Jeff Bezos once said that, as Amazon grew, he had to shift his leadership focus from the “what” to the “how” and then to the “who.” Here is what he meant and what you can learn from this to grow your management and leadership skills
The “what” in Amazon’s case was defining its strategy, vision, and the products or services it would create and offer to customers.
The “how” involved refining the processes and methods used to deliver those products and services reliably and efficiently. It is the method used to achieve the goals defined by the “what”.
The “who” was about building an effective organizational structure, sourcing and placing the right leaders, and then empowering them to execute and innovate.
In Amazon’s early days, Bezos spent most of his time on the “what”, but as the company scaled, he realized that he needed to focus more on the processes and methods we used to build and deliver so that we could keep growing.
Once those processes were established, we were able to operate the company at scale, and Jeff could be less involved in daily operations. He realized that the most consequential decisions he could make were the leaders he appointed to each business unit, function, and region.
This evolution created a model for my own journey. I started as an individual contributor at Amazon, then progressed to a Vice President leading a global operation. As an IC, I focused on “doing the work”, but over time, my focus switched to developing the right processes and hiring and cultivating the right leadership.
Focusing on “what” allowed us to achieve product-market fit and grow customers.
Focusing on “how” enabled us to achieve operational excellence and begin scaling.
Focusing on those who enabled us to scale globally and to reach billions in revenue.
At each phase of my evolution and my org’s evolution, I learned that whenever I faced an obstacle in achieving an important goal, my ability to diagnose the problem improved based on my understanding of whether the cause was “what “how,” or “who.”
In both the individual career and in the growth of a company, the hardest transition for growing leaders is moving from doing everything to empowering others through delegation and leadership.
For both new managers and executives, this simple “What-How-Who” framework is a durable guide to leveling up your skills and your organization.
Success hinges on focusing your time where it truly matters in accordance with your level of leadership and the stage of the org: shaping the what, enabling the how, and developing the who.
Leaders, share your examples of when you have had success or failure by focusing or failing to focus on one of these.
