Ruthless Focus and how to maintain it with Tom Hall

January 15, 2026

Tom Hall is a longtime advertising executive, with work across Florida and the Southeast. In addition to Tucker | Hall, a strategic communications firm with offices in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tallahassee, Tom launched Creative Seminars, a prominent speaker series, which Adweek magazine acquired. On this episode Business Observer Managing Editor Mark Gordon and Tom talk about the origins of the firm and how he and the team led it to national prominence. They also talked about Tom’s book, “Ruthless Focus" and the lessons he learned about leadership writing it.

3 Takeaways

(05:50) When in crisis, tell the truth, tell it all, and tell it right now
(13:30) Ruthlessly focus on what you do extraordinarily well
(15:10) Create an atmosphere where people can think their best

Timestamps

(00:00) Introducing Tom Hall, Chairman, Tucker | Hall
(03:40) What is Tucker | Hall?
(05:30) What do leaders need to do when in crisis?
(06:40) Creative Seminars
(09:00) What did you learn from Creative Seminars
(11:55) Who does a good job advertising these days?
(12:55) Learning from “Ruthless Focus”
(14:30) Keys to leading a firm
(16:15) Leadership mentors
(19:15) How do you handle conflict as a leader?
(20:30) Starting the Florida Aquarium
(24:30) What is coming up in 2026?

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