Rob Zeaske, a graduate of Stanford and the Harvard Business School, is the CEO of the Upper Midwest’s largest hunger relief organization, Second Harvest Heartland. Second Harvest is a nonprofit headquartered in Golden Valley. Zeaske says, “I have a philosophy of removing barriers. So rather than restricting, overseeing and limiting, I hire smart people and remove barriers for them. I don’t want to micromanage, and I hope people would say I laugh a lot with the people I manage.”

Q: As a kid, were you active in leadership roles or entrepreneurial activities?

A: From a leadership standpoint, I was doing a lot of different things. I was class president for several years in high school. I also started a lawn mowing service with my best friend in high school. We created our own business cards and walked around our community to draw business. That was about as entrepreneurial as I got, but I really enjoyed doing that.

Q: When did you decide you wanted to work in the nonprofit sector of business?

A: I made the decision after business school. While I was at Harvard Business School, they brought in experienced business leaders to share their knowledge. One speaker was particularly popular because of his recipe. His recipe was spend the first third of your career learning, spend the second third of your career accumulating wealth and spend the last third giving back. I thought that was really fascinating, but my thought was: what if I never make it to my final third. I wanted to make it to my final third, so in business school, I made the decision to focus on organizations that had a mission.

Q: How do you manage your employees?

A: I have a philosophy of removing barriers. So rather than restricting, overseeing and limiting, I hire smart people and remove barriers for them. I don’t want to micromanage, and I hope people would say I laugh a lot with the people I manage. We have to keep a sense of humor in our work. We try to make sure we are candid, honest, and mission focused.

Q: When you are hiring new employees, what qualities do you look for and what questions do you ask?

A: I always like to know how someone would fit into our organization. I love hearing about a culture or environment in which you thrive. I am always interested in how people act as a manager, so a question I like to ask is: “Tell about a time when you had to lead a change.” Another one of my other favorite questions is: “Tell me about someone who you would want to work for.” I like to hear who they look up to and what kind of skills they like to see in their manager and team.

Q: What are some of the goals you have for yourself and Second Harvest?

A: Second Harvest Heartland’s mission is to end hunger through community partnerships. We are one of the largest food banks in the country. We have two facilities, with about 175 employees, and a fleet of around 30 trucks. We are about a 120 million dollar company. Most of the food and money we receive is donated by corporations, individuals and foundations. Last year we received about 35 million pounds of fresh food ranging from produce to meat.

Q: What career advice would you give to High School Seniors?

A: I think the piece of advice that I liked from business school is to invest in learning. There is so much to know. You are going to have years to produce, provide, and contribute, so it is important to make sure you are seeking people and opportunities that will help you grow and learn. You need to be patient. If you want to be a CEO or CFO of a company, there is time to achieve that. It is important to surround yourself with people who can teach and provide you with opportunities to grow and evolve.