I keep hearing the same sentence from agency owners: “I can’t possibly manage that kind of team, they’re too advanced for me.”
Every time I hear it, I know exactly what’s about to happen next.
The Pattern I See Everywhere
Here’s how it usually unfolds: A capable agency owner needs help in an area outside their expertise. They do their research, interview impressive specialists, and feel intimidated by the credentials and experience.
But instead of seeing that intimidation as a warning sign, they interpret it as validation. “This person must be really good; they know so much more than I.”
So they hire based on being impressed rather than on being able to work together effectively.
The Problem with Hiring “Up”
When you hire someone whose expertise intimidates you, you create an immediate management problem. You can’t effectively guide work you don’t understand. You can’t spot when someone is optimizing for the wrong metrics. You can’t translate their efforts into a language your clients understand.
The relationship becomes backwards; instead of you managing them, you end up feeling like you need to prove yourself to them.
What I’ve Learned About Managing Expertise
From my own experience managing teams in areas where I had no background, I learned something counterintuitive: You don’t need to be an expert to manage experts, but you do need to understand enough to ask the right questions.
You need to know the difference between impressive-sounding work and work that actually moves the business needle.
The Better Approach
Instead of hiring people who make you feel small, look for people who make you feel smarter.
Look for specialists who ask about your business before showcasing their credentials. Who wants to understand your clients’ goals before proposing tactics? Who can explain their approach in language you can confidently relay to others?
The best hires aren’t the ones with the most intimidating resumes; they’re the ones who treat you like a partner in solving problems.
The Simple Test
Before making any hiring decision, ask yourself: “After talking with this person, do I feel more confident or less confident about managing this project?”
If you feel less confident, if you’re worried about your ability to guide the work or communicate the value to clients, that’s your answer right there.
The right person doesn’t just bring expertise. They bring you into their expertise in a way that makes the whole project stronger.
Why This Matters More Than Credentials
The most successful agency relationships I’ve observed aren’t built on credential worship. They’re built on clear communication and aligned incentives.
When your team members can explain their work in terms that make business sense to you, you can explain it in terms that make business sense to your clients. That clarity creates confidence up and down the chain.
The Long-Term View
Building a team you can actually manage isn’t about settling for less expertise. It’s about finding the right kind of expertise, the kind that elevates everyone involved rather than creating hierarchies based on intimidation.
The goal isn’t to hire people who make you feel inadequate. It’s to hire people who help you become more capable.
This is one of those insights that seems obvious once you see it, but it’s surprisingly easy to miss when you’re in the middle of trying to scale your business and feeling the pressure to “hire the best.”
Sometimes the best hire isn’t the most impressive one. It’s the one that makes your whole operation stronger.
