I learned early on that one of the secrets to campus leadership was the simplest thing of all: speak to people coming down the sidewalk before they speak to you. I did that in college. I did it when I carried my papers. I would always look ahead and speak to the person coming toward me. If I knew them, I would call them by name, but even if I didn't I would still speak to them. Before long, I probably knew more students than anybody in the university, and they recognized me and considered me their friend.

Leaders must always put their people before themselves. If you do that, your business will take care of itself.

If one of our customers comes into the store without a smile, I'll give them one of mine.

High expectations is the key to everything.

Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.

Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction.

A computer can tell you down to the dime what you've sold, but it can never tell you how much you could have sold.