Are you good or are you lucky?

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Quotes, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

man in construction taking a peek

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?

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Quotes, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

Elephant in the room

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

It’s all good.

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Career, Career, QuotesLeave a Comment

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

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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?

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Integrity

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?

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, WorkLeave a Comment

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?

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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

So Many Good Ideas-How Do You Choose the Right One?

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

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.