The Fix That Made It Worse

The Fix That Made It Worse

From Decision State with Joe Steele by Joe Steele

May 5, 2026 · 30 min · Episode 58

About this episode

Angelo D’Amico discusses the challenges of leadership and the consequences of misidentifying performance and alignment problems in a business.

Angelo D’Amico runs a $25M+ manufacturing company and a second consumer brand with 60 people between them. When the wrong people started accumulating inside the business, he did what a good leader does — he tried to help them. Coached them. Gave them time. Gave them the benefit of the doubt. It didn’t work. And while he was trying to fix the individual, the people around them were quietly absorbing the cost. This episode is about the difference between a performance problem and an alignment problem — and what it costs when you treat one like the other. Angelo on LinkedIn: Angelo D’Amico canadarubbergroup.com / softstall.com If you recognized something in this episode — joesteele.com Follow Decision State on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Chapters 00:00 — He Thought He Was Doing the Right Thing 00:21 — The Decision He’s Still Thinking About 01:17 — What He’s Actually Running 05:23 — What a Tough Stretch Looks Like 06:56 — When the Blinders Go On 09:06 — Problems Sound Smaller Than They Are 10:38 — Narrow Thinking and Tolerating the Wrong Things 11:20 — When to Act and When to Wait 13:48 — The Weight of Being the One Who Has to Change It 17:10 — What the Team Was Holding…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Steele

Guest: Angelo D’Amico

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • performance management
  • organizational alignment
  • business challenges
  • team dynamics

Keywords

  • leadership
  • performance problem
  • alignment problem
  • business management
  • team dynamics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: canadarubbergroup.com, softstall.com, Decision State

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