The Starbucks announcement to temporarily close 8,000 stores this afternoon for racial bias sensitivity training has been met with a range of opinions on social media—snark, skepticism and support. I see the action as consistency of message—a valuable quality for today’s leaders.
I interviewed Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz in 2005 for my very first book on communication skills. His message then was remarkably consistent with his message in today’s Open Letter to Starbucks Customers.
For example, in my two-hour conversation with Schultz, I was the first to bring up the word “coffee.” Schultz’ response completely changed my approach to leadership communication. “Coffee is what we sell as a product, but it’s not what our brand stands for. Starbucks is about human connection and a sense of community inside our stores,” he said. Schultz brought up his now-famous trip to Milan when he was working at Starbucks, which then sold coffee beans and equipment. On his trip, Schultz saw coffee bars as places of conversation, where people felt comfortable gathering.
It was my aha moment as a communication advisor. Successful leaders like Howard Schultz don’t sell products; they sell dreams and purpose. Now read excerpts from today’s Open Letter by Schultz and see how consistent they are with his message in our conversation more than a decade ago:
- “In 1983 I took my first to Italy. As I walked the streets of Milan, I saw cafes and espresso bars on every street. When I ventured inside I experienced something powerful: a sense of community and human connection.”
- “I wanted our stores to be comfortable, safe spaces where everyone had an opportunity to enjoy coffee, sit, read, write, host a meeting, date, debate, discuss or just relax.”
- “For several hours this afternoon, Starbucks will close stores and offices to discuss how to make Starbucks a place where all people feel welcome.”
Schultz’ letter makes two references to Starbucks as a “third place.” The third-place description as a place between work and home has also been a consistent theme in Schultz’ communication from day one in the early ’80s. In his 1991 book Pour Your Heart into It, Schultz wrote, “From the beginning, I wanted employees to identify with the mission of the company. That meant defining a strong sense of purpose and listening to input from people at all levels of the enterprise. Our aim was to articulate a powerful message of purpose and translate that into a set of guidelines . . . . ”
The guidelines included creating a workplace that treated people with respect and dignity and that embraced diversity as “an essential component in the way we do business.” In his letter, Schultz says a recent incident in a Philadelphia Starbucks store was “reprehensible and does not represent our company’s mission and enduring values.”
The key phrase is “enduring values.” In a recent study published in the Harvard Business Review, psychologists found that employees are motivated by three things: career, community and cause. They want a career that promotes learning and development. They want to feel respected in the workplace. And they want to work at a place that gives them a sense of pride—to identify with the company’s mission and believing that it does some good in the world.
Whatever values your company stands for—and the values you articulate to the public—must be backed by action if you want to be seen as an authentic leader who walks the talk. Howard Schultz walks the talk and has been doing so for 35 years. That’s consistency.