You can’t split yourself into a dozen different directions. When you’re standing at a crossroads, it’s crucial to find people you can send on different little forest paths while you focus on the few large highways.
When you ask who, not how, you’re alerting your brain to no longer look inward. You’re no longer the only master of your fate – you’re opening up to a world of possibilities.
Here are my 3 takeaways from Who Not How!
1: Have A Clearly Defined End Goal
Look at your to-do list.
See that one thing you’ve been putting off for ages? Welcome to the club. Almost every business owner has that “one thing” on their own to-do list as well.
We also have the voices of productivity gurus echoing in our minds saying, “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me. “
But this isn’t valid advice in a growing business. It is impossible for you to do EVERYTHING in your business.
I’m not telling you to throw time management out the window or ignore your calendar. I’m saying that things just aren’t as black-and-white and some experts seem to believe.
The part of the task that IS up to you? You must define the end goal. What do you want to accomplish? What does success look like?
Be very clear about the success criteria (the clearly defined end goal) and that’s it.
2: Let Go Of Control – Even When It’s Hard!
This is the Eisenhower Matrix, developed by the American statesman Dwight D. Eisenhower. It clearly shows how to organize tasks based on urgency and importance.
Things that aren’t as important but do need completed should be delegated. This goes for every project you know will help you grow your business but don’t have the time for yourself.
Now that you’ve identified your end goal, it’s vital to let go of the specifics of the journey. This is incredibly hard for some business owners because we want everything done perfectly, but it’s essential to learn delegation in order to scale your business.
Here’s a tangible example of this happening in my business:
- I wanted my clients to be automatically reminded of our future sessions and the value the sessions will bring. I wanted this process to be automated so that I wouldn’t have to manually set up reminders each time.
- I defined the end result I was looking for: “I want my CRM, ActiveCampaign, to remind my clients of the value of our sessions and to encourage them to show up.”
- I delegated the task to someone else. The expert asked me if this had to happen through ActiveCampaign, or if I was open to another way of accomplishing this end result.
- I explained that I didn’t care how we achieved the goal, as long as the goal was achieved.
In the end, the expert was able to meet my end result because I was clear on the goal – but I was also willing to let go of the reins and let the expert solve the problem for me.
Be crystal clear on your destination. However, you can’t be married to the path you believe you should take to get there.
3: Find An Expert
Once you do decide to ask yourself who can help you with this task instead of how you can do it all yourself, it’s time to find an expert.
We tend to think everyone is like us. The truth is that some people absolutely thrive on the tasks you’ve been avoiding for ages. What’s difficult for you is easy and fun for them.
Some ways to delegate tasks include:
- Hire an expert on Fiverr or Upwork
- Give the task to one of your team members who’s excited to do it
- Offer a barter relationship – in exchange for someone’s services, you’ll offer your own skills to help them
Once you tell the expert what your end goal is and let them manage the task, hands-off!
Your job is over until it’s time to review.
Final Thoughts On How to Grow Your Business: Who Not How
To summarize, if you want to scale your business and achieve massive growth, you need to ask yourself the right questions.
Who can help you reach success in the areas where you’re lacking in skills?
Afterward, you should:
- Define a clear goal
- Learn to let go of control and cultivate a flexible mindset
- Delegate the task to someone who’s most suitable for it
Instead of putting off that one item on your to-do list for the next five months, why not transfer it to someone else’s list?
They’ll be happy to do the job, and you’ll be free to focus on the more essential aspects of your business.
It’s a win-win situation.