COLUMBIA--First Gov. Mark Sanford told his Cabinet he wanted the state run more like a Wal-Mart. Then, on Wednesday, he brought in the state's most recognizable motivational speaker to pump up the group's energy level.

South Carolina football coach Lou Holtz, a national championship winner with a respectable career off the field as an author and banquet-circuit speaker on leadership topics, laid his spiel on the executive branch at a morning meeting of department heads.

South Carolina residents and state employees want to know three things about their government: Can I trust you? Are you committed to excellence? Do you care about me? If agency heads can answer yes to all three questions, they are doing their job properly, Holtz said.

Holtz said he talks to his own team about leadership regularly. He tells them they need each other and as their challenges grow, the need for teamwork escalates.

It's also important for the team to improve each day. A rule in life, he said, is "you're either growing or dying."

A team must have a good attitude and share core values, he said. And it's important to remember that "we're paid to succeed. We're not paid to try," Holtz said.

Revenue Department chief Burnie Maybank asked how agency heads could lead an institution such as the General Assembly, whose members "don't need us for anything."

Holtz answered they all share the same purpose: serving the public.

"You've got to bury any differences because of the greater good of the people of this state who are counting on you," Holtz said.

Sanford heard Holtz speak at the MCI Heritage golf tournament in April and asked him to speak with the Cabinet, Sanford spokesman Chris Drummond said.

"We have folks that have amazing leadership responsibilities and amazing leadership opportunities," Sanford said of his Cabinet. "We also have a team that's beginning to forge both within their team ... and our greater team of administration, trying to push forward some changes."

Holtz said he was impressed by Sanford's administration.

"They have a vision of what they want to do and they have an energy and enthusiasm to do it. They're not just trying to maintain something; they're really trying to build something."