I spent three days last week with Don Schmincke, author of High Altitude Leadership. Don is deliberately irreverent, intent on shaking the boots of commonly held, but misguided managerial practices. “And for their flawed advice, the consultants kept their fee,” he railed.

We spend time, as managers, crafting our plans, working our processes, attempting to achieve the Holy Grail, results. It is our sword in the stone. We fall into the trap, thinking that, through ERP or JIT or MBO, we will magically create those results, only to find that, in the end, we are working with humans.

It is only through behaviors that results get created. We can monitor those behaviors, try to time those behaviors, put a carrot in front of those behaviors, but it is only beliefs that drive behaviors.

It is not information, but our belief about the information that determines our response. It is not the goal, but our belief about the goal that determines our response. What we think we know about managerial leadership practices often leads us down a rabbit trail into the briar patch.

And since I am in the business of learning, specifically, managerial leadership practices, Don forced me, with a smile, to examine my own curriculum.

Working Leadership Online, as a learning curriculum, has little to do with memorizing anything. It is not a collection of supplanted wisdom which must be carefully studied. Instead, it is about behavior, specifically changing behavior. It is about our beliefs.

I used to worry if my planning model had five steps or six. I found out that it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was what you believed about planning. If you believed that planning was a waste of time, it didn’t matter if the model contained five steps or six. If you believed that planning was helpful in getting a team on the same page, it didn’t matter if the model contained five steps or six.

What you believe determines your behavior. Your behavior produces the results. And that is why Working Leadership Online is different. When we talk about delegation, it doesn’t matter that the model contains five steps or six. It matters what you believe about delegation. Do you believe, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself, or do you believe you can gain 10x leverage over your time through delegation. What you believe will determine your behavior.

On September 7, we kick off the next Subject Area in Working Leadership Online. Coaching Underperformance. It’s a dangerous Subject Area. It’s all about changing behavior. It’s all about changing beliefs.

As is our custom, we are opening 50 slots for a free Introductory Membership to Working Leadership Online. Let me know if you are interested.