It’s Not About the Coffee

Howard Schultz thought Starbucks was all about the coffee. Howard Behar knew better, despite having no college education and never having worked in the coffee or restaurant industry. Howard Behar worked one week for free before joining Starbucks, where he helped to shepherd the growth from a few stores to 15,000. Howard shares the lessons he discovered, practiced, and taught before and during his leadership at Starbucks, who is always preaching, “We’re in the human service business.”

Episode Highlights

1. Mark wants to hear Peter Robinson and Howard Behar discuss the value of an MBA.
2. Howard’s early career in the furniture store business and real estate.
3. The reason the furniture store business is similar to the coffee business.
4. “I’ll be in Chicago as long as I need to.”
5. The reason Howard changed his personality: “You can’t keep wearing your heart on your sleeve.”
6. Howard’s 50 words and one hat.
7. Culture and the story of 100 monkeys.
8. One of Howard’s favorite questions is, “If there were no praise or criticism in the world, then who would you be?”
9. The Monday night meetings with H2O.
10. Does Howard like his coffee black?
11. The way the two Howards met and shook hands for a long-term relationship.
12. Unpacking the crisis thinking of Laurence Boldt.
13. Mark’s praise of the employee fund for those in need.
14. “If you grow the people, the people grow the business. That’s the number one priority.”
15. The three primary roles of a leader.
16. A quick shoutout to Alan Mulally.
17. Two Guys Behind Mics Having Coffee both love Boys in the Boat.

Lines That Made Me Think

Before I pushed the record button on my audio recorder, I told Howard that his book reminded me of Art’s Principles by the late Arthur Gensler. Both books are not to be read just once, but at least 2-3 times a year. The content is timeless, instructive, and inspiring.

Have you ever read a book and come across a line that you thought, “This is brilliant,” and, “Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” There are many of those lines in Howard’s book. Here are just a few to whet your appetite for the book.

The person who sweeps the floor should choose the broom.”

Page 3 of the Kindle version and principle number 3 in the Green Apron Book.

Howard loved the furniture store business, but his future boss asked him, “What do you love? Furniture or people?” Howard says that was a difficult question to answer. His reflective thinking on this question is meaningful:

On the one hand, furniture is furniture. But it was also the way I expressed my creativity. Furniture was my art. But when I thought more about it, I realized that the emotions and passion I felt about my work didn’t have to do with the furniture, they had to do with the people.

I didn’t love furniture. I loved the selection and the selling and the whole idea of helping people realize their dreams for their homes and lives. It was my music, just as coffee is for those of us who’ve made our home at Starbucks. But it was people that I loved—the interaction among people, serving other people, learning from other people.

Page 16 of the Kindle version where Howard addresses what really matters to us as professionals.

In my professional consulting practice, I frequently discuss T3 Transformational Relationships™, which are built on three simple words: truth, transparency, and trust. Accordingly, my antennae shot upward when I read Howard’s section on trust:

In a study of seventy top management groups, two Cornell professors found that teams that engage in task conflict often experience relationship conflict as well. However, there was one factor the researchers identified that allowed groups to stay focused on the task conflict without resorting to relationship conflict. It was trust.

They found that the greater the trust among participants, the more willing and able they were to push through the issues without fighting. By extension, if you want to have an honest exchange and deal with the truth, you have to create an atmosphere of trust.

Page 105 where Howard is discussing accountability.

There is a brief mention of a career-planning expert in chapter eight. When you read the book, take time to learn more about this concept:

Laurence Boldt, the career-planning expert, talks about this kind of crisis as a “crisis to decide.” In fact, the Greek word krísis means “decision.” A crisis, he explains, often results when we fail to decide on a direction; a crisis compels us to make the decision to commit to a new direction.

Page 129 of the Kindle version, and Howard adds the quote, “There is no such thing as stressful situations, just stressful responses.”

I wish every small business had an employee fund where those in need can access funds caused by emergencies beyond their control. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was pleased to read about Starbucks’ fund:

The CUP Fund, through voluntary payroll deductions and fundraisers, provides financial relief to partners facing emergency situations that affect their economic quality of life.

Page 169 in the Kindle version where Howard briefly mentions this fund in passing. Half of the proceeds from Howard’s book are being directed to this fund.

Important Links

• Howard Behar’s website
• A brief bio on the Starbucks websitehttps://amzn.to/3G7CjnI
• Howard’s Amazon author page

Episode Pairings