I’ve been blessed with a number of great role models, including Frank Moran and Ken Kunkel. They taught me, with words and by example, that you can accomplish substantially more by recruiting high-quality people to join you. Recently, I read Who Not How, a refreshing book written by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy that describes Sullivan’s successful executive coaching philosophy. If you seek to build a successful business, reduce your stress levels, and leave a legacy, it’s worth taking the time to read it.

Here are selected takeaways from the end of each chapter:

1. There are countless brilliant and capable “Whos” out there waiting and wanting to help you. They need to hear and understand your vision.
2. A good “Who” can immediately free up hundreds of hours, which you can then spend in more meaningful ways.
3. Your potential is virtually limitless when you stop asking “How?” and start asking “Who?”
4. You can free up thousands of future hours by finding capable “Whos.”
5. By freeing up your time, you get the invaluable benefit of freeing up your mind, so you can focus on higher-impact activities such as strategizing or creating.
6. Leaders should be committed to results, not to a particular process.
7. Rather than micromanaging the process, leadership should provide freedom and autonomy, as well as extreme clarity and high standards of excellence.
8. Doing all of the “Hows” yourself may sound noble, but it’s a limiting belief.
9. Trying to avoid costs by engaging in “Hows” will cost you and your future huge in the long run.
10. Always ask “What’s in it for them?” rather than “What’s in it for me?”
11. Know what the other person cares about.
12. Be a generous giver who’s truly committed to service and growth, not status.
13. Be nice to the people you meet on the way up, because they’re the same people you meet on the way down.
14. Be grateful in large and small ways to the people in your life and you’ll attract incredible abundance.
15. As you say no to people and opportunities that don’t align with the vision of your future self, your confidence will increase. Your team will also become more confident in you as a leader.
16. You don’t have all the answers. It’s wise to consider yourself ignorant on most things, and to seek other people’s perspectives and solutions.
17. Focusing on “How” stresses you out because you’re already busy and can’t juggle it all.

If you’re the type of person who believes only you can perform certain activities, this book is a must-read.

As I reflect upon the past, to the extent I’ve had any successes, it has always been as a result of the “Whos” in my life.