I think the currency of leadership is transparency. You’ve got to be truthful. I don’t think you should be vulnerable every day, but there are moments where you’ve got to share your soul and conscience with people and show them who you are, and not be afraid of it.
When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.
We are not in the coffee business serving people, we are in the people business serving coffee.
Everyone starts strong. Success comes to those with unwavering commitment to be at the end.
I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t see And pursuing that vision.
If you want to achieve widespread impact and lasting value, be bold.
Believe in your dreams and dream big. And then after you’ve done that, dream bigger.
Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can’t tell you whether someone will fit into a company’s culture.
I’ve traveled around the world, and what’s so revealing is that, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.
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.
You cant build any kind of organization if youre not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.
Customers must recognize that you stand for something.
We would take something old and tired and common – coffee – and weave a sense of romance and community around it. We would rediscover the mystique and charm that had swirled around coffee throughout the centuries.
Don’t be threatened by people smarter than you.
Victory is much more meaningful when it comes not just from one person, but from the joint achievements of many.
We have no patent on anything we do and anything we do can be copied by anyone else. But you can’t copy the heart and the soul and the conscience of the company.
Effective leaders share two intertwined attributes: an unbridled level of confidence about where their organizations are headed, and the ability to bring people along.
Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don’t embrace the status quo.
People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.
I was working probably at the age of 10, when I had my first paper route. I had every different kind of job you could possibly imagine as a young kid.