We recently connected with Lin O’Neill and have shared our conversation below.
Lin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?
When my Staff went from 124 to 18 overnight with a Chapter 11 filing and the Best Team…EVER was created out of necessity [the proverbial Mother of Invention]. We outperformed the larger/former Staff…we exceeded their results on EVERY Metric. My Lesson: It WHO, not HOW MANY!
Lin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Female; 80 Years Young; 67 Years Working Experience; 28 Careers; Executive; Entrepreneur; Front-Line Worker; Board Member; Consultant; Professor; Trainer; Author; Speaker; Former Probation Officer; Cancer Survivor; Reader; Step-Parent; Friend; Supporter; Political Activist; Compliance Geek; Movie-Goer; Music and Animal Lover; NBA Fan; World Traveler.
Consulting is the focus I’ve followed the longest. Go into it as the result of a couple of bad bosses and the support of several great male mentors.
The Business Wisdom I live by is: “Your Customers/Clients will tell You what’s wrong; Your Frontline Employees will tell you how to fix it.”
Ask me about “The Only Woman in the Room”.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When I was initially in management, the prevailing theory was that if you had managed anything, you could run anything…NOT SO [or at least not so in most cases]. Also the prevailing wisdom warned “not to get too close to your Employees. Very Bad Advice…on both counts.
Because I’ve always been attracted to the “thorny work”…not the beautiful corner office work…I had to unlearn those two false beliefs…and I am SO GLAD I DID!!!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Referrals…always. AND the Referrals most often come from the Relationships I’ve had the privilege of enjoying.
I’m a person who loves Networking…and it has been [and is] both Satisfying and Beneficial…Business-wise.
When I returned to Dallas…I took 10 months to meet more than 3,000 individuals, join 9 organizations and accept invitations to join 3 Boards of Directors.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oneill.enterprises; www.ALM-CT.com; www.BankMatches.com; www.AssistedLivingLeadershipInstitute
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=alm-ct; https://www.facebook.com/EntrepreneursConnection/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linoneill/