You hand over a task with high hopes. You explain it once, clearly. Then the work comes back sloppy, late, or completely wrong. Your first instinct? Grab it back and never delegate again.
This reaction is natural but dangerous. It puts you on a path where you remain the bottleneck in your business forever, trapping you in day-to-day operations when you should be focusing on growth.
Alex Hormozi, CEO of Acquisition.com, takes a systematic approach to running his 500-person organization. Hormozi has scaled and exited seven companies, including a $46.2m exit in 2021. His expertise in building systems has helped countless entrepreneurs escape the daily grind of their businesses.
This method works. You can apply it immediately. Here’s how.
Why managing people is harder than it seems
Delegation feels like it should be straightforward. Find someone capable, explain what needs to be done, and watch your bandwidth multiply. But this overlooks a critical truth about human behavior. People can’t read your mind, and they don’t share your years of context and experience.
When you throw tasks at team members with vague instructions and high expectations, you set everyone up for failure. The typical founder response is to micromanage or take back control entirely. But this reinforces the problem.
The solution isn’t to stop delegating. The solution is to get better at it through a structured system.
Alex Hormozi’s complete management system
Hormozi uses what he calls a management diamond framework with five key components: knowledge (what), training (how), deadlines (when), motivation (incentive), and blockers (external obstacles). When someone doesn’t do what you expect, the issue can be traced to one of these areas.
Start by checking knowledge
“The first and obvious reason someone doesn’t do what you want is they didn’t know what you wanted them to do,” says Hormozi. When an employee misses the mark, avoid making assumptions about their capabilities or motivation.
Begin with a simple question about the part they got wrong or failed to do: “Did you know I wanted you to do this?” If the answer is no, you’ve identified a communication issue. Fix it immediately with clear expectations. This single step prevents countless frustrations and misunderstandings.
Provide specific training
If someone knows what to do but still isn’t performing, training comes next. Vague directives create vague results. Hormozi explains, “Stop being a d*ck is actually a pretty terrible directive” because it gives no concrete guidance on what behaviors to change.
Break down exactly what you want. Instead of telling someone to “be more thorough,” specify what thoroughness looks like: “Check these five data points before submitting” or “Include screenshots of your process.” The more specific your training, the better the results.
Set clear deadlines
Tasks without deadlines rarely get completed efficiently, if at all. Even when someone knows what to do and how to do it, without a timeframe, work gets pushed aside for more urgent matters.
Always attach specific timing expectations to every request. “I need this by Tuesday at noon” beats “Get this to me when you can” every time. Deadlines create accountability and allow proper work prioritization. Every task needs one.
Remove blockers
Sometimes performance issues persist despite knowledge, training, and deadlines. At this point, check for obstacles preventing success. Hormozi gives a simple example: “I could have the best chef in the world who’s the most motivated, knows that I want to make an omelette, knows how to do it, knows I want it in the next five minutes. But if he’s like ‘bro, I don’t have eggs,’ it doesn’t matter.”
Ask directly: “What’s preventing you from completing this task?” Then work to remove those blockers, whether it’s additional resources, access to information, or conflicting priorities.
Understand individual motivation
Effective managers recognize that different people respond to different incentives. Some thrive on public recognition, others prefer private acknowledgment, and some are motivated primarily by financial rewards.
According to Hormozi, “Money has been conditioned as a universal reinforcer” but individualized incentives often work better. Learn what drives each team member and leverage those motivators.
Beyond the diamond, improve your management processes with these extra steps:
Create checklists for consistency
Complex tasks benefit from clear checklists that eliminate guesswork. Checklists provide objective standards for measuring performance and make training far more effective.
When someone underperforms, compare their work against the checklist. This transforms feedback from subjective criticism to objective assessment. “Sarah, you did 3 of the 11 required steps” gives clear direction for improvement.
Match instructions to skill level
The skill level of your team members dictates how detailed your instructions should be. “The more skilled the person is, the bigger the instruction can be,” Hormozi notes. Experts need less specificity, while less experienced employees require step-by-step guidance.
Tailor your communication accordingly. A senior team member might handle “Create a content plan for Q2” while a junior staffer needs, “Create 5 social media posts following this exact template.”
Build your management muscle
Managing people effectively is a skill that amplifies everything else in your business. The difference between scaling to 500 employees or staying small often comes down to your ability to get results through others.
Begin with knowledge and training, which means clear communication and specific expectations. Add deadlines, understand motivations and remove blockers. For added efficiency, create checklists for consistency and match instructions to skills. Your business will grow beyond what you could achieve alone, and you’ll finally experience the freedom that made you choose entrepreneurship in the first place.
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