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

In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.

Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.

Authentic brands don't emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does...

If you examine a butterfly according to the laws of aerodynamics, it shouldn't be able to fly. But the butterfly doesn't know that, so it flies

People want guidance, not rhetoric. They need to know what the plan of action is, and how it will be implemented. They want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and authority to act on it.

One of the fundamental aspects of leadership, I realized more and more, is the ability to instill confidence in others when you yourself are feeling insecure

Remember: You'll be left with an empty feeling if you hit the finish line alone. When you run a race as a team, though, you'll discover that much of the reward comes from hitting the tape together. You want to be surrounded not just by cheering onlookers but by a crowd of winners, celebrating as one.

To stay vigorous, a company needs to provide a stimulating and challenging environment for all these types: the dreamer, the entrepreneur, the professional manager, and the leader. If it doesn't, it risks becoming yet another mediocre corporation.

Early on I realized that I had to hire people smarter and ore qualified than I was in a number of different fields, and I had to let go of a lot of decision-making. I can't tell you how hard that is. But if you've imprinted your values on the people around you, you can dare to trust them to make the right moves.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, . . . begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. —GOETHE

There's a metaphor Vincent Eades likes to use: "If you examine a butterfly according to the laws of aerodynamics, it shouldn't be able to fly. But the butterfly doesn't know that, so it flies.

To be an enduring, great company, you have to build a mechanism for preventing or solving problems that will long outlast any one individual leader.

When you’re in a hole, quit digging!

Every step of the way, I made it a point to underpromise and overdeliver. In the long run, that's the only way to ensure security in any job.

And with the right mentor, don't be afraid to expose your vulnerabilities. Admit you don't know what you don't know. When you acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for advice, you'll be surprised how much others will help.

Be bold, but be fair. Don't give in. If others around you have integrity, too, you can prevail

All great companies have passed through bad years that forced soul-searching and rethinking of priorities. How we deal with them will be the litmus test.

Whatever you do, don’t play it safe. 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 will never accomplish more than others expect

Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can't tell you whether someone will fit into a company's culture.

The best ideas are those that create a new mind-set or sense a need before others do, and it takes an astute investor to recognize an idea that not only is ahead of its time but also has long-term prospects.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received. —ALBERT EINSTEIN

But my story is as much one of perseverance and drive as it is of talent and luck. I willed it to happen. I took my life in my hands, learned from anyone I could, grabbed what opportunity I could, and molded my success step by step. Fear of failure drove me at first, but as I tackled each challenge, my anxiety was replaced by a growing sense of optimism. Once you overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, other hurdles become less daunting.

Bir şirketin, çalışanlarıyla arasında kurduğu güven ilişkisinden daha değerli bir şey yoktur. İnsanlar yönetimin kazancı adilce paylaştırmadığına inanırsa şirketten soğurlar. Yönetime güvenmemeye başladıklarında ise şirketin geleceği tartışmalı hale gelir.

At Starbucks 0 as in any business, in any life - there are so many hectic moments during the day when we are simply trying to do the job, trying to put out the fires, trying to solve any number of small problems, that we often lose sight of what it is we're really here to do.

Big opportunities lie in the creation of something new. But that innovation has to be relevant and inspiring, or it will burst into color and fade away as quickly as fireworks.

What distinguishes the talented person who makes it from the person who has even more talent but doesn’t get ahead? Look at the aspiring actors waiting tables in New York, as an example: Many of them are probably no less gifted than stars like Robert DeNiro and Susan Sarandon. Part of what constitutes success is timing and chance. But most of us have to create our own opportunities and be prepared to jump when we see a big one others can’t see. It’s one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you’ve got to be willing to leave what’s familiar and go out to find your own sound. That’s what I did in 1985. If I hadn’t, Starbucks wouldn’t be what it is today.

One of the terrible tragedies, for me, was the fact that my father passed away before he could witness what I achieved.

In the course of the year I spent trying to raise money, I spoke to 242 people, and 217 of them said “no.

The point of a coffee store was not just to teach customers about fine coffee but to show them how to enjoy it.

Çoğumuz, hayallerimizin suya düşecek gibi olduğu önemli anlarla karşı karşıya kalırız. Bu tür olaylara karşı hazırlıklı değilsinizdir ama nasıl tepki vereceğiniz önemlidir. Önemli olan sahip olduğunuz değerleri unutmamanızdır. Cesur ama dürüst olun. Teslim olmayın. Çevrenizdeki diğer insanlar da dürüstse başarırsınız. Beklenmedik toplar kafanıza çarptığında savunmasız kalabilirsiniz. İşte böyle durumlarda bir fırsatı kaçırabilirsiniz. Böyle anlar, aynı zamanda gücünüzün test edildiği zamanlardır.