In this episode, Jackson Sprayberry, Anderson Williams, and Cynthia Hiskes slow down to do the diagnostic work most leaders skip. Before deciding that someone is the problem, have you actually done your own work first? The conversation walks through the five whys approach, the will, skill, and fit framework, and why leaders so often project their frustrations onto the situation rather than diagnosing it clearly. They explore the difference between technical problems (which have known solutions) and adaptive challenges (which require the person themselves to change), and why coachability may be the single most important factor in these conversations. The episode closes by identifying when individual people problems start to signal something bigger: a system problem.

Key Takeaways:

Before diagnosing people as the problem, leaders need to ask whether they provided clarity, coaching, and the right environment for success.
The five whys approach forces leaders to move past emotion and drill down to what's actually driving underperformance.
Will, skill, and fit often blur together. Leaders make better decisions when they separate the three and have honest conversations about each.
When you see the same patterns across different people or teams, it's no longer a people problem. It's a system problem.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
01:01 - Have You Done Your Own Work First?
04:41 - Will, Skill, and Fit
07:16 - Technical vs. Adaptive Change
09:36 - When People Problems Become System Problems

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You'll also find other Raw Talent episodes, alongside our Bigger. Stronger. Faster., Microcap Moments, and Everyday Heroes series, highlighting the people and stories that make the microcap space unique.

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