Are YOU Working to Raise (and Rescue) YOUR Bar?

I love the Spike TV show ‘Bar Rescue’.

On random lazy Sunday afternoons, you might catch me crashing on the couch for an episode or two (or five).

I always laugh when I hear the critics of the show: “Jon Taffer just shows up and yells at the people who are failing, then he uses the show to promote his sponsors and then makes ‘happy talk’ with the owners and leaves.”

Sounds a lot like what people in my industry do (except for the yelling part…from me anyway).

What the critics are missing is this: every episode of this show, as formulaic as it may seem, offers a massive amount of FREE educational material!

What kills me is when I seek out on-line reviews written after the bars have been rescued (on Yelp and similar sites), I often find that while the show may have added brightness to the décor, the dark and stormy colors of ownership behavior often come shining back through.

That, to me, is sad.

I honestly believe that somewhere in their hearts, Jon Taffer and the show’s producers truly care about creating a turnaround opportunity for these businesses. After all, it is his reputation and legacy at stake.

Speakers and authors like me are in a similar situation.

From the bottom of my heart, I genuinely care about creating effective messages which can help people, with every spoken word, flourish of my pen and tap on my keyboard.

Many people in my industry care as well. There are some slimy people out there for whom it is all about the money (you can’t miss them, they yell “Rah! Rah! Rah! Buy my stuff!”) but you’ll find people like that in every industry.

Through my live presentations and my writing, I describe opportunities for people to identify where their lives are not yet perfect. Jon Taffer does this using video surveillance (and some over-the-top yelling).

I make recommendations of my own, often referring to the talents and information of my colleagues. Jon brings in his award-winning food and bar ‘experts’.

I share my best advice (through keynote speeches, books, on-line audio and video, etc) and leave the listener/viewer to engage some piece of knowledge. Jon give a big hug to the owners, often saying “I think we’ve left you in a place to succeed.”

Some do.

Many do not.

If you truly wish to embrace and create change, you MUST take advantage of the educational opportunities out there and DO SOMETHING with them.

We ALL need to remember that ‘personal responsibility’ is something we need to engage and be accountable for.

Every day, even hidden within our ‘entertainment’ (like 'Bar Rescue'), there is an education waiting to be absorbed…if we are willing to grasp it and put it into action.

Somewhere in this blog there may be something which strikes your heart and makes your head nod, with a little voice in your brain saying “Hey, clean this place up!!”

   I’m not going to yell.

   I’m not going to throw stuff.

   I’m not going to tell you that you’re failing.

You already know if you are.

I am just here to share some opportunities for learning from the successful life I have created…and hopefully make you laugh along the way.

Do you need to raise the bar…and rescue yourself?

For more information on Steve check out his website!