BY JOSEPH A. MICHELLI
(McGraw–Hill, ISBN–10: 0–07–147784–5, ISBN–13: 978–0–07–147784–0)
One of the world's most formidable brands, Starbucks, completely revolutionized the coffee business. What's their secret? Starbucks went far beyond "the product" and created an "experience" where every detail matters, and people count. Their original vision was to combine the quality coffee bean tradition of Starbucks and merge it with the charm and romance of the European coffeehouse.
The leadership at Starbucks is fueled by passion for product, people, experience, and community, and the philosophies / operating principles are deceptively simple.
- Make It Your Own. Take the top–level guidelines for your role and find a way to deliver it in a unique and meaningful way. Pour your creative energy and dedication into everything you do.
- Everything Matters. Attention to detail occurs by design, not by default. Create solid processes and procedures in daily operations to ensure consistency for customer visits across Starbucks stores.
- Surprise and Delight. There are genuine opportunities ripe for creating surprise experiences and delivering the "WOW" and fun factor. Empower and encourage your employees to try unconventional approaches in the spirit of service.
- Embrace Resistance. When presented with negative feedback by a customer, recognize that you may have an opportunity to actually strengthen that relationship by listening and accepting responsibility. As a bonus, you'll gain useful insight to improve your business.
- Leave Your Mark. An important part of business success is linked to the powerful and positive impact you have on the community. Corporate social responsibility is a core value and commitment that benefits everyone involved.
From the stories and examples used throughout this book, you will be prompted to think about how you can adapt the same principles to your own business. Each chapter also closes with a section called "Ideas to Sip On" for your quick reference. There is much to learn from a company like Starbucks, but perhaps most notably how you can implement a set of guiding principles to run your business while fostering the special gifts and passions of your people.
This quote beautifully sums up how the staff members ("partners") at Starbucks feel about working there: "We each get to be part of a group that gets to make a huge difference in people's lives in a million small ways."
– Sandy Struss
