It s Not About the Coffee Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks By: Howard Behar Jennifer Anderson BA316 Professor Jean Meeks-Koch
1. Know Who You Are This chapter highlighted the importance of knowing what your values are as a person and as a leader. Howard Behar s leadership principles are established with this foundation of what it truly is that makes you an individual. He uses the metaphor in terms of hats, and explains that in any one day he can wear an assortment of hats based on the people he is surrounded by or the culture of the place that he is in. Howard recalled that before working for Starbucks, he would have to wear many different hats and, learned to present a different person depending on the circumstance. The guiding principle behind, Know Who You Are, is just what it sounds like. Figure out what drives you as a person, what motivates you to do your best, and what do you stand for as a person that you want to emulate in your everyday life. By answering these questions you narrow the options of the different hats you have to wear throughout a day. The goal is to ultimately find a job that allows you to wear one hat that you can also wear in your personal life, your social life, and your professional life. Howard Behr left his long time career in the furniture business because he felt that Starbucks was a place where he could eliminate the boarders between his professional and personal life and achieve his dreams and success all while wearing one hat. 2. Know Why You re Here When Howard Behr came out of retirement to become the founding President of Starbucks International he focused on the two principles that allowed Starbucks to be successful from the beginning. He grounded the international
Starbucks movement through the importance of coffee and the employees and customers. The company had to move away from a selfish company culture to an inclusive company attitude that stressed the importance of the big we. During a planning session, Howard recalled two decisions that really stood out to him and tested what was right and what was true to Starbucks larger purpose. The first was advocating for wage increases that usually don t happen in retail until the business has proven to be successful. But Howard thought that by reversing this traditionally thinking the higher employee wages would in turn increase business. The second decision was to switch to semi- automated espresso machines, which would speed up production, keep consistency in the quality of drinks, and improve safety in the work place. These small changes have allowed Starbucks to meet big goals and meet the needs of customers. The hiring process at Starbucks has also been changed to meet the culture of we and not me. From top managers to in store baristas, Starbucks hires people who stand for and believe in the values that the company represents. That s why it is so important to know who you are as a person to know if you will be a successful part of the Starbucks team. Starbucks looks to hire people who aren t looking to just build their resume or earn the title of vice president. The company looks for innovative people that challenge themselves to succeed in an environment and who carry the same values as the company. 3. Think Independently Many companies are tied down to with management and organizational layers that make decisions affecting individual s jobs without his or her input.
Starbucks has worked hard to create and preserve a culture that allows partners at every level to make their own on- the- job decisions. Which stays true to Starbucks mission to empower each person to bring his or her unique perspective and skills to the job. A specific example of this was shown when Starbucks decided that the North American sector of the company needed to divide into a separate Canadian and United States market. Starbucks initially started out with 23 stores in the Pacific- Northwest and Canada with its headquarters located in Seattle Washington. As Starbucks expanded throughout the United States, it started to lose touch with the Canadian market. Eventually Starbucks realized that the U.S. and Canada had such different consumer and market demands that they were hurting potential store growth in Canada because they were still comparing stores to those in the United States. Once a separate president was put in charge of operations in Canada, a new burst of passion and energy was felt about the brand and the number of revenue and stores doubled in a span of 3 years. By thinking wisely and acting independently Starbucks has had tremendous growth in international markets. Allowing managers to adapt to their different geographical locations has allowed each store to take on a local culture within a global company. The freedom to think independently and the encouragement to think of new ideas and not be afraid to share them has allowed relationships to form within the Starbucks brand that is not seen in many other successful businesses. The freedom of leadership by using a tool book instead of a rule book, has allowed employees to feel like they have control in their job and aren t be dictated to work.
4. Build Trust Howard Behar talks about needing to build trust in order to be a successful leader at any level. By showing that you truly care and love your organization and the people in it, you will be able to built trust. Behar states that, working at every level of business it s much more important to lead with your heart than your head. The ability to care about someone has to be a selfless act that can t be expected in return. For many leaders caring about the people you work is the essential building block to a successful global company. Whether you have a store in small town U.S.A or your managing a store in the heart of Tokyo, you have to care about every person who walks through the door whether they are a VP, employee, or customer. In the early years of Starbucks, the company was focused solely on the coffee. The company prided itself on being coffee experts and having a great tasting coffee product that consumers wanted. Starbucks started getting letters however about the lack of customer service and the poor treatment of customers. After expanding the company, the organization was worried that while the coffee still remained a great product, the family owned atmosphere of the stores was lost. Starbucks had to be reminded that it wasn t just a coffee company, but a human service company. During Howard s time at Starbucks he watched the company grow from just a couple hundred employees to hundreds of thousands of employees. Howard still managed to come up with a way to recognize every individual employee for their hard work by hand writing personalized birthday cards. By taking the time to personally write and recognize every member of the company on their birthday he was able to earn their trust and become a familiar face instead of just being the CEO
of Starbucks. His attitude of getting big and staying small has allowed the company to be successful in the quality of workers that it employees and has instilled employee loyalty to the Starbucks brand. 5. Listen For the Truth This chapter discusses the importance of communication and raises the point that even the walls talk. One of the quotes that Howard Behar has hanging in his office is compassionate emptiness. While he admits that this quote challenged and frustrated him, he ended up finding that it backed up his belief about being a compassionate and caring leader. Compassionate emptiness involves listening with compassion but without preconceived notions it asks us to be caring but empty of opinions and advice. Howard found that some of the organization s best ideas and decision- making came from sitting down and listening to people from all levels of the company. Howard makes a point to meet face to face with employees and not let modern technology affect the quality of communication within the organization. He is relentless about getting people to say what s on their minds and works hard to bring out the unsaid. Howard believes that people are innately afraid of expressing their opinion especially when they are critiquing higher management. A prime example of this was when managers started T- shirt Friday s in their stores. Regional managers decided that this change in the dress code changed the uniformity of the companies look and that every store had to be consistent with on another. Employees worried that the lack of communication between upper management and the retail stores was a symbol of management not listening or caring enough. After listening to the complaints of the retail stores, the corporate
office decided that allowing T- shirt Fridays helped to reinforce the local coffee shop atmosphere that the organization has always strived for. By showing compassionate emptiness and actively listening to the employees about their concerns, Starbucks has maintained their commitment to being a people industry. 6. Be Accountable The culture behind Starbucks has truly set the foundation for what the organization has been able to accomplish today. A culture based on the attitude of honesty and caring from every single employee has allowed the company to stay accountable to its ethics and values. Accountability has been maintained through clear communication, honesty, and transparency. Top managers for Starbucks, understand their role is to help serve and support the needs of the employees who represent the face of the company everyday in the retail stores. The stores are seen as the center of universe where Starbucks mission to serve people takes place. The dedication that store employees have to their customers is similar to the dedication that top managers have with their employees. The relationships formed hold every individual accountable for their actions and if that bond is broken, employees start losing trust and stop being accountable. Being able to tell the truth is one of the biggest factors of keeping trust and accountability in a large corporation like Starbucks. The morale foundation of any company can be ruined by one person s inability to tell the truth. Starbucks, nearing the end of the last month of the quarter, was struggling to make the numbers needed to pay bonuses that they felt people deserved. Instead of keeping transparency within the company and creating an open discussion about what
action should be taken, Starbucks devised a plan to cut expenses by avoiding the truth. Starbucks decided to eliminate certain charitable donations that were given away by people who worked in the stores everyday. In the end Starbucks broke trust with its employees by hiding the truth, which ended up hurting the business even more. 7. Take Action This chapter highlights and celebrates all of failures that Starbucks has had as a company. These failures, in Howard Behar s opinion, are not celebrated enough. The failures that Starbucks experienced has allowed the company to not only expand its operations in North America but also globally. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, persists, things that get done are performed by people who possess the level of commitment. The success of the company 3M is a testament to the level of commitment needed to turn a failure into success. Through passion, purpose, and persistence, 3M turned from a failed mining company to a multi- million dollar company that has been around for over 75 years. Most of their products have been successful through trial and error and relentless experimentation. The non- glue adhesive that was discovered by 3M s inventors helped produced the profitable product known as the Post- it. The persistence to take action, and admit what failed is the only way to improve. Howard Behar said it best, it means that you stop following the path you are on because it s not working. It doesn t mean giving up; it just means changing. After Starbucks mastered its ability to produce great coffee and provide great service, it was time for the company to address other consumer needs. The need for
music, literature, bottled drinks, and food in Starbucks stores proved to be easier said than done. For each case, Starbucks tested different products through trial and error but never gave up on the overall goal to implement new products into retail stores. With the economic resources and allotment of time, Starbucks took action and tailored products to fit customer demands. 8. Face Challenge Howard Behar s comparison between the balancing acts that people go through in life to the blade of an ice skate. The motion of ice skating seems fluid just like going through the motions of everyday, however similar to ice skating, you are faced with little and big challenges that constantly keep pushing you forward. While you may experience some triumphs and some defeats you are always a little out of balance, but taking on these triumphs and defeats keeps you from getting stuck in a comfort zone. While the comfort zone may feel safe, it keeps you sitting still waiting until crisis hits. On July 6 th, 1997, Starbucks was tested with one of the biggest challenges the company has ever faced. At the end of the Fourth of July weekend, a man walked into one of the Starbucks stores in D.C. and opened fire, killing three of the employees. News of the tragedy quickly spread and all eyes were turned on Starbucks and what action they were going to take as a company. Instead of gearing up to protect the company or himself from lawsuits, Howard Schultz the chairman at the time, immediately went to the families of the victims, the fellow Starbucks employees, and the community. His instinct to act as a human and not as the
chairman of a company, really showed people inside and outside of the organization that not matter what people come first. 9. Practice Leadership Howard Behar s leadership abilities have been strengthened by his ability to listen to others. He calls it the servant leader, someone who can think and lead with heart. By focusing on big hearts instead of big noises, a servant leader is able to search, listen, and anticipate better ideas. The ability to be a good leader is based on the ability to maintain relationships with people whether they are company leaders and store managers. Listening to the small voices behind these relationships allow servant leaders to better understand the current status of a company and figure out what steps the company has to take to improve and move forward. The buzz around Starbucks started to become a big noise that hyped up the leadership behind the company. While the top managers started believing the hype, they also feared that what they had worked so hard to create could suddenly disappear. Howard Schultz again challenged these managers to go back to the mission and values that Starbucks as a company was founded on. He wanted Howard Behar and other top executives to make sure that future plans and decisions were still holding true to Starbucks values and goals. By reflecting on the things that they had done right and the things they had done wrong, the managers were able to refocuses their commitment as leaders at Starbucks. Instead of figuring out ways to better lead the company, they decided that their efforts would be better spent figuring out how to better serve the company so that everyone in the organization understood and shared the same
commitment to serving people. Leadership roles are always evolving but staying true to the company s promise of who they are and what they stand for will always remain constant. 10. Dare To Dream Yes is the most powerful word. It gives a sense of freedom, inspiration, independence, and ultimately gives permission to endless possibilities. One of the signature differences between Starbucks and any other coffee shop is the barista s ability to say yes. The Have It the Way You Like It movement was founded on the word yes. Giving employees the permission to say yes, has given customers an opportunity to customize their drink to fit their individual needs. Again focusing on Starbucks principle to serve people, the customized drink order allows customers to have a unique experience where they are able to dream and make up whatever drink they want. When Howard Behar started working at Starbucks, he stood against any rules that limited what the company could do to help serve customers. Making his own Golden Rule, if it s not illegal, immoral, or unethical, and as long as we won t poison somebody and someone wants it, then we ought to try it. People should be able to have their drink the way they want it. Using the word yes has created a culture in Starbucks that allows any person, with any agenda to feel comfortable and loyal to a brand that emphasizes individual service to each individual person. With Howard Behar s decision, to say yes to the company s values, has given the company the strength to overcome fear and face the challenges and obstacles that might get in the way in the future. Howard s ability to dream has allowed him to become a successful leader.