A little hubris is essential for every entrepreneurial venture. I know myself just how much guts it takes to put yourself out there for the sake of something you believe in. Unless you take pride in your work — and put emotional stock in doing the best you can to realize your ideas every day — you stand no chance of withstanding the daily juggernaut of problems, pain, confusion, complaints and general mayhem that characterizes any entrepreneur's day.

That said, it's equally essential to press pause on your personal pride parade on a regular basis. You must be honest about your abilities, your company's place in the world, and just how much no one, except maybe your mother, gives a shit about what you are doing.

This is humility. Humility means having a modest opinion of one's own importance in the world. And if you think about it, that's the key to success in any job in the service industry. This meal (customer service call, cocktail hour, tree pruning, whatever) is not about the person doing the work (i.e., you). This is about your customers.

Now, this isn't to say that the thing you believe in, the reason for your hubris, shouldn't still drive the ship. It should. But just as a captain wouldn't sail his boat straight into a storm, you would be foolhardy to continue to run your restaurant as you originally planned even after receiving clear signals from (lack of) customers and (critical) critics that you're headed for choppy waters.

Humility is about understanding when it's time to redirect the ship. It is about listening to and learning from people who are trying to help you. Put another way: If hubris is about having guts, humility is about doing a regular gut check.

I think humility is one of the markers of a successful restaurant on night one, no matter about the details.  Anyone else feel there are markers for success?