In a recent interview, Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Jim Donald talked about a number of challenges the company is facing during its strategy to grow its company to 40,000 stores worldwide.
I wanted to target a couple of them as they mirror a couple of the things that some of the great CEOs we talk about here at managersrealm all the time.
His recent note calling on those in the company to retain the core values they're known for, highlights some of the things he talks about here.
When asked about oversight of the unprecedented growth of the company and the challenges that brings, he mentions two things that he focuses on to keep things going in the direction he wants.
First, he says that he maintains personal contact with a large amount of his people which he calls partners - last year he signed 33,000 notes personally that he sent to the partners. He signs them literally with his hand so that the people know that it is authentically from him.
Second, when asked what it is he wants to be known for at Starbucks, he said, "I'm just trying to keep it small as we grow. I've always said, in whatever job I had, that I'd know I was successful if the day I died, all the front line [employees] came to the funeral. To me, that's a sign of success."
These are two key elements that some of the managers we hear from here say all the time; from Jack Welch to Richard Branson: keep to your core values and run it like its a small company. It seems just about every successful business leader has these same two aspects as part of the way of running their businesses. So should we.
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