Hiring Is Breaking Your Agency—and You Don’t Even Know It Yet

The hiring mistake digital agencies keep repeating isn’t just frustrating—it’s the silent killer of growth, team culture, and founder freedom. In this episode, discover the system built to end that cycle and finally scale with a team you can trust.

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What if scaling your agency wasn’t about finding unicorns—but about building a system that finds and keeps A-players every time?

Most agency owners think their hiring problem is about resumes or “bad fits.” But in reality, the issue goes much deeper—and Dr. Michael Neal found the fix. In this conversation, we dive into how he eliminated guesswork, stopped hiring on gut instinct, and created a process that consistently brings in top performers without the stress or second-guessing.

If you’re a 6-, 7-, or 8-figure agency owner still stuck in a loop of turnover, burnout, or inconsistent team performance, this episode is a blueprint for building a team that scales with you.

How I’ve Seen Hiring Bottlenecks Derail 7-Figure Growth

Over the years coaching agency owners and leaders, I’ve seen this over and over again—what looks like a systems or fulfillment issue is often rooted in the team. And more specifically, in how that team was hired.

That’s why this conversation with Dr. Michael Neal resonated so deeply with me.

His story reflects a challenge I see all the time—burnout, high turnover, and a founder who feels like everything still depends on them. And at the core of it? A hiring model built on resumes and gut instinct—one that leaves agency owners trapped in the day-to-day.

Instead of staying stuck, Dr. Neal built a system. He drew insight from high-performing organizations like Disney and the Four Seasons, and applied that to his own business—creating a hiring model that matches team members to roles based on strengths, not assumptions.

The result is a business that’s not only less stressful—but one that scales without requiring him to be in every decision.

For agency owners approaching or past seven figures, this is one of the key shifts that allows you to move from operator to strategic leader. If you’re tired of turnover, or constantly stepping in to keep things afloat, this episode lays out a clear, repeatable path for building a team you can trust—one that thrives without micromanagement, and allows you to lead with clarity and purpose.

What Poor Hiring Decisions Are Really Costing Your Agency

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why resumes don’t reveal what matters—and what to use instead
• How to hire predictably using psychometric assessments
• The process Dr. Neal created to get a 97% success rate in hiring
• What Disney and Four Seasons can teach you about team fit and performance
• The leadership shift from micromanagement to mission clarity
• How to reduce stress, exit fulfillment, and lead your team to scale

00:00 – Intro: Why Hiring Is the Bottleneck Most Agency Owners Overlook
02:56 – Why Resumes Are Failing Digital Agencies
05:48 – Dr. Neal’s Hiring System That Delivers a 97% Match Rate
09:08 – How to Build a Self-Managing Team That Scales
15:09 – What Disney and the Four Seasons Can Teach About Team Fit
20:49 – The CEO Shift: From Doing to Leading
24:48 – How to Keep Your A-Players (and Let Go of the Rest)

🔑 Key Takeaways: Leadership Shifts That Solve the Real Hiring Bottleneck

Letting Go of Gut Decisions

Resumes and interviews are full of bias and guesswork. Dr. Neal’s system focuses on data—not hope—and that changes everything.

Structure Over Chaos

Hiring isn’t about “trying harder.” It’s about designing and following a system that works every time.

Team Culture and the Hiring Decisions That Shape It

Retention and performance improve when roles align with natural strengths—not just skillsets on a piece of paper.

Your Team Should Run the Business—Not You

High performers don’t need micromanagement. They need clarity, tools, and trust. That only happens when the right people are in the right seats.

Connect with Dr. Michael Neal

Dr. Neal is the founder of Build My Team, a hiring company helping practices and small businesses find high-performing team members using a proven, psychometric-based system.

👉 Visit www.buildmyteam.com to schedule a consultation and explore a better way to hire.

Books Mentioned

• Who Not How by Dan Sullivan & Benjamin Hardy
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• Atomic Habits by James Clear

Want to Build a Thriving Agency of Your Own?

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Want to Be a Guest on the Show?

If you’re a 7- or 8-figure agency owner with a story of growth, systems, or leadership evolution, we want to hear from you. Join past guests from top industry groups like Seven Figure Agency, Hite Committed Mastermind, Prospecting on Demand (POD) and GoHighLevel power users on a platform trusted by high-performing founders worldwide.

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About Dr. William Attaway:

Dr. William Attaway is a seasoned Executive Mindset and Leadership Coach who helps 6-, 7-, and 8-figure digital agency owners scale their businesses with clarity, systems, and confidence. With nearly 30 years of experience, he equips growth-driven entrepreneurs to build high-performing teams, implement scalable systems, and transition from freelancer to CEO.

He hosts the Catalytic Leadership™ Podcast—ranked in the Top 2% of podcasts globally (source: Listen Notes)—with a weekly reach of over 50,000. Each episode features elite agency owners and top digital entrepreneurs sharing what actually works when scaling a service-based business.

From leadership development and visionary thinking to mindset transformation and team optimization, Dr. Attaway empowers agency leaders to build a business that thrives without their constant oversight—and a team that flourishes under intentional, scalable leadership.

Explore Further:

📘 Free Book: Catalytic Leadership: 12 Keys To Becoming An Intentional Leader

📅 Discovery Call: Get 30 minutes of strategic insight tailored to your agency.

🎙️ Subscribe to the Catalytic Leadership™ Podcast: Weekly episodes on agency leadership, team building, and growth systems

Connect with Dr. William Attaway

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