As one of the biggest touring acts in music, if you had to guess how many people Kenny Chesney employs on the road, you might guess 20 or 25, or maybe even close to 50. But the truth is, the 'You and Tequila' singer employs 120 people on the road, plus several more who stay near the home office -- and he insists that, regardless of their roles, they are all equally valuable to him.

"I want there to be a level of respect between everybody," Kenny tells the New York Times. "You get that many people out on the road at once, and all of a sudden agendas sometimes can become a part of that. And sometimes they're not your own. There's this idea that somebody's job could be more important than somebody else's, and to me, that's not true ... I want all the people out there who work with me to feel as appreciated as possible."

The multi-platinum selling singer admits he sometimes struggles to find a balance between being the boss while also having a good time with his employees. "It can be hard to be everybody's friend and still show them that this is the way it's got to be," he acknowledges. "I've gone both ways. I've been everybody's buddy and then it was tough because you put yourself in a position that's not the best when you have to let people go. I'm still kind of everybody's buddy, but they know I'm the boss. I think it is possible to be friends with employees, but there has to be a respect level where you're not taken advantage of, either."

The 43-year-old credits one of his own heroes with helping him become an effective CEO of his own corporation. "An important mentor for me, in terms of teaching me that there's a right way and a wrong way to do things, was probably my football coach," notes the avid sports fan. "And playing football was one of the first times in my life that I realized nothing is given to you. You have to work really hard. I was a very short, slow wide receiver on a very mediocre football team. And we had to work really hard to be as mediocre as we were."

The lessons he learned more than 25 years ago have clearly worked well for the superstar, since he tends to keep employees on his payroll for a long time -- a feat he adds is partly because he is also very careful who he brings on board. "There hasn't been a lot of turnover," concedes the Tennessee native. "And that's because when you live with people out there, and you have as big a family as we have, attitude is so contagious. You take a couple of people who have hidden agendas or bad attitudes or feel entitled or whatever the negativity is, and it just spreads like a cancer. So they've got to be a great player, but they also have to bring something else to the table other than that."

Ironically, the criteria the tunesmith looks for when considering a potential employee has nothing to do with their music knowledge or previous experience. "I want to know about their family," he says. "I want to know what they do in their down time. I want to know what their dreams are. I want to know what they watch on TV. I don't care about their religion or their political views. I don't care about any of that. But I do have to know if, deep down, they're a solid person, and that they're not on drugs and don't have those kinds of problems. I can't have any of that stuff in my life. I'm too healthy, and I'm too focused. I want to know if these people are focused."

Kenny's 120 employees will soon enjoy some time off the road, when his Goin' Coastal tour wraps up on August 28 in Foxboro, Mass. See his remaining concert dates here.

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