Jim Otto Quotes

Hire the best people, and trust what you hired them to do.

I've got a really great team around me. They're the ones that are in the restaurants on a day to day basis. Anyone that's good can't be stifled in any way. I don't baby people.

I think I've got the best staff in television.

There is power in helping people get excited about what they do and inspiring and motivating them to unleash their full potential.

My job description? It is many things; it is a whole universe created around the things that I like.

You don't have to try to get a job and go through set steps before you start a career or start your life. That's what I want young girls to know - you can do anything you want. Just start.

A guy like me, it's probably pretty hard for somebody to pinpoint what position to have me do, where to put me all the time.

The only job that ever really worked for me was teaching because you are your own master once you get into the room. You just have to show up on time and talk about what you care about.

The Panda mission really speaks to our philosophy. It is, 'Deliver exceptional Asian dining experiences by building an organization where people are inspired to better their lives.' I'm talking about everyone who works at Panda. They're inspired to better their own lives.

When you hire good people, and you provide good jobs and good wages and a career, good things are going to happen.

It is important that you appreciate that the workplace must be a place of empowerment, but the empowerment must not only be connected to the job that you do.

Hire passionate employees.

We focus on two things when hiring. First, find the best people you can in the world. And second, let them do their work. Just get out of their way.

You have to take control of your own career.

I have a job that I truly love, and an enormous crew of people that can do things better than I can!

I get to choose the people I work with.

I learned this early on in the variety business: You've got to give folks responsibility, you've got to trust them, and then you've got to check on them.

Men and women want to do a good job, and if they are provided the proper environment, they will do so.

I've stepped more into my business and really... taken control for how I want that to be.

Delegating doesn't mean passing off work you don't enjoy, but letting your employees stretch their skills and judgment.

Is it important to have a crew behind me? No, it's important to have me behind them. That's how I look at it. You can't just roll with a situation like you're depending on somebody to help you. You're supposed to help the situation, whatever the situation is that you're in.

If my assistant goes off and becomes successful, and people want to work with him, I'd take that as a compliment that I'd trained them well.

I've never run a company before, and I don't want to feel like a boss. I just want to turn up and do my work.

Our emerging workforce is not interested in command-and-control leadership. They don't want to do things because I said so; they want to do things because they want to do them.

The idea of being in control for the sake of control is not really important to me. If everyone is sharp and doing what they're doing well, you don't really need to be in control all the time.