“Leading The Starbucks Way” Goes Inside The Iconic Coffee Brand
The international success of Starbucks begins with a promise: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
Employees (known as partners) at Starbucks seek to deliver on the company’s promise at every customer contact point; thus, building a high performance organization operating through a lens of humanity. Because the people of Starbucks – from coffee servers (baristas) to the company’s CEO Howard Schultz – strive to make authentic, uplifting human connections while delivery high quality, innovative and compelling products the company enjoys much financial success, business growth, brand recognition and a place on lists such as Entrepreneur’s “10 Most Trusted Companies,” and Fortune’s “Most Admired.”
LEADING THE STARBUCKS WAY: 5 Principles for Connecting with Your Customers, Your Products, and Your People (McGraw-Hill Professional; September, 2013; HC, $25.00) examines how leaders of the iconic coffee brand inspire those they serve by focusing on product knowledge and passion. Additionally, it looks at how those leaders make strong personal connections with partners, and how they help partners do the same.
Joseph Michelli, author of the blockbuster Wall Street Journal, USA Today and BusinessWeek bestseller The Starbucks Experience, was given access to Starbucks operations and partners to write the book, including one-on-one access with a variety of partners – from baristas to the senior leadership team, including Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Michelli delivers a fascinating story of how Starbucks innovatively elevates its products and service experience offerings. You’ll learn how Starbucks leaders send partners on trips to origin countries to better understand the “coffee journey”; how they creatively and actively listen to and incorporate the ideas of customers for product and service advancements. You will gain an understanding of how Starbucks connects with customers through mobile pay and customer loyalty apps as well as a myriad of other technological breakthroughs. You will explore how Starbucks leaders are expanding their share in the beverage market by developing brands and products, like Tazo tea and VIA for the “anywhere” Starbucks experience. You will see how leaders at Starbucks engage “Lean” process improvements to remove waste and how they uses Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to thoughtfully connect with customers on those social media platforms. Additionally, you will see how customers are mobilized to participate with Starbucks partners in delivering 700,000 individual community service acts.
In LEADING THE STARBUCKS WAY, you will also read about the courage and calculated risk-taking of Starbucks leaders. You will see how making a manageable number of strategic “big bets” along with countless incremental improvements can fuel the type of strong and continued global growth Starbucks enjoys.
“An accessible and practical guide to corporate success.” Publishers Weekly
“Organizational consultant Michelli serves up a new helping of the recipe for business success he offered in The Starbucks Experience.” Kirkus Reviews
About the Author:
Joseph A. Michelli is an organizational consultant who focuses on intersections of business, leadership, and workplace productivity. He is the bestselling author of The Starbucks Experience, The New Gold Standard, Prescription for Excellence, and The Zappos Experience. One of today’s leading thinkers on the topic of customer experience, Michelli also speaks to corporate audiences approximately 60 times a year. Read more at www.josephmichelli.com.
LEADING THE STARBUCKS WAY: 5 Principles for Connecting with Your Customers, Your Products, and Your People, by Joseph Michelli. September, 2013; Hardcover, $25.00. MHID 0-07-180125-1.
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Ann.pryor@mheducation.com / 212.512.3578
