on your powerful pathway to success
WHAT - HOW - WHO is a simple and effective model to build your leadership success.
I still use this concept every time I create a new goal, for me it's the very first steps or the foundation upon which I can build my rock solid goals.
The short version:
WHAT Have an outcome in mind, know exactly WHAT you will achieve
HOW Work out the HOW to do it, plan the journey
WHO Who do you need to be to achieve the result? find a role model who has successfully achieved your goal
Yup - it's that simple!
What do you want, how will you get it and who do you need to model to reach your goal.
Let’s have a closer look at what this means
The Long Version:
WHAT
Usually we are attracted to a leader or to become a leader for a specific outcome – something we want to have, such as a goal or result that we believe in. In business it could be our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or the successful completion of a project, or you could be aiming for an overall team result.
The goal or outcome is the WHAT part of the WHAT - HOW - WHO model.
The outcome defines your ultimate success, which means it is important to always start with the end in mind – it is WHAT you want to have in the end, that frames and determines HOW you will do and WHO you will be as a leader.
An important distinction is to focus on the results you want to have, not those you don’t want! In fact many leaders invest lots of time, money and effort making it really clear what they don’t want to have. The problem with this is although everyone knows what they don’t want, few people are very clear about what they do want.
As a leader your success depends on your ability to clearly communicate what your goal. And your outcome should be so clear that everyone can see it, hear it, and feel it as if is it tangible and right there in front of them.
Effective leaders write about it, talk about it, share it. Successful leaders put the goal out there so everyone knows where we are going and will recognise it when we arrive!
Defining the WHAT element as a leader is vital to your success.
There are plenty of tools available to support you in setting clear goals (such as SMART goals, the GROW model) and many other tools to help you get real focus on the outcomes you want.
HOW
Your role as the leader is to consider all options, consequences and impacts. To fully explore HOW you can achieve the goal, to identify what needs to be done, then take action - the actions required to achieve your success.
Any action you take should take you closer to your result. If it doesn’t, then you need to ask “Why are we doing this?” If the answer doesn’t relate to the outcome then we probably need to stop it and do something else instead. This simple idea can save leaders and organisations serious time, money and energy – all critical resources for a business.
Another important consideration is whether what you will do aligns with the business values and beliefs.
Finally, as the leader it is ok if you don’t know HOW to do it all at the start – you can begin and improve on the way. Give yourself permission to fail forward, to learn on the go, to 'act as if' you know what you are doing. This may be a crazy concept, you could always ask your team to come up with the 'how', rely on their knowledge and expertise, then all you need to do is steer the process to achieve the goal as efficiently and effectively as possible.
WHO
As the leader you are the person who define the 'what' and identifies the 'how', but it's the WHO you are that determines if your team will follow and get the job done. We hear words such as responsible, passionate, tough, honest, creative, positive, committed, confident, inspirational, intuitive, approachable, flexible and supportive to describe how we want our leaders to be.
These qualities are often extensive and contradictory, all can be fantastic in a given context, though equally they can miss the mark in other situations.
A key principle to success is modelling someone who has already achieved the goal or outcome you desire. When we look around at successful leaders, or potential models, there are a few key traits demonstrated regularly -
Open to Feedback – genuinely interested in the good, the bad and the hideously ugly feedback. The ability to receive the feedback without judgement, to learn from that feedback regardless of how it feels and be grateful to the person offering the insights.
Shameless Curiosity – willing to ask the awkward question to understand the challenge more intimately, actively pursuing feedback and to dig into the implications for the outcome. No question unasked, all questions intentional in their outcome.
Obsessed with Outcomes – (aka Goal Junkie) devotes their entire toolbox of skills, energy to aligning all beliefs, attitudes, decisions, behaviour to ensure the best outcome is achieved.
Triple win ~ win ~ win – balances their own mind, body and soul to ensure they are the best leader for their team and society, creating massive outcomes for their business for their people, profit and our planet.
Successful leaders know WHO they are, What they are achieving and HOW to make it happen.
And if some of the pieces in the puzzle are quite right, that's ok, they know that a work in progress is better than no work at all. S
WHAT - HOW - WHO is the essential and powerful tool that allows you to shift from busy work to achieving your biggest goals. Every time you start a new goal, ask yourself these questions:
WHAT do I really want? WHAT outcomes do I truly desire from my choices, decisions and actions?
HOW will achieve my goal? HOW are the choices, decisions and actions I make moving me towards my vision/goal/outcome, or are they holding me back, diverting my attention from what I truly desire? HOW are those choices, decisions and actions impacting me, my team, the planet?
Do you already use a model like this?
Or, if this is new to you, lookat one of your current goals and spend a few minutes contemplating the questions above.
I'd love to know what changes for you, send me a message, DM on socials or comment on facebook so others can be inspired by WHO you choose to be
Linda x
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