The not so Secret to Starbucks

Starbucks fascinates me. 

In the blink of an eye it seemed to become a cultural icon. Hanging out at a coffee shop isn’t something that only a select group of people do. Starbucks has convinced us that everyone can and should. Why?

Yes, they believe that they have the best coffee and want everyone to experience it. Yes, they want to make a lot of money. But at the core of it all, Starbucks knows something greater than that and it is one of the reasons that it has become so successful. 

I’ve been reading Onward by Howard Schultz, the Founder and CEO of Starbucks and have gathered a lot of useful nuggets. It’s about far more than coffee and how they came to be the brand that they are. In it’s pages there is a theme that resounds that I believe should be the foundation of everything that we set out to do if we want to experience success.

What’s that theme you ask...? Drumroll please.... 


RELATIONSHIPS

Yes, Starbucks, the coffee company you love to hate or love to love, has built everything it has achieved on that value. Relationships.

In business, at home, in Coaching and sports, whatever you can think of, success is most promising when you have good relationships with people. Whether it be within your organization or with your customers, it is crucial! I’m about halfway through the book and I’ve already highlighted a bunch of stuff. Here are a few. If you want to check out the book for yourself I included a link above to the Kindle Version but you can get the hard copy Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul  with this link.

“More than our scale, the brand can and should be defined by the quality of its coffee as well as its values. Community. Connection. Respect. Dignity. Humor. Humanity. Accountability. It is our mission to make sure the world sees us through those lenses.”

"I like to think, is that the Starbucks Experience-- personal connection-- is an affordable necessity. We are all hungry for community."


“Starbucks desperately needed baristas and managers to be genuinely friendly, enthusiastic, and willing to go the extra mile millions of times a week.”

“I always say that Starbucks is at its best when we are creating enduring relationships and personal connections.”

"Valuing personal connections at a time when so many people sit alone in front of screens; aspiring to build human relationships in an age when so many issues polarize so many; and acting ethically, even if it costs more, when corners are routinely cut—these are honorable pursuits, at the core of what we set out to be."

"I love Starbucks because everything we've tried to do is steeped in humanity. Respect and dignity. Passion and laughter. Compassion, community, and responsibility. Authenticity."