A 5-minute fix for delegation gone wrong 🤝

I recently watched an agency owner try to delegate social media management to a new hire.

She dumped the login credentials in Slack with a quick, “Take care of our socials.”

Two weeks later, she was furious at the random, off-brand posts that went up.

But here's the thing—unclear delegation is always a leadership problem, not a team problem. 

If you’re constantly redoing tasks because they weren’t done right the first time, you’re still the bottleneck, and your business remains dependent on you. 

This not only eats up your time but also keeps you trapped in the day-to-day grind.

Today, I’m sharing the four-part framework (“The 4 P’s of Delegation”) I use to make sure my team gets it right the first time:

1. Start with the Plan.

Tell them exactly what success looks like: “We need 3 Instagram posts per week that showcase client results. Each post should get at least 100 likes and drive 5 profile visits.”

2. Next is Purpose.

Don't just tell them what to do—tell them why it matters: “These posts build credibility with potential clients and typically bring us 2-3 qualified leads each month.”

3. The People piece is about showing how their work fits into the bigger picture.

“Sarah on our sales team uses these posts during prospect calls. Mike in client success shares them with current clients to show how we're growing their brand.”

4. Finally, there's Picture.

Paint a clear vision of the end goal: “We want to be known as the agency that actually drives measurable results for clients, not just posts pretty pictures.”

After explaining all four Ps, I ask my team members to explain it back to me in their own words. 

Nine times out of ten, this reveals any gaps in understanding before they start the work.

I've used this framework hundreds of times. 

Taking an extra 5-10 minutes upfront saves hours of frustration and rework later, freeing up your time to focus on growing the business rather than fixing mistakes. 

Plus, your team starts to trust you more because they know you’ll always give them the full context they need to succeed.

Look, talking about delegation is one thing—but actually building these systems takes work.

If you’re feeling like your business still can’t run without you, it’s time to start building systems that allow you to step back while your agency continues to grow. 

Mastering delegation is a key part of freeing yourself from being the bottleneck and avoiding burnout.

If you're ready to dive deeper, I’m running a small group masterclass on October 28-29th focused on scaling your agency the right way. 

We’ll spend two full days working through your core offer and building the systems to deliver it consistently without making you the center of everything.

I’m keeping it to just 20 people so I can work directly with each agency owner. We start at 10 AM CST both days.

Stop letting poor delegation keep you stuck in the weeds. If you're interested in getting hands-on help with this, click here to apply.

And keep tuning into The Agency CEO every Thursday for frameworks, strategies, and tactics for scaling your agency 👋

Until next time, 

Jesse Gilmore

CEO & Founder @ Niche in Control