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Overview |
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During his many years as a senior executive at Starbucks, Howard Behar helped establish the Starbucks culture, which stresses the importance of people over profits. He coached hundreds of leaders at every level and helped the company grow into a world-renowned brand. Now he reveals the ten principles and the memorable wisdom that guided his leadership and success—and not one of them is about coffee.
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"importance of people over profits" |
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Behar starts with the idea that if you regard employees and customers as human beings, everything else will take care of itself. If you engage your staff as partners (not assets or labor costs), they will achieve results beyond what is thought possible. And if you think of your customers and communities as “the people you serve” (not sources of revenue), you’ll make a deep connection with them, and they'll come back over and over.
This people-centered approach has been integral to Starbucks from the start, and remains so today. Behar shares inside stories of turning points in the company's history, as it fought to hang on to this culture while growing exponentially. He discusses the importance of knowing who you are, building trust, facing challenges, listening for the truth, taking responsibility, saying yes, and daring to dream.
These principles, literally brewed into the way Starbucks works, makes decisions, confronts problems, and creates opportunities for the future, are trusted guardrails that anyone can use to lead themselves and lead others. Behar believes that as work becomes less hierarchical, and as the world economy becomes more and more about relationships and connecting, the principles of personal leadership are more important than ever. This book will show you the way.
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Leading in Hard Times |
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It is my humble but firm belief that it is people—in the best of times, and especially in the hardest times—who will inspire you, sustain and grow your organization, and get you through. As I’ve learned throughout my career, and my own trials and tribulations in leading myself and others, the easy high-flying times are guaranteed not to last. Ups and downs, even severe ones, are part of both the economic and human cycles.
But our values do last, and the impact of our actions last, too. I’ve seen that the values and actions of showing you care, building trust, holding yourself accountable, knowing who you are and what you stand for—of putting people first—can provide stability and a lifeline on a personal level and for a whole organization or community.
I’ve can anticipate two challenges you might have to this notion. The first is that you don’t believe the premise of putting people first. (To you I say read this book if you’re so inclined, see what fits for you, and start there.) The second is that you do believe the premise—and maybe have read books like this one and practiced such an approach in your own leadership—but you don’t see how it’s possible to put people first when your entire livelihood and way of working seem up for grabs.
You may be saying to yourself, “Behar, you’re not in the real world. These are tough times. Companies are falling apart. People are losing their jobs. The future is up for grabs. It’s not about people now. It’s about making the numbers. It’s about survival.”
My response is equally urgent. “Yes, it IS about the people. It is people who have the creativity, energy, and passion to move us forward.”
Even if financial resources are at hand to ease you business (whether from investors, banks, the government, good internal management, or family), it’s not going to make any difference if everyone isn’t committed, creative, and purposeful about where you’re going. Whether it’s local and state governments, global companies, nonprofits, or your own small or large enterprise, we need new and unique approaches, ideas, products, and services. We need people’s creativity, which means doubling down on taking care of people.
You can’t retreat to success. You can’t retrench to success. You need to reach toward success which means the honoring of people who will take you there, treating them not as assets but as creative human beings.
[Download printable pdf version of Checklist for leading in Hard Times]
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Foreword (excerpt) |
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by Howard Schultz, Starbucks Founder and Chairman
I am proud and honored to be writing this foreword to Howard Behar’s book on the leadership principles he lived and practiced during his life at Starbucks. Howard is the most no-nonsense, no airs, no fanfare, authentic person you could ever meet. He is all about the truth--whatever it might be. He has an intense style that quickly cuts through the layers that are not relevant. And he’s also highly passionate and emotional; he wears his feelings on his sleeve. You always know where he stands and where you stand, which is shoulder to shoulder no matter what the personal or organizational challenge.
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"We’re in the people business serving coffee,
not the coffee business serving people." |
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In terms of leadership, he’s the real deal--a natural leader with the skill set to be better than most number ones at many, many companies. But he made the fortuitous choice for me, for Starbucks, and I believe for himself, to join us in 1989 when we were a small regional company. From Howard Behar’s first days at the company, he has always stood for and reminded us that "we’re in the people business serving coffee, not the coffee business serving people."
This inspiring and practical guidebook, It’s Not About the Coffee, is about people, and the importance of putting people first. It’s about the role that we all play in creating the culture of a company, which brings it to life and sustains its development and direction.
Howard has always demonstrated at Starbucks that a great business is a business with a conscience. And he has shown in leadership roles spanning more than thirty years that you can do well by doing good. I became a much stronger leader because of his partnership and coaching. I also know that it wasn’t just his experience but also his enormous friendship and love of what we were doing that allowed him to have such a profound impact on me, our people, and all the people we serve. If you follow just some of the principles in this book, you will be a wiser, more effective, and more successful human being and leader. There is no better teacher than Howard Behar.
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10 Principles of Personal Leadership |
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1. Know Who You Are: Wear One Hat
2. Know Why You’re Here: Do It Because It’s Right, Not Because It’s Right for Your Resume
3. Think Independently: The Person Who Sweeps the Floor Should Choose the Broom
4. Build Trust: Care, like You Really Mean It
5. Listen for the Truth: The Walls Talk
6. Be Accountable: Only the Truth Sounds like the Truth
7. Take Action: Think Like a Person of Action, and Act like a Person of Thought
8. Face Challenge: We Are Human Beings First
9. Practice Leadership: The Big Noise and the Still, Small Voice
10. Dare to Dream: Say "Yes," the Most Powerful Word in the World
[Download printable pdf versions of The 10 Principles of Personal Leadership (annotated) and the Checklist for Individuals, Leaders, and Coaches]
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Valuable Reminders—Wall Quotes |
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As people who traveled through my office over the years know, my way of reminding myself about this journey of true self and purpose was to put words of wisdom, what I used as guardrails for my journey, on my walls.
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"direct and sometimes enigmatic words of wisdom" |
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When I heard a piece of advice, read something that struck me as a blinding flash of insight, I wrote it down, used it as a reference point, and quoted its lessons as I taught and mentored others. These weren’t quotes that became slogans in company hallways and restrooms. These were sometimes direct and sometimes enigmatic words of wisdom that became a launching pad for many positive and difficult conversations I had with people and became part of the institutional memory for the people who make up the culture of Starbucks.
Over time I framed many of these quotes and other people began to add to what is now an extensive collection of black frames by giving me quotes that are important to them or, they think, relevant to me.
This collection is really a map of my life. The quotes represent my education. I learned from the wisdom of the ages, from mentors, from experiences. Making these lessons permanent and putting them where I could see them every day reinforced what was important to me. It’s not so different than going to a church or a mosque or a temple – we need to be reminded of what is important, of the lessons we’ve learned, and of the things that guide how we work and how we live our lives.
The lessons, and the difficult, joyful, challenging, emotional conversations often begun in my office beneath the frames—have been remembered, embraced, and passed on by Starbucks people around the globe.
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People Are Not Assets |
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Contrary to common business-speak, people are not assets. You own assets. You don’t own people. Assets are buildings and trucks and supplies. Assets are things. Every so many seconds or minutes a machine spits a product out. Or you flip a switch and the lights go on. Assets always give us what we expect—unless a piece of equipment breaks down. People never quite give us what we expect. People surprise us because it’s in the very nature of being human. We even surprise ourselves.
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"Assets always give us what we expect. People surprise us…" |
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I don’t do the same thing every day. I get off track. I think of something new or change my mind. Often for the better, but not always. As human beings, we’re always changing and always moving depending on where we are at that particular moment in time. It’s helpful for us to recognize this in ourselves and in the people around us.
I like to think of a business as a group of volunteers who lease their creativity for the good of the organization. When any of us, from staff to managers to the CEO think of ourselves and our colleagues as people—not workers or assets—we discover a wealth of knowledge and talent. When we allow ourselves and others to think creatively and make independent decisions based on common goals, we become more fulfilled and we make a more worthwhile contribution.
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The Yin/Yang of Thought and Action |
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The Greeks worshipped both Apollo—the god of reason—and Dionysus—the god of the activity of life. The two forces have forever been linked in a paradox. Nothing happens unless you do something. Yet whatever you do needs to be thoughtfully considered.
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"Think like a person of action and act like a person of thought." |
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The problem is, usually we tend to one side or another. We’re either the one who jumps into the conversation without thinking, or the one who wishes they would have jumped into the conversation sooner. We’re either the one who commits 100 percent to a new project right away, or the one who takes time weighing the costs and the benefits.
When you know who you are, you recognize your own tendencies and you start to listen to your inner voices on both sides of the paradox. It doesn’t mean you always balance your natural style with the opposite. It means, push yourself to move a little in the other direction than you might naturally go.
Paying attention requires you to simply be more conscious. Try to sit quietly and contemplate rather than share your first idea. Or, jump in and just do something you’ve feared. The Ancients struggled with the balance of action and thought, and we are bound to do so as well. The point is, you have to enter the struggle. Thoughtfully.
My motto is, “Think like a person of action and act like a person of thought.” Some days and in some situations this means, “Feel. Think. Do.” Other days it means “Feel. Do. Think.” Most of the time we want to think and then act, aim and then fire. If you’re always fast to fire, you’re likely to miss your shot—or get shot. If you’re always waiting to fire, you’re liable to miss an important opportunity.
Like the journey to find our one hat, as we learn who we are and test ourselves over time, we begin to know when to think, plan and discuss and when to stop analyzing and take action. The principles of personal leadership--the principles of caring, listening for the truth, and being accountable--all require consistent action balanced with thought and feeling.
Remember, however, without action there isn’t life. As Emerson said, “God will not have his work manifest by cowards.” You can’t get results, you can’t experience your potential or the potential or your goals, if you don’t take the risk of action. If you want to have an impact, if you aspire to make a difference, then you better well start doing it. Nothing is worse than wasting your life in the false comfort of inaction.
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"Coffee Talk"
Events and occasional comments
[click here]
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