Leading the Starbucks Way

Join the Convenience Revolution – How to be Easier to do Business With

When I started working with and writing books about Starbucks (The Starbucks Experience and Leading the Starbucks Way) in the early 2000s, Starbucks’ leaders sought to create the “third place.” Conceptually, the “third place” was a gathering location between work and home. When meeting at work was too formal and meeting at home was too…

View Post about Join the Convenience Revolution – How to be Easier to do Business With

Cherish and Challenge Your Legacy | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

This is the final post in a 5-post series about my book Leading the Starbucks Way: 5 Principles to Connect with Your Customers, Your Products, and Your People. In the context of Cherish and Challenge Your Legacy, I asked, then CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz what he wanted his legacy to be. He responded, “I want to…

View Post about Cherish and Challenge Your Legacy | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

Reach for Common Ground | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

This is the third in a 5-post series, How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way, as we continue through the business concepts in my book Leading the Starbucks Way: 5 Principles to Connect with Your Customers, Your Products, and Your People. In the context of my principle, Reach for Common Ground, I highlight…

View Post about Reach for Common Ground | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

Savor and Elevate | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

For context and based on requests, I’m in the process of presenting key concepts from my ten McGraw-Hill customer experience and leadership books. This is the first in a five-post series, “How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way.”   The story of Starbucks’ meteoric growth during the 1990s and early 2000s is well…

View Post about Savor and Elevate | How to Deliver World-Class Customer Experiences – Leading the Starbucks Way

When the Customer Experience Goes Awry [Differentiation Through Service Recovery]

Forgive me for sounding braggadocious, but I AM PERFECTLY IMPERFECT! But then again so are you and so is your business. Unfortunately, some leaders either don’t know they are imperfect, or they seek to fool consumers into thinking their businesses are flawless. In those environments, team members read the invisible handwriting on the wall and…

View Post about When the Customer Experience Goes Awry [Differentiation Through Service Recovery]

Howard Schultz: A Leader, A Teacher, and An Inspiration

As best I can remember I first met Howard Schultz in 2005 during work with Starbucks that led to the publication of my first of two books about the company, The Starbucks Experience. I was on one of the many maze-like floors at Starbucks world headquarters in Seattle (formerly the Sears fulfillment center back in the…

View Post about Howard Schultz: A Leader, A Teacher, and An Inspiration

Starbucks: Greatness Personified/Excellence Diversified – What About You?

I met him while working with Starbucks around the time I wrote my first book about the company titled The Starbucks Experience. I’d venture to say that Starbucks might have been little more than one man’s vision if it wasn’t for his leadership strengths. He was one of the original architects of the brand – a…

View Post about Starbucks: Greatness Personified/Excellence Diversified – What About You?

Complexly Simple – Success Can Breed Mediocracy

Do you want to sound smart? Then, tell your friends you read a blog this week about how metathesiophobia is bolstered by accomplishment. In other words, people who are successful often resist change. Most of us suffer from at least a smidge of metathesiophobia (the fear of change). Certain things can help the condition – like…

View Post about Complexly Simple – Success Can Breed Mediocracy

FREE RESOURCES

The Starbucks Experience: Leadership Tips eBook
Elevating Care in Healthcare: Lessons from the UCLA Health System eBook
How to Win Every Customer, Every Time, No Excuses! Article