TRAILER - Symptoms vs. Root Cause: How Leaders Align Teams to Solve the Right Problem

Episode 12 is here!!!!

Working harder feels like the right answer when things start falling apart. But what if all that effort is aimed at the wrong target? This week, Jerry Caldwell, President of Bristol Motor Speedway, joins me to talk about the tension every leader eventually hits: confusing the symptom for the problem and pouring everything into fixing the wrong thing.

If you've ever pushed harder, moved faster, and spent more, only to realize none of it was solving the real problem, this one's for you.

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About Preston Poore

Preston Poore is a former Coca-Cola executive who practices what he preaches. He uses his wealth of hard-earned experience in the corporate arena to help emerging leaders and millennials reach their potential—all while staying true to his values, purpose, and goals.

Preston is a Certified Maxwell Leadership Team Keynote Speaker, Facilitator, Trainer, and Executive Coach. Through his books, How Is Greater Than What, Discipled Leader (2022 Selah Awards Nonfiction Book of the Year) and 21 Days to Sound Decision Making, his blog, and podcast, he seeks to help people become redemptive influences in their workplaces and live more fulfilling lives.

Learn more about Preston Poore & Associates: https://prestonpoore.com

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

While there is some truth to making sure that you're putting in the effort that you need to, and that can be okay as long as you're trying to solve the right problem.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Sometimes in organizations you want to hire maybe what you consider exciting best talent to bring in, but they may not be a cultural fit and that it's more disruptive than anything else.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

As the leader, you really need to embrace that and know that you gotta take care of yourself first. I was losing, and I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Three sales teams had rolled into my territory after a major acquisition. They came in with big budgets, flashy incentives, and zero interest in coordinating with me. They win and dined the baller, booked every available meeting slot, took over the market visits. Slowly, steadily, they squeezed me out. My legacy brands like Coca-Cola, the ones that generated 90% of the baller's revenue, started slipping. Total sales stagnated, and I could see the numbers falling, and I knew exactly what to do about it. Fight fire with fire, double my efforts, bigger incentives, better dinners, out hustled them the way I've always out hustled everyone. I was one phone call away from launching that counterattack when something stopped me. Not a person, not a meeting, a movie, a scene from a 1959 film about a chariot race. And it showed me that everything I was about to do was aimed at the wrong target. If you've ever worked harder, moved faster, and spent more only to realize that the problem that you were solving wasn't the problem at all, welcome to the conversation. This one is the one most leaders need and almost nobody has. I spent 30 years in corporate leadership making every mistake in the book, some of them twice. I'm Preston Poor, and if you're a leader who's ever felt in over your head but too proud to say it, you're in the right place. This is PQ. Welcome.