Jon Taffer

Excuses destroy success every time.

When my company does a good job, we make people happy. They laugh, they smile, they have a good time - that's what we do for a living. Any business doing that is making a noble effort.

When you're on-stage, you're expected to perform in the bar business. You shake hands. You smile. You're all positive energy: you add to your environment. When you walk in the door to the back of the house, that's like a stage door. You're off-stage now.

I think success is a relative term. If you're a caveman, success is capturing an elephant. Success is achieving better than the norm. Success is being exceptional. It's exceptional reputation, exceptional income, and exceptional respect.

Leadership is a trait; it's not a skill.

The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful.

Failure is an awful thing, and when I look at the common denominator of failure, it seems to always be the same thing: excuses.