Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

“Whatever you do, don’t play it safe,” wrote Howard Schultz, the chairman and CEO of Starbucks Coffee, in his book Pour Your Heart into It.3 “Don’t do things the way they’ve always been done. Don’t try to fit the system. If you do what’s expected of you, you’ll never accomplish more than others expect.”

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.

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.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul and the Starbucks website.