Early in my career I worked for Arcon Construction. The owner, Dean Johnson, told me how he’d built the highway/heavy construction company from nothing to a multi-million-dollar business. Knowing little about entrepreneurship, I commented, “You sure were lucky.” Dean was offended and responded, “You know what luck is? Luck is sweat applied to an opportunity.” I have never forgotten that lesson. Lucky people
Are you good at ignoring elephants?
I am often struck by comments people make when they miss an opportunity to speak up. “She knows I don’t like to reprimand people, so she pushes the rules a hair past the limit, knowing I won’t call her on it.” “Why does Harriet keep telling stories about people who’ve died from cancer. It upsets me. Doesn’t she remember my
Where everybody knows your name
Boyceville, Wisconsin – my hometown. When my father was alive, I spent a weekend every month in Boyceville. Our Friday night ritual was to go for fish and chips at Buckshot’s Bar. We’d order while we watched people come in and greet each other by name. They would ask about the family, comment on the weather, and speculate on the
It’s all good.
It was late in the day; the store was packed. All around me unhappy people were complaining about long lines and slow cashiers. The young woman behind me had only two items and a little girl in her cart. My cart was full, so I invited her to go ahead. “Thank you,” she smiled, “We don’t mind waiting; Emily and
Be Kind, Candid and Clear
Have you ever thought; “being in business would be so much more fun if I didn’t have to deal with people issues.” Suzanne has. She was referring to a long-term, valuable employee who took frequent smoke breaks, gossiped with other employees, and took two to four days off every month with little or no notice. Time off is covered by the company’s
Does integrity matter?
A Roundtable member, Sarah, is growing her successful real estate business. She recently hired a new member for her team. John was intelligent, energetic, and hungry to be successful, all traits she was seeking. But to Sarah’s dismay, she just learned that John signed up with someone else, and to make matters worse, went behind her back attempting to recruit
Why do you want to boil the ocean?
Wally is smart, savvy, and like other Raven Roundtable members, enjoys sharing his hard-won wisdom. He purchased a small manufacturing plant, growing it into a $15 million company in 5 years. In a recent CEO Roundtable meeting, he listened as John shared his plans for transforming his company by bringing on a new and very different product line. Wally couldn’t
What bugs you?
A Roundtable member recently shared the “What Bugs You?” campaign she started in her company. The focus was to encourage employees to be honest regarding what bugged them about their workspace: were there changes that would enable them to work more efficiently? She was amazed at how engaged her employees were in the process. They peppered her with ideas on
Life Is Amazing; Why Aren’t You Happy?
We take for granted the advances that continue to make our lives easier: We eat foods grown around the world, talk to friends who are thousands of miles away, pay for lunch with a wave of our smart phones, and our cars can parallel park themselves. Pretty amazing!
So Many Good Ideas-How Do You Choose the Right One?
Sean and Dave are brothers and business partners. They’ve built their company by working hard, paying attention to the numbers, and listening to customers. Their business had been stable and successful for years. But changes in technology along with increasing competition have begun to threaten the status quo.