Pour Your Heart Into It summary

From what we’ve learned in the first blink, Starbucks adheres to uncompromising business practices. So what kind of person does that make its founder? You could probably describe Howard Schultz as stubborn. In fact, that quality is what led Howard to become a part of Starbucks in the first place.

After tasting the great coffee at its store in 1981, Schultz knew he wanted to become head of marketing in the Starbucks retail stores. The original founder, Jerry Baldwin, was interested. But his partners thought Schultz had too many new ideas and was too eager to create change. So Baldwin declined to hire Schultz.  

We’ve seen that it pays to be stubborn when dealing with people at the top of the food chain. But with everyone else vital to your business, your focus should be entirely different: build a relationship of trust with your employees.

The Starbucks management team has worked hard to nurture that trust. It’s reflected in the company motto: “Treat people like family and they will be loyal and give their all.” The Starbucks family receives a great benefit package and even part-time employees are offered stock options – Bean Stock – so they are partners, not just employees. Employees are also encouraged to voice their opinions at the quarterly Open Forums, a source of valuable feedback.

We’ve all got those friends that seem to be changing their values on a whim, chasing the latest fads and trends. If they’re an acquaintance, we’ll tolerate that kind of behavior, but how would you like it if your business was changing its core principles from week to week? Neither employees nor customers would put up with it for very long, which is why it’s crucial that a business stands by its values.

As we know, the core value of Starbucks is authenticity. So, taking this principle seriously has sometimes meant denying customer requests.

We all know it’s wise to be cautious with our money, be sparing and only spend what we can afford. But in business, it’s a different game where it’s often necessary to take big risks. The truth is, if you want to be successful, you’ve got to take the plunge and invest.

Starbucks’ impressive and rapid growth wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t started “investing above the curve,” which means investing in themselves even before they needed it.

Let’s face it: we can’t do everything ourselves. Still, superiors often feel threatened by their brightest employees, rather than tapping into their skills as an asset. Schultz, on the other hand, was smart enough to give the reigns to those with expertise in their specific areas.

For example, when confronted with the challenge of creating a sales computer program for hundreds of stores, Schultz hired a programmer who had worked on the McDonald’s sales program. Having worked in a company that was far bigger than Starbucks, she was well-suited.

If you want to get ahead in business, the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra won’t cut it. Brand renewal, on the other hand, will boost your success; the key is to change things before they stop working.

Starbucks managed to apply brand renewal to a product as old and traditional as coffee. And, the company applied renewal at a scientific level. Don Valencia, a biomedical scientist, began experimenting with coffee in 1988. His research led him to develop a coffee extract, which he then refined until it was completely indistinguishable from real, freshly-brewed coffee.

It’s a classic story for big chains to sell their soul in order to stay ahead in the game, but the same isn’t true for Starbucks. Instead, the company takes the initiative to stay intimate with its employees – no easy feat when there are about 25,000!

By offering Bean Stock (stock options) Starbucks generates a sense of partnership among its employees. It tends to offer higher hourly wages than the industry standard as well other benefits, such as health insurance for employees and their partners. Schultz communicates personally with each store via email and voicemail, and each region holds quarterly meetings for store managers so that management remains in touch with the base.