It's Not About the Coffee; Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks

xix, [3], 183, [3] pages. Includes acknowledgments, endnotes, and index. Inscribed and signed to Cokie Roberts by Howard Behar on the front free endpaper. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Howard Behar is former president of Starbucks Coffee Company International and the author of It's Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks. He started working at Starbucks in 1989 when the company had just begun to venture outside the American northwest region. Serving as vice president of sales and operations, he grew the retail business from 28 stores to more than 400 by the time he was named president of Starbucks Coffee International in 1995. Under his leadership, Starbucks opened its first location in Tokyo in 1996. Over the next three years he introduced the Starbucks brand across Asia and the United Kingdom. After a hiatus, he returned to Starbucks as President of Starbucks North America until his retirement in March 2007. He has been a director of the company since 1996. Behar starts with the idea that if you regard employees and customers as human beings, everything else will take care of itself. If you engage your staff as partners, they will achieve results beyond what is thought possible. And if you think of your customers and communities as "the people you serve" you'll make a deep connection with them, and they'll come back over and over. This people-centered approach has been integral to Starbucks from the start, and remains so today. Behar shares inside stories of turning points in the company's history, as it fought to hang on to this culture while growing exponentially. He discusses the importance of knowing who you are, building trust, facing challenges, listening for the truth, taking responsibility, saying yes, and daring to dream. These principles are trusted guardrails that anyone can use to lead themselves and lead others. Behar believes that as the world economy becomes more and more about relationships and connecting, the principles of leadership are more important than ever.…