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

On the edge of tomorrow

Linda LaitalaBusiness, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

Here we stand, on the brink of another new year, peering over the edge trying to figure out what 2024 holds in store for us.   If you read industry leaders like Seth Godin and Clay Hebert it becomes clear connections are important and why. Uber is the largest “taxi” company – yet they own no vehicles and excel at

December is lost only if you want it to be

Linda LaitalaBusiness, Career, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

Over the years, I’ve heard owners complain; “We might as well close down in December.  No one’s mind is on their business; it’s all about the holidays”. Following that thinking means you can’t do business in January because no one has any money, summer’s bad because everyone is on vacation, spring and fall are bad because of school breaks and

Be Kind, Candid and Clear

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Employees, Leadership, ManagementLeave a Comment

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

What bugs you?

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Employees, Leadership, ManagementLeave a Comment

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

My seven expectations of you

Linda LaitalaBusiness, Career, Employees, Leadership, ManagementLeave a Comment

Who comes to mind when you think of famous business leaders? Warren Buffett?  Indra Nooyi? Bill Gates?  Sheryl Sandberg? Each leads a great organization and has changed lives. My vote goes to an individual closer to home. He helped shape the culture at East Central Energy, and his legacy of leadership continues. Steve Shurts was the CEO of East Central Energy for 10 years. When

Business Lessons in Junior High

Linda LaitalaBusiness, Career, Employees, Marketing, Sales, WorkLeave a Comment

In seventh grade, I learned one of my most important business lessons: the benefits of clearly communicating a message to an audience. Picture a geography class full of 13-year-olds. Our assignment was to create a diorama about building the pyramids. We were divided into teams, given a shoe box and our assignment. My team was diligently painting and gluing, all