ProRodeo Sports News - January 26, 2018

PRCA

PRCA CEO George Taylor

Taylor talks about his goals, visions for PRCA From the CEO New PRCA CEO George Taylor has an extensive business background with two of the biggest companies in the world. He officially joined the PRCA on Jan. 22 and sat down with ProRodeo Sports News for his first exclusive interview. W hat appealed to you about this job? It was really about an opportunity to do something different than I had done before and leverage past experiences into something new. I worked at IBM for 13

took time out of his first week on the job to answer questions with the ProRodeo Sports News . PRCA ProRodeo photo

What are the short-term goals you want the PRCA to achieve? If you really think about short-term, for me it’s about meeting people and listening. I didn’t grow up in the sport, so for me it is about really getting to know those people and getting to know what’s on their minds and understanding what differences we can make together. We are a member- driven organization so time with them is critical, but it is also about sponsors and our fans. Because at the end of the day, those constituencies have a big influence over where we go and how we move forward. So, for me, the biggest short-term goal is a listening tour – listening to all the stakeholders of ProRodeo. What would you say to someone who thinks your position should have a rodeo background? First, I can certainly respect that view, but would prefer to better understand the concern. I would say at the highest level, it is inspirational for me when people think that, because I want to be able to go out and make a difference, and it inspires me to show if we focus on what we all bring to the table we can get some great things done! Sometimes your greatest enemy in breaking new ground is proving to those who have benefited from business as usual that they can benefit again by investing in what’s next. Someone will. There was a time when business as usual was leading-edge. To me this speaks to where we can go, and what it’s all about. A favorite quote of mine shows the power of what can be. Mother Teresa said, “I can do things that you can’t do, and you can

years in a technology business before I went to Caterpillar, which was a heavy manufacturer business. That was a great experience! One of the things that appealed to me was I had a great interest in the sports and entertainment businesses, which grew out of the work I had done while at Caterpillar. I was responsible for Caterpillar’s NASCAR program and I found interacting with Cat customers in that competitive environment to be very rewarding. When I got the call about ProRodeo it was really a fascinating process to begin to go through. I had read a book, The Power of Who written by Bob Beaudine, and a concept was when thinking about your career, make sure that you do something you love, with people you love, in a place you love. That really became the evaluation criteria when we were evaluating opportunities. As we got to know the people in rodeo, it was amazing – a family we quickly grew to love. We were also impressed with how freely the membership and the organization discussed their faith. We feel incredibly humbled and blessed to have the opportunity with this great organization.

ProRodeo Sports News 1/26/18

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