Onward by Howard Schultz

During my time away last week I brought along this book. It's a business book full of share holder meetings and reports but also a book I'd say about how a man, so driven, shaped not only a comeback as CEO of a major corporation but then drove the company to return to it's values.

• As a leader this book addressed several issues about growth, values, consistency, and making hard calls. 
• As a rampant coffee lover it gave a behind the curtain look at the machine that drove hundreds of locally own coffee shops out of business.

First some thoughts on leadership perhaps. The book chronicles the return of Howard Schultz as CEO of Starbucks Coffee Co. It was Howard that took the helm of the fledgling company back from the original store in Pikes Place Market to it's amazingly global influence today. He then left the company only to return after the market crashed, the economy slumped and financial sector took a beating. His story reminded me of the Arther legend promising the kings return when needed the most. Starbucks needed a leader to lead them out of the slump they found themselves in. So the first third of the book is his return, the second third is the plan of innovations and streamlining that needed to happen, the final third I'd say is him holding the line as things slowly changed.  So what did I learn from this...

1. The bigger you grow the harder it is to replicate exactly your values. It takes an amazing degree of discipline. They even got down to how each store should smell the same.
2. Innovation doesn't happen by chance and is necessary to stay on your toes.
3.  One word... Team. You have to invest in people.

Here's how Howard sums up some of the leadership lessons he walked through during this season of turning Starbucks around...

"Grow with discipline, Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don't embrace the status quo. Find a new way to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and over-communicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it's how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth in trials and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear, and do. Believe. " (Pg 309)

Finally my coffee thoughts...
 I still think what they consider to be "bold" is burnt. I still think their espresso is manufactured not crafted. I understand the desire for consistency between stores in their shots but it's different to pull a shot then to push a button on an automated machine. I have yet to see a Clover in a Starbucks store. (Clover is a genius brewing device that Howard bought the rights to. ) All that said this book has given me a good view of their company and I have to confess perhaps I've been a bit hard on them in the past. Maybe from here on out I'll just refer to them as the "Empire" and not the "Evil Empire". We'll see.