The man behind the Spokane-area company that seemingly could never stumble but did this year, told business leaders here last week that for the first time in his life, there were mornings in recent months when he curled up in bed and dreaded going to work.


Wayne Williams, the 37-year-old CEO of Telect Inc., says the past yearone in which Telect dropped plans for an IPO, saw its sales plummet, and had to cut more than 800 jobstaught him humility, but has made him and the Telect family stronger.


One of the things I learned this year is that I have control over nothing, Williams told the Leadership Connection breakfast, a joint venture of Gonzaga University, Whitworth College, and Leadership Spokane. His speech was titled Leading in Turbulent Times.


Last September, the Liberty Lake-based maker of connectivity products for the telecommunications industry was pursuing a $150 million initial public offering that was expected to be received well due to the companys track record of profitability. At the time, Telect was on the final lap of what would become a record year, with sales soaring about 57 percent to $265 million. It was hiring everyone in sight, ending the year at about 2,300 employees, including at its plants in Mexico, Brazil, and Poland.


Not long after Telect announced plans to go public, the technology sector began a historic fall. Technology stock values declined, dot-coms collapsed, and the investment market dried up. Telect dropped its IPO in February, just days before it announced plans to cut 10 percent of its work force. More layoffs followed, eventually reducing Telects global work force to about 1,400, for a drop of about 40 percent.


The companys nine-year streak of having sales growth of at least 25 percent per year will end this year, Williams says. In fact, he predicts sales will total only half what the company did last year.


This year has been unlike any in the companys 18-year history. It put the brakes on costs that once seemed normal. Customers that once made headlines for their success, filed for bankruptcy and left Telect with worthless receivables. Suppliers that once looked at Telect as a prosperous company questioned its survival. Even the companys 10-plus year relationship with its bank unraveled.


Customers would not stay committed to their orders, and in some cases wouldnt pay, says Williams. Businesses wanted the customers and believed what they said. Big mistake. I learned that.


Good businesses appeared to make bad decisions, he says. Their decisions, however, were based on history, based on a model they were comfortable with. No one was immune.


The layoffs were the most painful of those effects, he says.


We were impacted where it hurt mostpeople, says Williams, who is open about his Christian faith and told of the many prayer sessions he and others at Telect held during the layoffs.


Williams didnt offer the audience much optimism about Telects prospects for a quick recovery, saying that the market the company serves isnt expected to turn around until the fourth quarter of next year or the first quarter of 2003.


I think the country is in for a very difficult time, he says.


When recovery comes, though, Telect will be better prepared to grow, Williams asserts. Our team is going through a tempering and will be stronger for it, he says. Character is the thing. Its the rock that gets you through.


Williams says he has confidence in the eventual rebound of the telecom market, based on the worlds increased dependence on more and more bandwidth and the growth of such technologies as the wireless Web, which requires land-line connectivity; and the use of online software vs. programs installed on individual computers.


Another trend, emphasized by the tragic terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., earlier this month, is the telecommunications industrys need to build more redundancy and disaster-recovery infrastructure, as well as a growing demand for teleconferencing aimed at reducing air travel, Williams says. Telect stands to be a supplier of goods for those efforts as well.


Williams says the horrific events at the World Trade Center actually brought some unexpected business Telects way. Soon after the attack, Telect began shipping what amounted to about $1 million of connectivity products to AT&T in New York City as part of the massive efforts to restore telecommunications systems in damaged areas of lower Manhattan.


Williams left the audience of business leaders last week with some advice: Find joy in the midst of grief. He also told them to concentrate on character, charisma, commitment, communication, competence, and courage.