Who Not How: The Entrepreneurial Shortcut To Scaling With Less Stress
After decades of working with thousands of entrepreneurs in Strategic Coach, I can tell you this with confidence: the entrepreneurs who grow the most are the ones who learn how to let go.
They stop asking, “How do I do this?” and start asking, “Who can do this?”
That mindset shift—from control to collaboration—is what we call Who Not How, and it’s foundational to everything we teach at Strategic Coach.
It’s also what makes the difference between incremental growth and exponential freedom.
Collaboration that expands capability.
The real power of Who Not How lies in what happens next: transformation.
When you find the right person—a “Who”—who brings strengths you don’t have, something extraordinary happens.
You stop dragging projects forward on your own. You stop being the bottleneck. And you unlock a new level of creativity, momentum, and results.
When I decided to co-author a major market book about this very concept, I knew I needed collaborators who were as uniquely skilled in their realm as I am in mine. My job was to generate the concepts, share the frameworks, and be crystal clear about the entrepreneurial thinking I wanted to communicate. From there, I handed it off to capable “Whos”—and watched the project transform into something better than I could have created on my own.
That’s the exponential power of collaboration. When you bring together people operating in their areas of Unique Ability—what they love to do and do best—the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. And it’s exactly the kind of transformation we help entrepreneurs achieve in our business coaching program.
Why letting go isn’t losing control.
A lot of entrepreneurs hesitate to delegate because they think it means lowering their standards. They believe no one else will care as much or execute as well as they would—and in some cases, they’re right.
But that’s not the kind of delegation we’re talking about.
When you operate from the Who Not How mindset, you’re not just handing off tasks to get things off your plate. You’re collaborating with people who have a Unique Ability in the areas where you don’t—individuals who are just as skilled, passionate, and committed in their realm as you are in yours.
That’s what real trust looks like.
It’s not about giving up control. It’s about recognizing where your control should end—and where someone else’s capability begins.
Letting go isn’t a risk when you’ve surrounded yourself with the right people. In fact, it’s the only way to grow beyond what you could ever achieve alone. That’s one of the biggest lessons our clients take away from our business coaching program.
The mindset of usefulness.
At this stage in my life, I’ve simplified my purpose down to one thing: usefulness.
That’s my goal in every collaboration, every project, and every idea I share—to be as useful as possible to the entrepreneurs I serve. And I’ve discovered that my usefulness expands when I collaborate with people who are equally committed to using their unique talents and strengths to create something greater.
This kind of collaboration requires a mindset shift. It’s not about competition or comparison—it’s about contribution. It’s about creating results that surprise and excite you. It’s about being thrilled by the ways other people improve on your ideas and expand your impact.
That’s the mindset that keeps me young. That’s the mindset that makes growth sustainable and entrepreneurship worth it.
And it’s the mindset we help foster inside our business coaching program, where entrepreneurs gain the clarity, tools, and collaboration needed to reach their next level.
Your biggest growth opportunity starts with letting go.
If your goals are growing—but your time, energy, or progress isn’t—it’s time to let go of doing it all yourself.
Surround yourself with people whose capabilities multiply your own. Delegate the work that drains you. Focus on what you do best—and trust the right “Whos” to handle the rest.
That’s not just a better way to build your business. It’s a better way to live.
If the Who Not How mindset resonates with you, and you’re ready to go deeper, there’s no better next step than to read the Who Not How book.
It’ll give you a clearer framework, bigger context, and real-world examples to help you shift from doing everything yourself to building a business that grows through collaboration.
