Jim Pascale was just 27 when we hopped into my car and took off for Iowa. It was our first market outside Minnesota, and I’d just promoted Jim to Iowa regional manager. Speeding out of Minneapolis and down I-35, I asked to see his schedule. Gripping the wheel with one hand, Jim grabbed his planner from the backseat and handed it over. I was a little shocked by what I saw.

Tags: Business Insight, Scheduling, Tom Gegax

There is a strong parallel between making sure your children get a college degree and providing an on-going training program for your employees.

Tags: Business Insight, Customer relations, Paul Chizeck, Training

It’s pretty darn hard to get from here to there without a road map. Laying out your goals bridges the gap between who you are today and the person you sketched out in your mission statement. Yet when I ask people all over the country whether they write up their goals each year, barely one in 10 say they have. But that 10% gushes over how spelling out their goals transformed their lives.

Tags: Business Insight, Gegax, Tom Gegax

In the NBA, when anyone on the basketball team is playing for himself rather than the team as a whole, failure is eminent. In business, when anyone in the company has an “I” mentality, it’s only a matter of time until failure creeps into the organization.

Tags: Business Insight, Mark Eaton, Teamwork

Hoping to grab a pre-flight bite one night, I scanned the slim choices at an airport concession stand — chili-cheese dogs, chocolate muffins, ice cream sandwiches. Nothing remotely qualified as healthy. I suggested to the kid behind the counter that he urge the owner to add veggie burgers to the menu.

Tags: Business Insight, Employee relations, Gegax, Tom Gegax