Starbucks CEO: Six easy steps to build and sustain an organization

Last week Jim Donald, CEO and President of Starbucks North America, spoke to a private audience in Washington D.C. on leadership;‘six easy steps to build and sustain an organization’. Mr. Donald stresses that a great leader will adhere to the following six steps to keep their organization energetic and operating towards future success.

1. Go where you’ve never gone before
2. Communicate daily to the organization
3. Maintain an experience that keeps you memorable
4. Through risk we thrive
5. Never be bigger than the front-line
6. Celebrate your success

Mr. McDonald elaborated on the following:

1. Go where you’ve never gone before
   As a leader, one must go to the front-line. Leave the corner the office; visit, experience and understand the business outside of the executive boardroom. Go to the floor and interact with those working the front-line of the organization. Before his speech, Mr. Donald informs the audience that he had visited six local stores that morning and plans on visiting six more before he departs DC. Mr. Donald stresses the front-line and their existence as the most important and vital element to any organization. Within Starbucks they make a point of referring to all employees of any level as ‘partners’. Jim demands that Starbucks is not in the coffee business; they are in the ‘people business serving coffee’. It is the brand experience that makes Starbucks the unique entity that it is; good coffee is a compliment to that experience. Going to the front-line accomplishes more than understanding the culture, it gives the opportunity to ask questions and find out how the operation is truly running at that level. Employees (or ‘partners’) start to get a sense that you as the leader, ‘have an interest in me’. Go where you’ve never gone before – visit the front-line, ask questions, identify issues and give the team the true sense that you truly do have an interest in them. As it is the front-line that literally interacts with the customer and develops the brand experience, they are your most important asset.
2. Communicate daily to the organization
   Mr. Donald spent most of his time on his first point in establishing that the front-line is crucial to the organization. Going where you’ve never gone before is step one; however, communication within the organization is step two. Everyone, from the boardroom to the stockroom needs to know how the organization is doing; the good, the bad and the ugly. Jim proclaims that the communication should not stop at the employee – communicate to the families; the wives, husbands and significant others of your employees. Explain to the families why you have their loved one putting in extra hours, working harder and pushing themselves for an organization they know little about. Build a sense of loyalty among your employees and their families through communication.
3. Maintain an experience that keeps you memorable
   Mr. Donald stresses that everyone needs a ‘fish story’ – a memorable story that sticks with people and keeps you fresh in their mind. I won’t go into details on Jim’s ‘fish story’ that he uses to keep himself memorable – let’s just say I won’t forget it. The concept here is from business meetings to interviews, a compelling story that is relevant and exceptional will prove beneficial when helping you stand out among the crowd.
4. Through risk we thrive
   The entrepreneurial spirit is what the American dream was built upon. Mr. Donald declares it is that entrepreneurial risk-taking mentality to thrive that keeps an organization alive. Using Starbucks as an example, he notes that no matter how large the company becomes and regardless of its strides among its competitors; they can never become too comfortable or too conservative and must continuously take risks to improve and expand. You yourself as a leader must take risk and encourage risk taking throughout the organization.
5. Never be bigger than the front-line
   As a leader, whether in the position of CEO or store manager, you can never act bigger than the front-line. Further emphasizing his employee-centric mentality, Mr. Donald comes back to the importance of the front-line. As leaders of an organization, it is crucial to not let those you lead perceive you as different. As a leader it is our primary responsibility to give guidance and direction; to act as the leading force of an organization, not act as if we are the organization. The team must have confidence in you, but realize you can make mistakes – and you will make mistakes!
6. Celebrate your success
   I believe Mr. Donald’s last step in his six steps to building and sustaining a business is pretty straight forward. Simply celebrate your success all the time and anytime. The notion being here that we must be dedicated ourselves and work hard; but not work so hard we cannot stop to celebrate those accomplishments for which our tireless efforts have made possible. If you can’t stop to celebrate your success you have missed a crucial element in what defines success.

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