The first person a customer speaks with has the greatest impact on that customer's impression of Safeway.

The first job I ever had was right here in San Francisco with Southern Pacific.

The most challenging part of being CEO is communicating to 200,000 people what you want done.

I'm no health care expert, but you've got technology that constantly advances the ability to extend life and maybe improve lifestyle. That puts constant upward pressure on health care costs.

As the installments in the 'Immortals After Dark' series span simultaneous timelines, making sure the details remained accurate was a hair-raising/losing exercise.

For me, this is a familiar image - people in the organization ready and willing to do good work, wanting to contribute their ideas, ready to take responsibility, and leaders holding them back, insisting that they wait for decisions or instructions.

The rate of childhood obesity is just ridiculous. Anytime I can get involved with teaching them how to get physical exercise, I want to help in any way possible.

Looking back, I clearly understand that seeing a 'chain of command' approach in my house was a positive thing for me. My father provided a strong point of view on life and was a leader. Boys, especially, need that.