21: The Amanda Powell Episode

In this episode of the Huge Transformations Podcast, host Sheila Smeltzer sits down with Amanda Powell of Contractor in Charge to tackle one of the biggest challenges in the home service and marketing industries: mid-management training. Amanda shares how to turn your best technicians into confident leaders, a crucial step for growth-minded service businesses.

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Show Notes

• Guest: Amanda Powell, Mid-Management Trainer at Contractor in Charge
  📧 Email: apowell@contractorincharge.com
  🌐 Website: https://contractorincharge.com

• Key Topics Discussed:

  • Why training for mid-managers is critical yet often overlooked

  • Transitioning from technician roles to true leadership

  • Why most SOP implementations fail and how to fix it

  • Amanda’s 3-step training framework:
    1️⃣ Start with the “why” – show how changes benefit the whole team
    2️⃣ Practice together – hands-on implementation and demonstration
    3️⃣ Assess – confirm understanding and set up accountability

  • The importance of trust, consistency, and clear expectations

  • Strategies to foster feedback and accountability

  • Avoiding the “flavor of the week” trap in new initiatives

  • How Amanda’s Project Implementation Worksheet helps businesses vet and plan new ideas

  • How to identify if your mid-manager is struggling to let go of technician work or has a “knowledge hoarding” mindset

• Referenced Resources:

  • E-Myth by Michael Gerber (concept of technician → manager → entrepreneur)

  • Freedom Operating System (EOS alternative) – integrating structured change in businesses

  • ServiceTitan software – setup and consulting support through Contractor in Charge

  • The Huge Convention – August 20-22, 2025, Nashville, TN: https://thehugeconvention.com/

• Other Resources (always included):

  • The Huge Insider newsletter signup: https://thehugeconvention.com/insider

  • The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide: www.thehugeinsider.com

  • The Foundations platform trial offer: https://thehugeconvention.com/1foundationstrial

  • The Huge Mastermind info page: https://www.thehugemastermind.com/interest

  • Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hugefoundations 
    
    Transcript:

     Hello everyone. Welcome to the Huge Transformations podcast. I'm Sid Graff Outta Montana. I'm Gabe Torres here in Nashville, Tennessee. And I'm Sheila Smeltzer from North Carolina, we are your hosts and guides through the landscape of growing a successful home service business. We do this by interviewing the best home service business builders in.

    The industry folks that have already built seven and eight figure businesses and they want to help you succeed. Yep. No fake gurus on this show, just real life owners that have been in the trenches and can help show you the way to grow profitably. We get insights and truths from successful business builders, and every episode is 100% experience.

    0% theory. We are going to dig deep and reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our guests will share with you the pitfalls to avoid and the keys to winning. In short, our guests will show you how to transform your home service business into a masterpiece. Thanks for joining us on the Wild Journey of Entrepreneurship.

    Let's dive in.

    Welcome to the Huge Transformations podcast. I'm your host, Sheila Smeltzer. I am so, so, so excited to be able to present to you today, Amanda Powell with contractor in charge. Amanda Powell is gonna talk to us about mid-management training, how training is such a difficult topic and one that all of us in the home services business, um, struggle with.

    But we're talking about training at a mid-management level. So how do we take people within our organization. Train them to be managers. Um, because the biggest hurdle is that whenever we're technicians, we're very task oriented, but we need to train them how to be leadership and strategy oriented. So this is where Amanda comes in and this is where her expertise is, and she's gonna share this with you today.

    So we're also gonna talk about SOPs and how to implement and hold people accountable to them. Amanda's gonna provide you framework that has three components that must happen to successfully implement standard operating procedures within your company. We also take a look at why 70% of the changes within your organization fail and how to unlock people's potential.

    I know that this podcast is gonna. Get your wheels turning and think differently about training in general, but also it's gonna provide a ton of insight on how to integrate positive change in your company's organizational structure. Let's dive in.

    Hey everybody. This is Sheila Smeltzer with the Huge Transformations Podcast. I am so glad to be back with you today, and I have a very. Awesome guest. Uh, her name is Amanda Powell. Hi, Amanda. Hello. Thank you for having me. Yes. Oh, I'm so grateful for this interview that we're getting ready to have because.

    We are gonna talk training. Yes. And we are talking to an expert trainer right here. And as a matter of fact, Amanda is a, what you call, consider a mid-manager. How do you say that? She's a specialist. And mid-management training? Yes. For, uh, contractor in charge and contractor in charge is gonna be at the huge convention.

    Mm-hmm. And they have a number of services they offer for home service businesses. And so we're gonna kind of. Hone in on one very, very important, um, uh, need that they fill for contractors, and that is training. And Amanda, I want you to just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your history and how you know so much about training.

    And I really wanna dive in to talk about. How do we train? Yeah. Like what works? Absolutely. So tell us, tell us about yourself. Yeah, so I've been in the home service industry for, oh, going on eight, eight years now. Uh, my background is in education, funny enough, which translated well to training. That's what I got my degree in.

    I taught for a little bit and then found myself to the home service industry and just. Fell in love with it and have been here since. Uh, I'm currently getting my master's degree in organization Development and Change. So all about how to make a company run, how to implement change. Uh, and so really my, my passion for training comes from that teaching background and knowing that.

    The way you give information to someone, the way you help them succeed in it makes a huge impact on their career, uh, their growth and what they're able to accomplish. Mm-hmm. And training is, so much. Training is not about the trainer. Trainer training is about the people in the room and facilitating a discussion so that they can grow and really internalize what they're learning.

    And it's, it's not about you as the trainer, it's not about being on the stage or in front of a group and telling your own stories. If you're training Right, you're talking 50% of the time and you're letting the group Yeah. It's like an engagement. Yes, it's an engagement. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. So yeah. And then I've been with contract.

    Great. So, um, of course. Oh, sorry. I think I might have had delay on my end. Okay. I, yeah, no, I think we did. So I just wanna back up real fast. So, um, so the, you have eight years in the home service industry. Yes. Um, but prior to that, you're an educator. Yes. And you focus highly on organization development. And, um, change.

    Change. Yes. Yes, yes. And so now you've been with contractor in charge for how long? Uh, for, uh, two years now. They've been two years. Fantastic. Yes. Okay. Yes. Great. And, um, I wanna, so. Oh, geez, sorry. The joys of technology, right. I got, I got booted outta my screen. I'm so sorry about that. That's fine. You're just fine.

    Um, so, so, um, I wanna, let's do a quick so that everybody understands about contractor in charge. Can you just. Plug them briefly. Yes. And then I really wanna dive back into what you do. Yes. Um, and how you can help our, our listeners. So tell us about Contractor in charge. So, contractor in Charge is an amazing organization.

    Lynn Wise is the owner. Um. It's great because it's just people wanting to do right by the customers and providing services to help contractors grow. So we have a call center. Uh, we also have an accounting team that does accounting and bookkeeping for companies. Uh, we do service site and consulting and then, uh, help with lead management.

    And now leadership. Our, our goal is to be your one-stop shop for what you need to grow and improve your business. Great. So these are kind of like these fractional roles mm-hmm. That when companies are in that developmental stage and they're not to the size where they can actually go out and hire A CFO or a COO or, or whatnot, then they can, they can partner with contractor in charge and they provide these on a fractional level.

    Yes. Yes, exactly. Um, we have some people where they go, look, we need a, we need a CSR, uh, or we need something for our rollover. We don't have people at nighttime. And so we come in on the, on the CSR level and we'll help, uh, accounting will be your accountant and help you, um, leads management. ServiceTitan setting up ServiceTitan is it can be a journey, and so we can, we can help with that.

    Uh, and so yeah, we're, we're just that resource for the training needs that you need and the things you need in your company to grow. Okay. So, um, so let's talk about now what you do for, with contractor in charge or just. What you do in regards to training. Yes. Um, when I met you first, it was at a Sales Boost conference and you were a speaker.

    Yes. And I just remembered, I mean, first of all, I was entranced with what you were talking about in regards to training. 'cause it was very clear to me that you knew what you were talking about and that, um, you didn't just have some kind of magic potion about what works. Like you, you really understood the, um, the, the psychology behind training, the accountability behind training, the setting, setting up of procedures and, and things like that so that it's structured.

    And, um, so I mean, I just went to you after, after you got done speaking, I'm like, Hey, can I hire you? Sounds great. Yeah. And so, um, just for our listeners, and so, you know, um, Amanda has worked with, uh, my company a plus Pro Services. For what, going over a year now? Yeah, over a year now. Year, yeah. Um, and, and so, and, and to help develop our training program.

    And it's been a great success. And so let's talk about that. Um, if, and, and let's talk about mid-management to start. So what does that mean if you're a mid-management trainer, what does that mean? Yeah, so I will help mid managers and in our industry that usually means your gm, your office manager, your field supervisor, things of that nature.

    Uh, and my experience and what we see is someone's, usually, those positions are filled by someone that we know that was really good at their job. A really good CSR, really good technician. Uh. They're meeting their KPIs, they're doing fantastic. And we go, great, let's put them in a leadership type role and move them up.

    Mm-hmm. And what happens is a leadership role has different components to it than when you are a technician or a CSR or some other entry level position at at the company. You go from doing very operational tasks, right? Taking phone calls, being in the field, fixing things to more of leadership. And people development and strategy development for a company.

    Hmm. And the higher you move up in management, the more you shift from operational tasks to more people and leadership. And then when you get to the level of an owner, you're more heavy on the strategy side of the company. Sure. What happens is we miss this training to take place for these managers to help develop their leadership skills or their management skills and just to.

    Separate those two. Management is about the things in your business. So mm-hmm. People get led, things get managed. Uh, no one wants to be managed as a person. Right? And with the things, it's going okay, how to, how do we structure the things in our company so that we can use it to our advantage? What data do we need to collect?

    How do we do use the data to perform? To inform our decisions. And the leadership side is how do I develop my people? How do I give them a career path? How do I help them improve at what they do? How do I invest in them? Mm-hmm. Do I give feedback? All the human components. So there's two skill sets that take place and sometimes people know a little bit of both, and they're right in the middle.

    Some people are really strong with the management side and don't have the leadership side. Or vice versa. Mm-hmm. And so my role is to come in and go, okay, where are we at right now? And how can I help you develop those skills so that ultimately you, your company and the team can be successful? Amanda, do you, do you lean on any type of personality assessments?

    Prior to working with somebody who we are, um, bringing up into a mid-management role. I mean, does that come into play at all or are you kind of like no matter who you are, I can do, I can help. Yeah. I think it's no matter who you are, I can help. Now, an important thing is if you're looking for a specific goal, then you want to do a pre-assessment of.

    The company to make sure I would wanna do a pre-assessment of the company to go is what you're looking to change, really what is needed. Um, so for example, sometimes an owner over will come to me and say, we need this done. And that's really a symptom of a bigger problem, right? They might say, my, I need to have my manager hold people accountable.

    But we may look into it, do some, you know, interviews beforehand, little focus groups. I get a picture of what's going on, and that's one example. Someone said, Hey, we need, we need them to hold people more accountable. But the real problem was we need to set clear expectations and have a structure up front, and then we can talk about how to hold people accountable.

    But if they didn't have those SOPs and structures in place first. You can't hold someone accountable if you don't have a framework first. So the real need was let's talk about how to build your structure first. Sure. And then we'll, we'll go from there. So in that way, yes, I'll do those assessments.

    Personality, I think, I think anyone can do it. And it just depends what you're looking for as a company, what will thrive better, and so that's really on an individual basis. Okay. All right. That's great. Let's talk about the structure and SOPs. Um, I mean, one of the. Biggest, the most value that we've gained from working with you is really simple, SOP framework of having beginning of day procedures and end of day procedures, um, you know, truck checklists, like things like this.

    Just very basic, basic things. It's one thing to develop these SOPs, and as business owners we're always trying to build up our playbook. We are trying to, you know. Put our, make our business in writing. So it's like, here's how everybody is trained by, and this is how we follow procedure so that we can start to scale.

    Right? Yes. But this is where your gift comes in. 'cause we can all sit down and write SOPs. Yes. So, oh great. I need an SOP. We can sit down and write an SOP. Um, but. Following, adhering and holding accountable to the SOP is a whole nother thing. Yes. So how do you teach mid-management to do that? What does it look like?

    Yes. So number one, make sure you have the SOPs. We talked about that. We can all do that. And then it goes into implementing it and how you present it. Okay. So I can't hold anyone accountable if no one knows what exists out there. Right. And I hate to break it to everyone, but standing in front of the room and reading an SOP to the group and then saying, everyone got it.

    Great. You're gonna fail. It's not gonna happen afterwards, uh, because there's no buy-in. So when you go and train on an SOP, I always say you gotta start with the why. Why is this being created? Why does the company need it? How does it personally affect the, the. The audience you're presenting it to. So let's just use having a clean truck as an example.

    We come up with a whole SOP for how we're gonna have clean trucks, what it should look like. If I go to the team and I go, okay, everyone, here's how you clean your truck and what we expect and we're good, it's not gonna resonate. But if I go in front of that team and I say. I want you to look at two pictures of a truck.

    I have one that's really clean and one with the McDonald's wrappers or fast food wrappers in the dashboard. And I say, which these, which of these, uh, trucks with the technician would you trust more? And they're gonna tell me, and then I'm gonna say, well, why, why do you say that? Mm-hmm. And the truth of the matter is perception's reality.

    Got it. For, for customers. So there's, there's a whole way you can present it that gets buy-in that makes them think and take ownership. And then you can talk about. How long it takes to look for tools, and if they're spending that much time, how much money did we lose in a day? How could we have gotten one more job?

    And how would've that have affected your commission? They need to see the impact. So that's kind of step one, is let them understand and discover the why behind your process, and then you're gonna try and so your second step is to. Present it to them. Um, now you can do this a couple ways, but I'm a big fan of goes back to the education days show and tell and saying, okay, here's what you do.

    We're gonna do it together. Here's how you have the clean truck. Let's go out to the trucks and actually clean them together. And follow this process. Let's actually practice a phone call in how we want that phone call to sound and go. And you're going to do it because it's the whole idea. You can read how to ride a bike, but until you're actually riding a bike, you don't, it's not internalized.

    You don't really know it. You just know about it. So they need to go through the process of whatever you're teaching them, get hands-on experience with them. Mm-hmm. And then your third and final step is you need an assessment. And this is huge. Yes. This is the most commonly misstep. Mm-hmm. If you find yourself saying, well, I showed them how to do it, or I told them what to do, it's not enough.

    If you didn't say, well, did they actually learn it? So you need to have an assessment of some time type. It can be you're observing them, do the task, and you have a rubric where you're scoring them and making sure they hit all the components you wanted. It could be a little, I. A Kahoot game at the end, or a quiz game at the end where you're checking for key factual information.

    Uh, it could be having them teach it to the group and you make sure they can teach it to someone else correctly. There's endless possibilities, but if you aren't marking off they know this, then you have no leg to stand on when they say, well, no one ever told me. If you've ever heard that, which we've never heard.

    No one ever told me. Yeah. But if you say, Nope, here's your assessment. You completed it on this day. You scored this amount, you showed us you do it. The excuse is gone now. Right. And then you can, you can go from there, uh, you can go from there. That, those are kind of the key steps go about the why behind it.

    Interactive. Training where they're, they're doing the task, they're asking questions about it, they're involved in it, and then as an assessment to check what they were able to retain. Great. So that is the, basically the three step framework to successful training. Yes. Look at you. I mean, it's so awesome.

    One thing I love about working with you is you're very focused on feedback. Yes. And in regards to training, um, with technicians especially, um, or even mid-management, is. You know, how was your training, you know, how did you feel about this training process that you went through? It could be anything, but feedback is a gift and it should always be received as a gift, even if there's something that's painful that's being told to you.

    But, um, but it's, it's been really wonderful at a plus pro to be able to approach my technicians in the morning huddle. We hired a. Slew of new techs this season and to approach them and say, Hey, how was your training? Oh my God, my training was amazing. Like, I feel so supported, I feel so good about what I'm doing.

    Um, there's always things to learn and we try to incorporate training on a daily basis into our morning huddles. There's always something to train. Um, and but the follow up and the feedback is, like you say, that is, that is the, that is the missing, often missing piece to the puzzle. Yes. I have an idea. Um, actually.

    And I, I told Jason this, um, sorry, Jason's my ops manager and um, production manager, and I said, Hey, Jason. Um, I want everybody to have their window cleaning tool belts on, on Monday morning's meeting, uh, huddle. And I want everybody to hit the window wall behind me. And I wanna see, we're gonna do a speed round of cleaning and interior window, and I wanna see how.

    They're all doing it. Are they doing it the same? Are they not doing it the same? But even so that's a fun way to. Hold accountable, see the feedback, to see how is this training actually going because I, I'm not out in the field, you know, watching how they're cleaning all these windows. So I think there are fun ways to do that.

    Yeah. And, um, I'm looking forward to this exercise, by the way. Really good. And what's great about that. Exercise that you're talking about too, is we are not always, we don't have to be the smartest person in the room. So the great thing about the feedback, and especially some of those technicians that have been in the field, but they may do something slightly different that saves them time or is really effective and you're going.

    Wait, that's really good. We want to make that standardized across the board, so it is always good to kind of check back in and see what little adjustments they may have made over time to either go, no, you have to reset. Remember, this is how we do it. Or, oh, that's really great. Let's make that a thing across the board for our team.

    And so I love, yes, yes. I love that. Like, oh, you just taught me a trick I didn't know in 25 years. Why didn't I think of that? It happens all the time, by the way. I mean, it does. Yeah, we know what we know and until we know something different, then that's what we know. Yes, yes, exactly. Um, so like, management is, and, and we're talking about taking, because we go back to the E-Myth, right?

    Yes. Where you have a technician, a manager, and an entrepreneur. Mm-hmm. And there's people like myself, I started as a technician. And I was managing this company and, but now I'm an entrepreneur, more of the visionary and, and, and that creator. Right. So, you know, what we're talking about right now is where you specialize, is taking that technician and bringing them up to a management level.

    Yeah. And I gotta say, it's so hard, and you're right, because a lot of people feel like, yes, we're we just, there's all these things. To manage. Yes. Um, but the leadership component is, that is very special. Mm-hmm. And, um, because until people respect you. Yes, as a manager, if they don't have respect for you, if that follow through and that follow up and the accountability piece and the feedback isn't present, then I feel like people lose respect for the manager.

    Am I, am I on the right page? Can you talk about hundred percent? Right. So there's a big thing with that. Um, especially if you're bringing someone that was with their peers in that position. Now they're moving up. There's a. Big jump that has to happen of we are, we're friends outside of work. I can be your friend outside of work, but I have to be the leader and manager first and not, not lead or manage based off of likability, but what is best for the company.

    Mm-hmm. And have the company's interests at heart. So when you make that, that jump, you have to have structure in place and you have to be consistent. Uh, there's a saying out there that trust happens with consistency over time. Hmm. I'm not consistent and I'm not consistent. Over a period of time, you will lose trust in me.

    And then what happens is managers will come to me and they'll be like, well, I tried it and it didn't work. I'm like, well, how long did you try it for? Two days. Well, your team has now gotten used to, we used to call it like. The flavor, the flavor of the week. Like if we just write this out, it will disappear.

    And so just, we like to think we grow up as adults, but we still have some childlike tendencies. We will push the boundaries and go, do you really mean this? Like, is this really gonna happen? Mm-hmm. And so we wait to see is this around to stay or is this just something we're trying out and we don't really have to do?

    And so if you aren't consistent in it and giving that feedback, then. Then they might not pick up the new implementations you go to implement right away because they're waiting because history has taught them, Hey, they don't really check up on this all the time. This we eventually slack off on on this.

    So you have to be consistent with, it gives them regular feedback and it also helps consistency also, uh, counteracts favoritism. Because if you go and check my trek this week, we'll just. Stick with that example, but you aren't checking everyone's regularly or you aren't always randomly choosing people.

    I'm gonna feel singled out, or if you write me up for something, but I saw someone else get away with it for a month. I don't feel like it's fair. So whatever. Going back to that SOP, whatever you implement, you also need a, how am I gonna track this? How am I gonna hold people responsible for it? Because without that, to your point, Sheila, you're gonna lose respect from your team over time because they go, you aren't consistent with what you're implementing.

    Right. And it factors in. Yeah. Okay. So there's, there's a couple things I wanna talk about there. You know, first of all, um, this whole thing about trust and change, and, you know, we hear this all the time, but serial entrepreneur is the chasing the shiny things all the time. And we like, oh, we have this new idea and ditch what we were doing before.

    We're gonna go in this direction now, and I can tell you my team. I mean, it, it, it, it literally became a problem. Yeah. But like Sheila, I mean, nothing's taking hold because we're not staying focused. Mm-hmm. And so this was a big change that we are going through in the company and I. Um, and so now, yes, like as a leader, I'm trying to stay very focused on the direction we're going and trying to get everybody heading towards the same goal.

    And so now getting management behind, you know, implementing these things that we're staying focused on. Um, because implementing all the, the structure, right? Because how can we grow on scale without the structure? And one tool that you gave us that. Changed. It really changed the way that we, that this happened at, at a plus Pro, and that was your project implementation worksheet because you trained us like, okay, we've got this idea.

    Great, let's run it through the implementation worksheet. Let's vet it all the way through because. It, it, it takes you through the steps of let's dissect this idea and then let's collectively as a team say, is this worth the time and the effort? Yay or nay? Yes. Great. Now we've got all the steps and let's set this as a goal, and then let's, let's attack the goal.

    And that is something that was absolutely lacking before. It's kind of like beginning with the end in mind. Yes. You taught us how to just. Think differently about all these grandiose ideas and say, all right, let's put it into a pr. Like let's start with a procedure. Let's say, let's run it through the, the implementation worksheet.

    Yes. And we had a lot of fun as a team doing that. Um, Jason, mid-manager, like as, as you have trained him, I mean, he loved running it through and he was holding me accountable to that all the time. Yes. So, you know, by design it, it's, it's beautiful. It's a huge deal because, okay, I'm a giant nerd. I love my stats, but one of them is 70% of changes in companies fail.

    So that means you go to make a change at your company and 70% of the time is the average that it will fail. And the reason that happens. Generally speaking, and most of the time is poor planning. Yeah, because let's be honest with ourselves, planning is not the exciting part of change. You want to be like, I have this great idea.

    Here's the outcome I want, let's jump in and do it right, like make it happen. That's great. We don't wanna lose the enthusiasm, but we also have to go, okay, well what's our timeline? Who needs to be involved in this? Who is going to lead this change? Um, what are the potential roadblocks we might not be seeing or thinking about that we're gonna get weak in?

    If we had just paused and thought we would've been able to go, oh yeah, that's gonna be a hiccup we're gonna have to work through. Mm-hmm. How are we going to measure this? Another thing that can happen is we as owners can have something brought to our attention and we think it's happening everywhere, right?

    Like we get that upset customer call, we get, um, a bad review and we go, we got, we kind, it's our baby, it's our company. And we go, okay, we got. You know, code red, everyone come together. We got, we gotta make a big change. And that is why we talked about earlier. Data is so important because the first thing you should do is go, okay, let me take the emotion out of this where I'm not acting.

    Off of emotion. Mm-hmm. Lemme go see how many bad reviews do we really have. Does this, does this justify a change in our process? Right. Or is it an exception that yes, we have to address and we have to take seriously? Was it more of a one-on-one conversation with the individual then? Whole, everyone come together.

    We're, we're gonna redo everything or we have to regroup. You wanna be realistic in what's really going on in my company was the data. Tell me now that I have that, let's make a plan. How are we gonna implement it? What are the roles? What are our timelines? What are our responsibilities? Now go run with it.

    Mm-hmm. And sometimes that can be done in an hour meeting. 'cause the change is simple enough. Sometimes it's, we're gonna need a couple days to think through this and plan it out. So just sequence. Yeah, no, that's, that's awesome. And you know what I'm thinking about too, and it never even dawned on me and um, you know, a lot of, a lot of companies are learning about EOS Yes.

    Or Freedom Operating systems. Mm-hmm. And, you know, these are when as we continue to grow our companies, we need to have structure just like what we're talking about right now. Yeah. And something like. Going back to the project implement implementation worksheet and whatnot. I mean, that is teaching. So if you have your visionary and your integrator and like you've, you're bringing this person up into this integrator role, those worksheets basically train them how to be an integrator, right?

    Three. Three. Here we go. How do we take this vision that so and so had and how do we like make this happen? What? You know, how am I gonna, how am I gonna do this? And it, it literally is the framework and the guideline to get them to start thinking that way. Yes. Yeah. And, and it clarifies those expectations because an integrator change agent, you, there's all all different terms out there for the same type of role, but they have to know.

    Do I have freedom to run with this and you just expect this outcome and however I get to the outcome is good, or do I need more? Mm-hmm. Be more detailed. Is there a certain thing specifically you're looking for? So the example I give with this is if everyone listening to this, and I took a P piece of paper and I said, draw a house, everyone's house is gonna look a little bit different, right?

    Like if we all held up our papers, they'll all be a little bit different. And if I am the person going, whose expectation is to build a house, and I'm going, well, why didn't you put a roof on that? I thought it was common sense. Every house would have a roof. Or why didn't, why didn't you draw four windows?

    You, we know we need four windows. If you don't think what the end objective is, it's gonna change what? What instructions you give. Do I need an exact replica of my house and I'm giving detailed instructions and measurements so it turns out exactly how I'm visioning? Am I going? As long as it has a roof and a door, go with it.

    Got it. And if we got find that it's gonna be different for everyone and then there's gonna be frustration. 'cause someone's going, I thought you just wanted a roof in a door and you're going, no, I wanted these measurements. The it to look exactly like this, it, it changes. So, yeah. And, and that's where as the leader mm-hmm.

    Um, whether you are management, integrator, visionary, owner, whatever it is. Yes. But when you're in that leadership role, being as clear about the expectation is the kindest that you can be. Yes. Right? Yes. And that is, um, to, to say, okay, everybody, I want you to go and. Do you, it's time for your morning truck, truck, truck, truck checklist.

    I was having a hard time with that. Um, so I, everybody knows the procedure. Everybody's gonna come back here and I wanna be able to see, um, 10 inspections on my desk with like, like just being very specific about how much time and what needs to be there or. I mean, hopefully they've already been trained on that, but I think that, yeah.

    'cause otherwise people will go out and be like, eh, whatever. You know? Yeah. I thought you meant this. Exactly. And so I thought, I'm thinking I did a great job. And you're going, no. It's like when I tell my daughter to clean her room, her version of clean and my version of clean are two very different things and stuffed animals shoved under the bed doesn't.

    Quite meet my standards, right? But I have to, I have to really go through, this is what I mean when I say clean your room and, and how it will look. That, that plays into it. So, Amanda, what is your why? I mean, you obviously love this, you're passionate about it and you fell into the home services space, but what is it that, what is it that you love about training?

    You're, you're essentially a trainer. Yes. Of trainers. Yes. Yes. I love unlocking people's potential. Because what it is, is it is there, someone just needs to give them the tools to be successful with it. Mm-hmm. So being able to unlock it and give them the tools to be successful and then have an impact not only on their careers, but whoever their is on their team.

    It, it has a trickle effect. It affects everyone. Mm-hmm. Uh, if I can help them be better managers, leaders, then their team gets better training their team gets. Better development, and then they're progressing in their careers. And so I get a ton of fulfillment from that. Uh, and so that's, that's why I'm passionate about what I do.

    I love it. I love it. Um, and what can, I mean, I'm gonna kind of ask this question, but Yeah. What is the hardest kind of protege you've ever had? Like, what is the hardest, um. Obviously not calling names, but a situation where like the hardest to transition somebody to get that train, uh, to that the management mindset.

    What, what, what is like the worst scenario? So there's two traits I can think of that people often have, have to overcome. Okay? One is letting go of the task because in their mind, I got this position because I was good at these things. And if I give those things up to other people. What's my role, or who am I or what's my value?

    Uhhuh, and that's always a fear. And so they can really hold onto these tasks where I'm going. You need to make time to lead your team or coach your team, and they won't give up those tasks because no one can do it as good as I do it. And you have to change that mindset. And if no one can do it as good as you guess what that's on you for not developing your team.

    Right. That's what it comes back to. So that's, that's one thing that is kind of a, a change of mindset that has to happen. Sure. Uh, the other one that can come into play is just defensiveness of I know it all. And if I don't, they use, they use knowledge to. Be the expert. Mm-hmm. And so there's some holding onto the knowledge of, I don't wanna give this away, or I wanna be the only one.

    'cause then you depend on me and they isolate themselves. Got it. Gosh. Share it like, okay, your goals to, to build your team. So those, those two items can cause the most hiccups. Okay. So is that kind of a hint? Like if I'm an owner and I am, have somebody that maybe I would want you to train. Um, if I identify these, um, um, these, you know, uh, traits or whatnot, yeah, this person, then I maybe kind of like, okay, wait, is this the right person kind of thing, right?

    I put a timeline on, right? Like be, I think anyone can overcome it, but if you haven't been clear with them, like, I need you to let this go, or Here's what I want your role to be, they don't know what they're working towards, right? Then it can be hard. So I always put, I say, put an expiration date on it. Go, okay, we're gonna try it for this long.

    We're gonna see what happens. This is the benchmarks we want to see, then you're good. But if you're gonna keep pouring time and someone doesn't want it, it's not the right position. And you and you. You've had those clear conversations of the, with them, of this is what I expect, this is where I want to go, then yeah, it is time to look at, do I have the right person in the right seat on, on the bus?

    Sure. Sure. Awesome. Well, um, so are you gonna be at the huge convention? I am. Come find us. Contractor in charge will be there. Okay. Are you speaking. I am not speaking this time. Okay. Lynn. Lynn will be okay. We'll be talking about leads there, but uh, as was mentioned, we have different components of, uh, of our business.

    So if we can help you come find us, uh, great. And I'd love to see you all in person. Great. And are you gonna have a booth at the trade show? We are. Okay, good. Good, good, good. All right. Well that's amazing. And I just, um, I, I love. Being able to share this level of experience and knowledge and just that you have in regards to this very painful topic.

    I can't tell you how many times over the years I've been at different conventions or with other business, it doesn't matter what kind of business it is. No, um, training is such a major pain point and such a very difficult thing to figure out and implement into a company. Um, and you know, the, the biggest takeaways that I get from you, Amanda, are I.

    That setting the expectation, being very clear about the expectation and um, and, and that holding people accountable, having a way to be able to that follow up and that feedback. Um, those are really like the two components that again, we like, oh, come into my company, we're gonna show you how to do this thing.

    Yes. Okay, great. Then throw you out to the wolves and you get devoured, right? Yes. So set them up for success. Yeah, sure. Awesome, awesome. Well, is there anything else that you'd like to share with our guests today? No, I have been so grateful to to be here. Thank you for having me. If anyone has any questions about.

    How do I train, how do I make my training more effective? Or you need training for your managers to help them fulfill that role and reach their potential. Please reach out. Okay. Please come find us. But yeah, I'm great to be here. Yeah, make sure that, so of course I know how to get ahold of you, but make sure that you have, will you share with me, um, what your, you know, just like your.

    However you want people to contact you if they wanna reach out to you before the huge convention in August. Yes. Otherwise, of course they can go see you at the trade show booth, um, for contractor in charge. But if you'll share that with me, I'll put it in the show notes. Perfect. Then that way people can reach out to you, Amanda.

    Yes, yes. I will give you my email so, uh, I can get it here real quick too. So my email is a Powell, P-O-W-E-L-L, at contractor in charge.com. Perfect. There you go, everybody. Well, thank you again, Amanda. This has been such a fruitful conversation, so well needed, especially for the home service space. And there's no doubt I'm talking to one of the best in regards to, um, you, you bring such a personal relationship to your, to your training, the way that you work with people.

    And I know that firsthand and I really feel like you're part of our team. Here at a plus Pro. And, um, I mean, you are, you, you're part of my leadership team. That's the way I look at it. And, um, so anyway, I'd love to see your value grow with other companies and, um, and just encourage people to, to dive in it.

    One final question. Yeah. When working with Amanda Powell or anybody that could come in and, and teach and, and really teacher train mid-management, is there a point where you say like, okay, we're good, or is this like a continual, like a continuous education? Yeah. Um, and how long does it typically take? I think that's an important question.

    Yeah. So the, the answer is, it depends on what your goals and objectives are, right? If you go, I wanna get this person here, then we're gonna build a timeline with it and say, great, here's, here's our expiration date of when we will. We'll meet that or aim to meet that. Then there might be just check-ins for maintaining, right?

    Everyone needs, needs a coach. You're gonna have someone constantly. So there are people I work with where they go, this is what we want, let's cover this topic, and then we're gonna run with it from there. And that's all we do. And then there's some that go, you know, we want the ongoing, just so we can maintain and talk about the different scenarios that pop up so we have a sounding board.

    Sure. Um, so the answer to that is, I know it's not a final. But it, it does depend on, on what you want. It all depends. Yeah. But I do have a set training program that's like, we will give you the tools and the information, and if you want support with it afterwards, we'll support afterwards. So, hello my friend.

    This is Sid. Thank you again so much for taking your time to listen to today's episode. I hope you got some value from it. And listen, anything that was covered, uh, any of the resources, any of the books, any of the tools, anything like that is in the show notes, so it's easy for you to find and check it out.

    And also, I wanna let you know the. Mission for the huge convention and for this podcast is to help our blue collar business owners like you and I, to gain financial and time freedom through running a better business. And we do that in four ways. Number one is our free weekly newsletter. It's called a Huge Insider.

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