TOM: (addressing his teammates) We're looking for people that care about others. We're looking for people that truly want to help others. Some of you heard me say earlier that many people say when they come to work for a company, they say, "Well let's see, what do you want to do?" The answer, 'I want to work with people.'

And after they work with people for X amount of time, they say, 'Oh my God, these people.'

Well, you know, that's not what we're about. We're looking for people who want to serve people. Really, really want to help people, not, "Let's see how much can I make off of you." But, "How can I serve you? How can I help you?"

And when that occurs, good things happen. It's a karmic effect ... what you give, it comes back. But don't do it because it comes back. Do it because it's right universally.

DON: It's more of a giving individual that's willing to sit back and explain things to people and realize that they need to serve. You know, they need to serve someone's needs and so many times people will jump at conclusions or they'll snap back at people and that's easy to determine in interviews. So.

HATTIE: So almost a pacing thing.

DON: Yes.

HATTIE: For example if I finish your sentence for you. I'll do that to a customer and you don't want me to do that to a customer.

DON: Exactly. You want them to understand, to be patient with them, to understand what their needs are and then serve those needs. And in a really sincere manner. By recruiting people like that up front -- and you can't educate people on that -- they have to have that desire up front. You know, their parents have taught that need.

HATTIE: So you hire people who had good parents.

DON: I think that's it.

HATTIE: At what point did you say to yourself, I'm not going to call myself the owner, the founder, the president, I'm going to call myself coach?

TOM: Yeah, I saw NBA coaches on the sideline, college basketball coaches, and I said, 'You know what, I like the way they're giving constant feedback.' So I said, 'People really don't want to be managed.' Do you want to be managed, Hattie?

HATTIE: No. I don't want you to tell me what to do.

TOM: But, would you like an acting coach? Would you mind a tennis coach?

HATTIE: I would love a coach.

TOM: People say, 'Oh that's kind of, just trickery language.' No, it's just verbalizing what our expectation is of our people.

HATTIE: Okay.

TOM: If we're calling them manager everyday then they're going to manage. If we call them coaches every day, then that coach gets into their thinking about what we want them doing as coaching.

HATTIE: People love to play games. People love to play sports.

TOM: Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

HATTIE: So, if I come to work …

TOM: Play my work, yes.

HATTIE: … and I'm coached, then it's like I'm playing.

TOM: Yeah, I like that. Yeah, playing.

HATTIE: This is great. And oh by the way, I get to make some money, too.

TOM: You're exactly right. I want to tell you one story on the coach thing. I heard Lee Iacocca speak at an EFI, Executive Focus International Conference in Florida. And afterwards I went up, talked to him briefly, and I said, 'Yeah, I'd like to hear more about that.' He says, 'Well I have the company that does this, I'd like to get in contact with you.' I said, 'Well here's my card.'

He looked at my card, it said head coach, and he says, 'What's wrong boy, don't you want to be a CEO?'

I said, 'No, I want to be a head coach.' He definitely disapproved.

HATTIE: Not everybody sees it the way you see it.

TOM: That's okay. It's okay that they're different. But, I just think that coaching is more of what people are looking for. This old school hierarchical top down, I don't think works.

HATTIE: It doesn't work.

TOM: I think it's more like an accordion.

HATTIE: So we find him in his white shirt which is required dressing for everyone who works at a Tires Plus, in his lovely suit and tennis shoes. This is the foot of the coach of Tires Plus. Do you take these in for retreading?

TOM: No. No I don't, no I don't.