Action COACH St Louis West

Great delegators don't just hand off work. They build decision rules first.

That's why the five whys matter.

Should your next hire be AI or a human?

A lot of owners are trying to add AI instead of adding employees, and the decision comes down to one question: is the work repetitive and rules-based?

If it's capturing a name, address, phone number, and what the customer needs, AI can handle it.

Real-time judgment and interaction stay with your people, because nothing makes customers madder than hitting zero trying to reach a human.

Position AI as your team's companion, not their replacement, and satisfaction climbs on both sides.

The framework for drawing that line is in the free ebook "25 Practical Tips for Implementing Great Systems in Your Business" at https://go.stlouiswest.actioncoachlp.com/ebook-25-management-funnel-v2.

A lot of founders think they're delegating. What they're actually doing is dumping.

The difference comes down to decision rules. When you hand something off without the logic, the context, or the criteria for a good outcome, every decision boomerangs back to your desk. You end up being the bottleneck you were trying to eliminate.

Good delegation starts with three roles: creator, reviewer, and approver. Someone builds it. Someone reviews it. Someone gives the final green light.

Here's what that looked like for one of my clients. He used to write proposals until nine or ten at night. Now someone offshore pulls the hard data from his system, creates the proposal, and reviews it.

He opens it, confirms the pricing and the details are right, and hits send. He went from an hour of work to 90 seconds of approval.

It took 30 days of corrections to get there. "Next time, handle this differently." "Next time, check for that." That's the review process doing its job, and within a month the team was double-checking the work for him.

The final pricing still goes through him. That's judgment. Everything before it is process.

Most owners don't make meaningful changes until the discomfort of staying the same finally outweighs the effort of changing.

By then, the decision is reactive, not strategic.

With stagflation talk building into 2026 and pressure mounting on margins, the founders who act early will be the ones still standing strong when others are scrambling.

Review your customer base. Run your margin check.

Price for profitability, not just revenue.

If you want a structured way to move before the pain hits, the free ebook "25 Practical Tips for Implementing Great Systems in Your Business" at https://go.stlouiswest.actioncoachlp.com/ebook-25-management-funnel-v2 walks you through it.

Seniors rarely complain about price.

They complain about broken promises.

This Memorial Day, we pause to remember and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

As we gather with family, friends, and our community this weekend, we’re grateful for the freedoms that allow us to connect, grow, and build together.

Wishing everyone a safe and meaningful Memorial Day weekend.🇺🇸

A lot of founders and owners come back to me asking how to delegate tasks. And there's a difference between delegating and dumping.

Dumping is handing off the work without the decision rules. That's why every problem keeps boomeranging back to your desk and you're still working until 9 or 10 at night.

Real delegation runs through three roles:

1️⃣ Creator. They execute the repetitive task. Drafting proposals, pulling the data, putting the work together.

2️⃣ Reviewer. They check it for accuracy and quality. They make sure it lines up with the standards you've set before it ever gets to you.

3️⃣ Approver (you). Final check, hit send. That's it.

I have a client who used to spend an hour writing every proposal. Now someone offshore creates it. Another team member reviews it. He opens it, confirms everything is right, and sends it.

Before: 1 hour. After: 90 seconds.

It took 30 days of corrections to get there. Every "next time, handle this differently" became a decision rule the team could run with going forward. That's the review process doing its job, and pretty soon they're double-checking everything for you.

The final pricing on big decisions still goes through you. That's judgment, and judgment belongs with the human who owns the outcome. Everything before it is process, and process can be taught.

The free ebook "25 Practical Tips for Implementing Great Systems in Your Business" at https://go.stlouiswest.actioncoachlp.com/ebook-25-management-funnel-v2 walks through how to build the structure around it.