Your Most Important Partnership

The Agent Can’t Be The CEO if They’re Still Doing Everyone Else’s Job

Building a Partnership Between Agents and Their Teams

Here's something I wish more agency teams understood.

Your agent has a job to do.

And it's probably not the job they're spending most of their day doing.

They're supposed to be leading.

Developing people.

Building relationships.

Making decisions.

Identifying opportunities.

Growing the business.

But what happens in a lot of agencies?

The agent becomes the answer to every question.

The person who handles every unusual situation.

The one everyone interrupts.

The one who makes every decision.

And before long, the person who should be leading the business is spending their day managing everyone else's work.

That's a problem.

But here's where I think the conversation gets interesting.

Sometimes the team needs to step up. And sometimes the agent needs to step back.

It’s a Two-Way Street

I've spent years working on both sides of this relationship.

I've been the team member.

I've led operations.

And I've worked alongside agents trying to balance the responsibilities of running and growing a business.

One thing I've learned is that neither side always understands what the other needs.

Agents sometimes think:

"Why can't my team just handle this?"

Meanwhile, team members are thinking:

"I would love to handle it, but I don't know what I'm allowed to decide."

See the disconnect?

One side wants independence.

The other wants clarity.

And neither may realize they're asking for essentially the same thing.

Team Members Need More Than Tasks

If we want team members to take ownership, we have to give them the tools to do it.

They need training.

Clear expectations.

Defined responsibilities.

Decision-making authority within appropriate boundaries.

And confidence that their leader will support them.

Otherwise, we create a culture where everyone asks permission for everything.

And then we wonder why the agent can't get anything done.

Agents Need to Let Their Teams Own the Work

Now, agents, here's your part.

You can't tell your team to take ownership and then jump in and take everything back.

You can't expect independent thinking while requiring approval for every little decision.

And you can't develop confidence if you're constantly correcting how someone does something that was already done correctly.

Sometimes we have to get comfortable letting people learn.

That doesn't mean eliminating oversight.

It means being intentional about when oversight is actually needed.

Have the Conversation

Here's an exercise I love doing with agency teams.

Ask your team members to finish this sentence:

"We could take more ownership if we had..."

Now ask the agent:

"If my team took ownership of ______, I could spend more time..."

Then compare the answers.

I think you might be surprised by what you learn.

Maybe the team needs more training.

Maybe they need clearer decision boundaries.

Maybe they need access to information.

Maybe the agent needs to stop being involved in something that really doesn't require their attention.

Now you have something productive to work on together.

The Goal is Partnership

An agency doesn't become successful because the agent does everything.

And it doesn't become successful because the team does everything.

It becomes successful when everyone understands their contribution.

The agent leads the business.

The team helps operate and grow it.

And both sides communicate about what they need to be successful.

Team members should be empowered to own their responsibilities, and agents should be free to lead theirs.

That's not just delegation.

That's partnership.

And it's one of the strongest foundations an agency can build.