Onward

“The cost of losing your core customers and trying to get them back during a down economy will be much greater than the cost of investing in them and trying to keep them.”

For us, that means doing our best to treat everyone with respect and dignity, from coffee farmers and baristas to customers and neighbors. I understand that striving to achieve profitability without sacrificing humanity sounds lofty. But I have always refused to abandon that purpose—even when Starbucks and I lost our way.

“In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of,” I would later hear one partner say as he reflected on the week. “To be a part of this organization as it moves

He moved us by speaking in our own language about the absolute necessity of companies to do well by doing good.

Balance had always been Starbucks’ challenge. Fiscal responsibility and benevolence. Shareholder value and social conscience. Profit and humanity. Local flavor on a global scale. Now our challenge was to restore proper balance between our desire for growth and the need to preserve our heritage.

That Shop in Via Montenapoleone,

Starbucks’ renewed effort to play to win as opposed to playing not to lose. For the past few years, Starbucks had been acting out of fear, mainly a fear of failure.

They were about self-examination in the pursuit of excellence, and a willingness not to embrace the status quo. This is a cornerstone of my leadership philosophy.