Jen Hamilton (00:01)
All right, my guest this time around on our podcast is Gina. Gina, I am so excited to have you here. Can't wait to dig into this conversation. Welcome.
Gina Fedeli (00:11)
Thank you so much, I appreciate you having me.
Jen Hamilton (00:13)
Absolutely. So we like to get these things started with a little bit of fun and thinking about us being that sidekick to these incredible heroes out there running small businesses. So I want to know for you, being this amazing sidekick, what's your fractional COO mantra or motto, something that you kind of really live by?
Gina Fedeli (00:37)
So at P3 Transformation, we live by people and process. Now, the lens is always to be focusing on your profitability of your business, right? That's why they're doing it. But what are the two key elements? It's really around the people and the process and combining both of those to achieve success. So for us, we say people plus process equals profit.
Jen Hamilton (00:59)
Very powerful, very powerful. Before we go any further, tell us a little bit more about when you say us and your firm and your organization. I want to learn a little bit more for us and our listeners to be able to get a full picture that it's not just you.
Gina Fedeli (01:13)
Not just me, no. So P3 Transformation, we're an operations agency. So we focus on partnering with business owner founders, and we're normally solving challenges like, feel overwhelmed. We don't have time to get to what we need to. Sometimes their company's shrinking and they're feeling the pain points of the fact that they're in the weeds. They're not doing what they should be doing to grow the business.
Gina Fedeli (01:40)
So they bring us in typically in the second seat as a fractional COO. And then what I think, what I believe makes us different is that we are a full service agency. So we'll come in and be able to say, hey, I'm seeing challenges in such and such a team. We need to hire new people, but you don't have an HR person. We'll bring our person in. We'll write the job description. We'll prepare for the recruiting. You might want your own HR person down the road, but let's not wait to solve the problem.
Gina Fedeli (02:09)
let's solve the problem and then later on if you need to hire that person, you do. So we have a full team, whether we have data analytics, we have HR folks, we have finance folks, we have a bench of COOs, we're very blessed. We have a full team, communications.
Jen Hamilton (02:26)
Every part of a business is touched by operations, so it's really fantastic that you have a full comprehensive team because you're going to get in to see certain things and be like, uh-oh, now we need HR, now we need
Gina Fedeli (02:37)
Exactly.
Jen Hamilton (02:37)
CRO, now we need all of these different things. So it's really fantastic that you can be fully comprehensive.
Jen Hamilton (02:44)
Well, as we're talking about the type of businesses you love to work with, when they put out that call of help, is there a certain kind, certain industry, location, anyone that you just absolutely love to come and save the day?
Gina Fedeli (02:57)
don't think it's a day for anybody actually, but professional services is our main target. That and technology. For me, I was a COO for managed service provider and grew the business through acquisitions. So we went from 2 million to 25 million. So if we had to say what our three target markets would be, I would say manufacturing, professional services, and the tech space managed service providers primarily.
Jen Hamilton (03:26)
Thank you, thank you for clarifying that. Now,
Gina Fedeli (03:28)
You're welcome.
Jen Hamilton (03:29)
I would love to get a little more fun. So if we pull back your cape, what's something unexpected we'd learn about you.
Gina Fedeli (03:39)
What I've been told is one of my secret powers, if you're going to go with your power,
Jen Hamilton (03:44)
Yes, please.
Gina Fedeli (03:46)
is making difficult decisions or delivering difficult messages, but doing it with heart, remembering how the person on the other side may be feeling, what may be going on with them, never forgetting that they are a person. And when they walk in the door, they didn't leave the fact that they may have marital problems or children problems or...
Gina Fedeli (04:07)
whatever may be going on at home. So whenever I'm delivering a message, difficult message to a business owner or to an employee, just remembering where they may be and meeting them there and delivering that message with as much heart and empathy as possible.
Jen Hamilton (04:26)
It's something that I think most people wouldn't expect out of systems people, process people. But to your point, it's not just the process side that equals profit. It's the people side. And it begins with realizing we are people.
Gina Fedeli (04:42)
Yes, and it's remembering that when you're in that second seat, it's all about trust. If you don't have the trust with the business owner and you don't have the trust with the team, you're not going to be able to create the change that you're trying to make. mean, P3 transformation, transformation is a scary word for people, personal, professional, any level, right? Transforming is change and change can be really scary. And typically a COO is coming in to create that change or solving a pain point.
Gina Fedeli (05:11)
So remembering to have that empathy and build that trust, that's key. You can't be successful without the trust.
Jen Hamilton (05:21)
So powerful. It is the backbone of having a successful relationship. That's part of why I think it's so powerful that we come in as that right-hand leader, as a position of authority, being a member of the team, even though it's part-time, there's a little fraction of us, because
Gina Fedeli (05:39)
Mm-hmm.
Jen Hamilton (05:40)
the trust comes from you being one of us. We all belong on the same team. When I used to do consulting,
Jen Hamilton (05:48)
And you can't get consultants to help with a process, but it doesn't feel like you're part of the team. I think part of where there wasn't always that transformation is that, how can I trust you? You don't even know us. And that's what is so different about the work you do and the work in general that we do is that we really are a part of your team.
Gina Fedeli (06:09)
Well, and you're
Gina Fedeli (06:10)
partnering with the CEO, right? So I mean, I have CEOs that I'm working with of who's going through marital problems, who's going through business partner problems, who's got financial challenges at home and it's bleeding into what's going on at work. I mean, you are a partner of theirs and they come in with that. So yes, you're in solving role clarity and organizational challenges, but you're a partner in this with them. So the whole person.
Jen Hamilton (06:39)
Yes, absolutely.
Jen Hamilton (06:40)
I think a lot of people can get confused by what COO means, but it's to what you're saying. You're that partner to the CEO, almost like if someone had a president and a CEO, you know, like when you put the two together, whatever roles you have, obviously we're really clear on, we come in to make the systems, the people, the process turn into profit. I love how you say that, but it is, it is that person that's right there with them, that partner. I think it's really important to see us that way. And I,
Jen Hamilton (07:10)
appreciate that you not only are saying it but you're doing it and that trust is key for it in all parts of their life. Let's
Gina Fedeli (07:19)
Mm-hmm, yes.
Jen Hamilton (07:20)
talk about what's one mistake that you see over and over again that different companies make where you love to serve them as their their sidekick and their superhero but before you get in there they are making this mistake.
Gina Fedeli (07:37)
You know, think one of the common mistakes that you hear business owners are a special kind of person, right? They're a visionary. They have skills that others don't necessarily have. And with that, they're fast. They're quick. They want what they want when they want it. And how often I will hear and we will hear, they should just know. Why can't they just do? As if someone on the team
Gina Fedeli (08:05)
is purposefully not doing something. And I will look at them and say, how should they just know? Have we taught them? Have we given them a process? Have we had a conversation with them? You know, do you know what's going on in the underbelly that could be causing it? So I do find that it's often for business owners to have this level of frustration because they're trying to get to what they're trying to get to, right? And
Gina Fedeli (08:35)
Often you're getting there through your people. I mean, we still use people. We may have AI, but we still have people. And there's this thought that someone should just know better or do differently. And that is thematic. And it's really starting to say, talk me through, why should they know that?
Gina Fedeli (08:57)
What have we done to explain it to them? And then when you've worked with them for a few months and you've given role clarity or you've given process or you've made someone feel appreciated how different they're showing up every day. And then all of a sudden the business owner starts to see what I started to say or what we started to say months earlier.
Jen Hamilton (09:22)
hope our listeners are hearing as if you were challenging them because I hear that all the time where it looks like a they problem when it's often us as leaders not realizing that we're not being clear. But once we bring in that clarity and so I hope they were if you didn't hear that go back and rewind and hear all those questions that Gina was just asking as if she's asking you if you are at all frustrated with why can't they just do this?
Gina Fedeli (09:50)
Mm-hmm.
Jen Hamilton (09:52)
to be able to step back and ask those questions and see and dig into why can't they do it? Well, let's look why can't they do it? What have we done to equip them?
Gina Fedeli (10:01)
It's not negative.
Gina Fedeli (10:02)
They're not trying to be negative. I mean, don't get me wrong. There could be bad actors, right? There can be, and maybe they don't belong on the team. But for the most part, there's something that leadership, I'll call it, whether it's the CEO or whomever in the organization, has not provided. There's a lack of clarity. And when there's a lack of clarity, people stand still.
Gina Fedeli (10:26)
Right? People don't know, do I go left? Do I go right? And then sometimes depending upon the CEOs that you could have in a situation, their frustration can be coming out where they're yelling or they're presenting in a way that people are like, I'm just going to stay quiet. And that's a culture that I do see often and it's one that has to be turned around.
Jen Hamilton (10:51)
Well, that leads beautifully into our topic today, which is around people and even
Gina Fedeli (10:56)
Yes.
Jen Hamilton (10:56)
more specifically about these types of cultures. So let's talk about why does people matter to these small businesses and these growing businesses that we're talking to. Why is that even a thing?
Gina Fedeli (11:10)
You know, it's the core of every business. At least it's the core of every business that we work with, right? So we're in professional services, we're in technology. Yes, technology. You're still working with people. They're answering the phone, they're helping someone's problem. And even if you get into manufacturing and the leadership team, there's still people. And that's where you're getting your results. And the importance of having, you can have five people on a team who don't feel empowered.
Gina Fedeli (11:39)
don't have clarity, feel like they need to be hiding, you're not driving results. So you're paying possibly a lot of money and not getting the results that you need, where you get a team feeling like you support them and you are empowering them to make decisions. And if the right decision or the best decision isn't made, you're having a conversation, you're educating them and you're teaching them how to do something different. That creates a loyalty.
Gina Fedeli (12:09)
That creates a bond. know, when I owned my own company previously, or I should say I was a partner in a technology firm, we had a solid team to the point that we've been apart now four years and we still get together and talk about the team that we were because we knew when somebody had a baby shower or when somebody was getting married or what was going on, we were there for each other. So there was the heart and the personal side. And on the professional side, we grew together.
Gina Fedeli (12:39)
We made mistakes and we'd say, I learned from that. Nobody yelled at anybody. We just said, how could we do that better? How could we do that differently? Or why did you do it that way? I can learn something from you.
Gina Fedeli (12:53)
So it's remembering that, you know, I remember I did a presentation years back and the one thing I said was, we are the sum of all of the parts. The success is from all of the parts and all of the parts are the people.
Jen Hamilton (13:09)
I love you bringing back to that heart. It is both professionalism and the personal side of having these relationships with our team. And I also appreciate you making the business case for it because while we are people, especially like you're saying, we are people-driven businesses, the results are completely dependent on the people.
Jen Hamilton (13:31)
And you've got to realize that if you're messing up the people side, you really are messing up the entire business. No amount of systems, no amount of AI technology is going to fix it. So why do think so many businesses mess up or skip the part about truly understanding, honoring, training, as we've been talking about, clarifying their people, all the people things, why are they messing it up?
Gina Fedeli (13:57)
I think sometimes people look at the soft skills as the nice to haves, right? They don't look at the importance of the team building or maybe training people on how to present or going back and saying, I'm asking you to do this and this is the reason why it's important. And this is how it maps to the bigger picture, regardless of what everybody's doing as a COO.
Gina Fedeli (14:26)
You need to make sure of the goal is to make sure that everyone's aligned and rowing in the same direction. But people need to understand why. What is that direction? Right. So it really starts with giving clarity so people have purpose. So they understand this is where we are trying to go. This is how I contribute to that. Even in my smallest way, I'm making a difference. So thinking through the soft skills, people like to hear thank you.
Gina Fedeli (14:55)
And I appreciate you. And I understand if you need to take time off and you've got something going on. That said, we have a really important deadline. So how can we partner to make that happen? That's very different than, you can't take the time off because stuff's got to get done. How do we want to be spoken to? But again, a business leader is driven. They are wired differently. So asking them to come into the weeds and do something that they're not really
Gina Fedeli (15:24)
skilled at doing is a disservice for them as well. So it's not surprising that there's a disconnect. And that's why that COOC is so important and focusing on the soft skills, the nurturing, the team building, because when you lose people, it's going to cost you so much more in off-boarding and onboarding and time where the position may be vacant or inefficiencies. And all of that can cause you to lose clients.
Gina Fedeli (15:53)
That then speaks to the business owner.
Jen Hamilton (15:57)
What I hear is there is a need to respect people and a need to know that they matter. Which of course is some of our very basic needs. We want to make sure that we feel safe, we feel respected, psychologically safe wherever we are. It doesn't mean we're not going to have conflicts, but it means that you are seen for you matter, you are important, and I love how you said answering the why.
Jen Hamilton (16:24)
and the alignment to the bigger reason that we are working together. How your work gets us to their goals, how your work helps the client, whatever that is, to me, I think that is truly missing when companies are having problems with people issues, if we say it, is they're not just going back to those basic human needs of what am I doing to make sure we're all respecting each other, we're all challenging each other in a safe way where we're not feeling like,
Jen Hamilton (16:53)
my gosh, I can't speak up. We wanna have those difficult conversations, but know that you're gonna be heard, you're gonna be listened to, you're gonna be respected. And that what you say does matter. We are wanting to hear from you. So I think it's so powerful. All of these pieces you're saying because we're hearing, okay, you messed it up when you don't have it in place. But I would also imagine because you were talking about organizations that you work with that are very much client.
Jen Hamilton (17:22)
friendly and client heavy. If you're not respecting your people, they're likely not doing the same thing with the clients. And you're gonna also have that impact, not only of the costs, like you're saying, turnover and vacancies and rehiring, but you're likely not to have the same level of client loyalty and referrals when you have people issues. Have
Gina Fedeli (17:43)
Yes. Yes.
Jen Hamilton (17:45)
you seen some examples around...
Jen Hamilton (17:47)
Maybe either that being broken or turning it around and seeing even improved client relations.
Gina Fedeli (17:54)
Yes, I've seen situations where, for example, working with a client success team and really bolstering them, giving them the soft skills, teaching them to listen more to the people that they're speaking to and them going into situations with clients, not necessarily as stage talking about, this is who we are and coming in and saying, let's talk about what you need. How are things going for you? And taking the time because
Gina Fedeli (18:22)
Just like we said, everybody wants to be heard. Everybody wants to be valued, right? And listening to what your clients are saying often it leads to a, finding out things you didn't even know that you can solve to make the relationship stronger. B, sometimes it leads to finding new opportunities within that client. Or C, solidifying what you have. So as you're training your people,
Gina Fedeli (18:48)
taking them, which we did with the client services team for, it was a tech firm, having them go out and really support the clients in that way and hearing what they needed, we were able to take existing clients and expand the revenue we had with them and make them stronger.
Jen Hamilton (19:07)
Very powerful. My guess is the team enjoyed it too because they're really being a part of the solution, not just being complained to as part of the problem. Yeah.
Gina Fedeli (19:18)
And that's what's going to say one of the other things that I find is really powerful with a team is to think, to ask them, how would you solve this? Because often as leaders, we think we just have all the answers and we just tell everybody, myself included. I can be notorious for saying, okay, if we're going to go to point A to point B, that's how we're going to get there. And now I pause and I'll say, how do you think we should get there?
Gina Fedeli (19:42)
What's the approach you think we should be taking? Because sometimes my brain is in the weeds and I'm not thinking through it in the same way, or they have a different perspective, fresher perspective. Maybe not, but let's ask and see. Because again, we're the sum. And let's bring it all together and see how best we can do something.
Jen Hamilton (20:07)
Well, and it goes back to what you were saying in the beginning too. If we are expecting them to know, but we never teach them to think for themselves by asking, what do you think? There's never going to be this time where you feel like, gosh, they can take initiative or I'm solving all the problems, right? That is because you're not giving them the chance to think.
Jen Hamilton (20:30)
on their own. If you're feeding every answer, you're not growing a self-accountable initiative-taking team, which is the thing we all want, but we are the
Gina Fedeli (20:39)
We all want exactly.
Jen Hamilton (20:41)
ones in the way when we are putting the solution into their mouth before they have a chance to speak.
Gina Fedeli (20:46)
Well, and also if we're working with business leaders who want to grow their business or scale their business, which is typically where we are, they don't want to be in the weeds every day. That's why we're here. But that means that they're out and they're going to be making other business decisions or finding other ventures and whatnot. So the more that you can have leaders able to take initiative and feel comfortable in making decisions, you've got more players, more people on the ground.
Gina Fedeli (21:14)
that are going to move it. It's that analogy of how many oars do you have in the water? You're going to move that much faster if you have more oars. So teaching people and developing them, again, investing in your people, to be those leaders. Now we have an organization where people have learned you've created loyalty. Hopefully you've created a path for others to get promoted and they stay within the company.
Jen Hamilton (21:40)
You've talked a lot about development and soft skills and things. I see this with a lot of clients. We are loyal to our people. We want to give them a way to recognize their efforts and we slap a leadership title on them when they're not really trained. Can you share
Gina Fedeli (21:55)
Yes. Yes.
Jen Hamilton (21:57)
some examples of bringing in that development so they can be able to step into that leadership role fully?
Gina Fedeli (22:04)
I just had a conversation with one of our clients and we talked about how people in the organization were promoted to leadership roles because they were really good individual contributors. And in a business owner's mind, as you're growing the business, that's how you recognize people and you end up putting them into a role that isn't necessarily suited for them.
Gina Fedeli (22:31)
or for their skills. And now what's happened is you've taken this really powerful, independent individual contributor, put them into a leadership role and now they're maybe failing or feeling like they're failing. And now there's a frustration and now there's a conversation of, God, you've been amazing for five years and now what's going on? What's changed? So first and foremost, I love using behavioral assessments and being able to understand players and understand if somebody
Gina Fedeli (22:59)
is a leader or not. Sometimes you don't have that luxury and people don't want to lose that. But if you've put somebody in this role as an individual contributor, sometimes it's having a really honest conversation with them because they may not even want to be there. But if they do want to be there, then what is the training that they need? How do we support them? Who are the people that we put around them so that they are in their best self? The phrase I like to use is so that they're in the
Gina Fedeli (23:29)
in their own unique brilliance to perform.
Jen Hamilton (23:33)
Sometimes I will say, definitely see the recognition and let me give you a title and those are good intentions, good intentions. Sometimes I will say, and I love that you asked, like, do you even want this role? I have asked that before, I've challenged clients to ask it before and they will say yes. So you have to be really careful about peeling back what the role actually means. It goes back to what you were saying before.
Jen Hamilton (23:59)
clarity of the expectations because a lot of times people say yes to a title and a pay, but not really realizing they're saying yes to responsibilities that they may not feel comfortable with or truly want. Do you have any, because yes, we can get trained, we can do that, but I think sometimes there's a misconception of what is expected of a leader that we think they know and they sometimes don't even know until they get into it.
Gina Fedeli (24:27)
We're in a situation right now where we're promoting somebody within the organization and it requires some training before the promotion occurs. And to me, as a leader in an organization, you learn the people, you learn what's important to them. So somebody can say yes, but I always like to dig deeper and say, talk to me how this aligns with your ex interests.
Gina Fedeli (24:53)
And I understand that you're about to have a new baby. How does this align with that? Because the time commitment is going to be greater. And I know you just said yes. I'd like you to take the weekend and really think through what does this look like for you? Because there's no right or wrong answer. But if you pick something that doesn't align with who you are, you're probably not going to feel satisfied or feel like you're accomplishing. Now.
Gina Fedeli (25:20)
People can still come and say, yep, I want the money. And that might be something that you're dealing with later on. But I really try to dig deeper than just the, yes, I want this. Because if, as a leader, you've taken the time to learn your people, you know what they're up to, what's going on with them, what's important to them, what their triggers are. And if you pay attention to that, you can get more meaningful.
Gina Fedeli (25:46)
conversation. So I just did that with somebody. You I said, you are creative by nature and this is an analytical role. How does that align? How does that make you feel? Is this about achieving your personal professional goals that or where's this taking you? And they went and they took the time and they thought about it and they came back and they said,
Gina Fedeli (26:09)
This is how it does align and this is how I'm going to nurture my creative side. This is how I'm going to harness my analytical side and this is what I want.
Jen Hamilton (26:19)
They've got to be so much more bought in and excited about the position than if you didn't help them reflect and go deep.
Jen Hamilton (26:26)
What an amazing process. I hope that everyone as they are looking at any role that they want to take or offer to someone else, they take that moment to go deeper. I appreciate you sharing that strategy because it will work better for everyone if they are really committed. And if they aren't, wouldn't you rather know before they step into that role and you make all those changes to put them in that role, maybe a higher replacement, whatever it looks like. I love that moment to step back and reflect.
Jen Hamilton (26:56)
And I actually like that you have them come back to and report. Well, what did you find? Where is that alignment? How does this serve your goals? I think that's about very, very powerful. I want to ask you.
Jen Hamilton (27:08)
If someone or an organization doesn't tackle this area well, because not everyone is gifted with EQ and bad emotional intelligence or those coaching type of skills around this, what's one thing they might start noticing or kind of watch out for? Some of those warning signs if they're not quite handling the people part of the business well.
Gina Fedeli (27:31)
We're having that
Gina Fedeli (27:32)
in one of our clients right now and one of the symptoms that we're seeing is a lot of absenteeism. People, this one department, people are out a lot, people are out sick a lot and too much so for it to be coincidental and not attached to something.
Gina Fedeli (27:50)
And when we start really digging in, we're noticing that the leader is an individual contributor. So now we're seeing an individual contributor that isn't leading and we're seeing a team that is out a lot. And now we had our first resignation on the team. So there's a cultural problem there. There's definitely a systemic problem and it's not, I'm not going to say there's not challenges with certain individuals.
Gina Fedeli (28:19)
but it's much bigger. And really looking at how are people feeling appreciated? Do we have to take a look at some policies that we don't have into place so people have support and structure and understanding what is right and what they can do? But you can start seeing it in absenteeism as one of the attributes that you'll see.
Jen Hamilton (28:42)
things that I think happens and you started to allude to it is that it's easier as humans, it's our nature to judge. We can try as we may to get rid of that. It is part of what we do. And so the easiest answer at first is to point fingers. It's that person or it's them or point at each other. And so I appreciate you taking us back to the level of systemic, to culture, to looking at deeper what's going on here.
Jen Hamilton (29:11)
not just finger pointing and it's him, it's her type of thing. And yeah, sometimes the answer may be that there are the wrong people, they're in the wrong seats. We might get there, but let's first look at it systemically.
Jen Hamilton (29:24)
It's such a powerful way to look at it. Well, as we start to end this conversation, if somebody is saying they've got some of the people problems or people aren't leading to that profitability, what are some of the first steps that our listeners could take to start fixing some of this area?
Gina Fedeli (29:42)
Well, if they don't have a COO, I would say to bring a COO. You
Jen Hamilton (29:47)
I agree on that one.
Gina Fedeli (29:49)
know, that's really where it starts because part of where you get the rubber to meet the road is to get a vision and then have people aligned to that vision. It's sort of the North Star. And then as people are aligned to where they're trying to go, then you can see if there's other things that are getting in the way. But if you don't have that alignment,
Gina Fedeli (30:10)
and one person is going to the left and one person, it's like a dance, right? People are just bumping up against each other because they're not doing the same dance. So the first thing I would say is do you need a COO and fractional is an amazing way to go because you might not be able to afford the level of person that you need at a full time, but you can bring somebody in for 10 hours a week. Let me tell you, you can get a lot done in 10 hours a week, especially if you're mentoring a leadership team.
Jen Hamilton (30:38)
I cannot agree more with that idea. Alright,
Gina Fedeli (30:38)
Mm-hmm. I'm so.
Jen Hamilton (30:43)
now it's time to flip the mind so you get to ask me anything.
Gina Fedeli (30:48)
Wonderful. will. Thank you. So you obviously have built very successful business and you've served many CEOs. So I'd love to know if you've seen one common pain point that you address with all of your CEOs.
Jen Hamilton (31:05)
You know, it's perfect given the topic that we have. think the common pain point is there is some one on the team, maybe more than someone that is either in the wrong seat or maybe on the wrong bus. I definitely appreciate what you said about bringing in a C O O when there is a people problem. That is why it is a universal thing is that there's usually a challenge with
Jen Hamilton (31:32)
something around the people side of it. Even if it's a process that you think is a problem, usually there's a people that are leading the process that are always a problem. So for me, that's part of where we want to look at. And I'm not coming in to look at who do we fire, who do we get rid of. That's not, I hope you haven't heard that in anything we talked about today.
Jen Hamilton (31:54)
We're looking at it systemically of like, what is making something off? And some of my favorite stories are when we're able to do some restructuring and shifting around and getting those people to be in that place where they take up the aura that you're talking about and they're actually all moving the organization forward. That's fantastic. Sometimes it does end up where we have some difficult conversations. And I will say a lot of times,
Jen Hamilton (32:21)
what holds the organizations back. I'm gonna, listeners, if this is you, you can look in the mirror. Oftentimes we keep people or we put people in a position because we have some outside relationship with them. Maybe family, maybe friends, or a long time loyalty, but they've been here since the beginning. That's oftentimes where we're gonna have to dig in a little bit deeper and it might be a little bit more painful. But ideally, I know when we,
Jen Hamilton (32:51)
Get on the other side of solving these people problems when they really are either not belonging in this organization, just not a fit to the culture, or they're not a fit for the seat, that they are happier. The team is happier. The owner is happier when you're on the other side. Going through it is very scary. I know, and even making a decision is very scary, but being on the other side is really great.
Gina Fedeli (33:17)
And you'll find that for the most part, the responses, it was the best thing I ever did. Yeah.
Jen Hamilton (33:23)
Yes. Yeah. And
Jen Hamilton (33:24)
sometimes you'll, I've definitely heard it on the other side too. If you do end up having to let someone go, they will say yes in the moment, not so fun, but give them some time and they'll look back and they'll often be grateful because you did the thing that they were afraid to do. People know when they're just not fitting in right. And you said this earlier and I want to end with this too is that I don't think
Jen Hamilton (33:52)
People have bad intentions. They really do wanna do a good job. If they're in a place where they can't do that good job, release them. Let them go find somewhere where they can be their best. And it's a gift to them and it's a gift to you and it's a gift to the team.
Gina Fedeli (34:09)
I recall getting a thank you note from someone that I had let go and they came back and said I was carrying so much weight. I was so unhappy. I was so unhealthy and thank you for doing what I wasn't able to do. So thank you. Somebody said to me, you got a thank you note from somebody let go. I said, yeah, cause they weren't happy.
Jen Hamilton (34:33)
like you let them go without all the things we've already talked about today. We try to make it work. We try to train. We try to put them in the right seats. It's ideally it's not what you have to do, but if it's right for them and it's right for the business, then it will end up being rosier on the other side. Gina, this has been an amazing conversation. I know people can find fractional COOs and operations consultants through Hamilton COs. We can get you the best.
Jen Hamilton (35:02)
but I want them to know how to find you. So if they really wanna work with you, and P3 Transformation, like how do we find you?
Gina Fedeli (35:11)
The best way and the easiest way would be go onto p3transformation.com, go onto the website, and I would love to offer to your listeners a business assessment that they can do complimentary. They can go in, complete it, they'll get a report card that'll tell them where they are standing in the people, process, and profit sectors, and then I'll do a follow-up phone call with them just to talk about their pain points and how they could best solve them.
Jen Hamilton (35:38)
That is very generous. Thank you, Deena. And we'll make sure we get all the links in there. if you are listening to this, make sure you go and sign up for that assessment and be able to, I love that, get the report card, but also that support from you to feel safe and knowing, okay, I don't want to look, but we got to look and we'll, and you'll just take care of them. Make sure that they know where to go from here. So thank you so much. Absolutely.
Gina Fedeli (36:02)
and we'll figure it out together. Thank you for your time.
Jen Hamilton (36:06)
Absolutely. Thank you so much for being our guest today, Gina. I appreciate it. We'll have to come back and talk about that process side next.
Gina Fedeli (36:13)
would love it. Welcome. I would love to come back.
Jen Hamilton (36:17)
We'd love to have you.
