Preface to the Paperback Edition

Leading in Hard Times

lthough this book is titled It’s Not About the Coffee, of

A course it is about the coffee—it’s about the people and

the coffee. Without the people who buy, roast, deliver,
prepare, and serve the coffee, we wouldn’t have Starbucks.
Without our ties to the communities we’re a part of, we would
miss the connection to the human spirit that has shaped us from
the beginning. People and community are the true essence of
Starbucks. There can be no coffee without people.
It is my humble but firm belief that it is people—in the best
of times and especially in the hardest times—who will inspire
you, sustain and grow your organization, and get you through.
As I’ve learned throughout my career, and my own trials and
tribulations in leading myself and others, the easy high-flying
times are guaranteed not to last. Ups and downs, even severe
ones, are part of both the economic and human cycles.
But our values do last, and the impact of our actions last, too.
I’ve seen that the values and actions of showing you care, build-
ing trust, holding yourself accountable, knowing who you are
and what you stand for—of putting people first—can provide

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stability and a lifeline on a personal level and for a whole orga-

nization or community.
I can anticipate two challenges you might have to this notion.
The first is that you don’t believe the premise of putting people
first. (To you I say read this book if you’re so inclined, see what
fits for you, and start there.) The second is that you do believe
the premise—and maybe have read books like this one and
practiced such an approach in your own leadership—but you
don’t see how it’s possible to put people first when your entire
livelihood and way of working seem up for grabs.
You may be saying to yourself, “Behar, you’re not in the real
world. These are extremely tough times. Companies are falling
apart. People are losing their jobs. The future seems tenuous.
It’s not about people now. It’s about making the numbers. It’s
about survival.”
My response is equally urgent. “Yes, it IS about the people. It
is people who have the creativity, energy, and passion to move
us forward.”
Even if financial resources are at hand to ease your business
(whether from investors, banks, the government, good internal
management, or family), it’s not going to make any difference
if everyone isn’t committed, creative, and purposeful about
where you’re going. Whether it’s local and state governments,
global companies, nonprofits, or your own small or large enter-
prise, we need new and unique approaches, ideas, products,
and services. We need people’s creativity, which means dou-
bling down on taking care of people.
You can’t retreat to success. You can’t retrench to success.
You need to reach toward success which means the honoring of

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people who will take you there, treating them not as assets but
as creative human beings.
Starbucks, like all companies during these tough times, is
learning to acknowledge and understand today’s realities. Our
people are figuring out how to deal with them in ways that stay
true to our mission and the guiding principles that got us this
far. It is not easy to do. There are the pundits who constantly
predict Starbucks’s demise, competitors who think they see
weakness, and of course all the people who work at Starbucks
who worry that their dream may be over.
For me this is just another stage in the development in the
life of Starbucks. One of the problems with success is that it can
tend to overshadow past struggles. At Starbucks there were
never any easy roads—from Howard Schultz’s difficulties in
raising the needed startup capital to disappointing the public
markets by missing quarterly earning projections. Today’s is-
sues, some self-inflicted and others not, are puzzles to be solved.
Some pieces of the puzzle cause pain for human beings, such
as layoffs that become necessary and stores that need to close,
which must be undertaken with a respect and care toward
people. Other pieces require fresh thinking about everything
from products to services to new opportunities. But at the end
of the day, “success” returns by taking one step at a time, by
staying true to one’s values, and most important, by never let-
ting go of the driving vision to nurture and inspire the human
spirit.
It’s Not About the Coffee is a book dedicated to the idea that
we are all in it together, just as my parents were always telling
me in their stories about the Great Depression and how diffi-

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cult times were then. They would talk about how they almost
lost their fledgling business, and only through a two-hundred-
dollar loan from my uncle were they able to survive. They
talked about the charge accounts they’d set up at their little
grocery store so they could carry many of their customers for
months at a time. My parents’ point, their lesson to me, was that
what allowed many people to survive was the help they received
from others. Never once did I hear my parents say anything
about who was to blame for the Depression. They always spoke
about how they managed and what they did to make their lives
work.
Today we are faced with the same kinds of decisions to make.
It is our responsibility to deal with the issues at hand and to help
each other survive. It starts with taking personal responsibility,
then organizational responsibility, and finally societal responsi-
bility. At the end of the day it will always be about us—the
people.
The lessons and principles in this book are not a recipe for
success, but they provide directions to make the way possible.
The checklist below is offered to you as inspiration and remind-
ers for putting people first. Our president is right: Yes we can.

The Leading in Hard Times Checklist

• Are you being true to yourself and your values?
In difficult times you’re more likely to lose your sense of
self. Fear can take over if you’re not careful. Your own
ethics can slide. Overwork and worry can limit your per-
spective. Yes, it’s important to deal with the realities of the
day in terms of concrete goals and objectives. But don’t let

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go of your values, even when you’re hungry; they will

keep your soul (and your organization’s) alive.
• Are you listening and basing your actions on the best in-
formation available—including “unaccepted” truths and
insights?
Listen, listen, and listen some more—in every nook and
cranny inside and outside your organization. Listening is
the most important part of communication and it is your
greatest tool when trying to figure out your best next steps.
Even in hard times, there are pockets of success in your
organization and your industry. The more you open your-
self up to what is going on around you, the more opportu-
nities you will discover.
• Are you clear about your role, purpose, and contribution?
Are you doing the right things for the right reasons?
Recommit to your dreams and your organization’s pur-
pose. Don’t worry about personal credit, promotions,
glory, or financial rewards. Hard times give each of us an
opportunity to let go of self-interest. With creativity and
purpose you can focus wholeheartedly on your contribu-
tion and the success of the organization.
• Is the right person making the right decisions?
Ask yourself if you are the right person to be responsible
for a particular issue or if there is someone else who is
closer to the situation or problem. If you’re in manage-
ment, watch the tendency to close ranks or micromanage
when times are tough. Who knows more about what is
going on in the marketplace than the people who are clos-
est to the customers or clients? Give your people more in-
formation than you think they need—and give them room

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to decide, act, and to continue learning and growing. Give

them room to be creative because it’s what’s needed now
more than ever.
• Are your decisions and actions building trust and show-
ing you care?
Actions that demonstrate you care about people as human
beings have a lasting legacy. If you are looking at layoffs,
postponing or cutting back benefits or promotions, or end-
ing relationships with certain partners and suppliers, don’t
let the trust you have worked so hard to build break down.
The people who remain will be observing how you treat
those who are leaving. You don’t need to increase the costs
associated with downsizing or other changes, but you do
need to show that your values and principles are intact.
• Are you taking responsibility and not blaming others?
Good times or bad, nothing relieves us of the responsibil-
ity to produce the results we are committed to achieve.
You may miss your plan for the year, but you must put
your house back in order. There can be no blame or
finger-pointing. Only by dealing with issues in a produc-
tive, positive, and blameless manner can you move your
organization forward.
• Are you letting truth be your guide?
Listen to your inner voice of confusion, loss, disappoint-
ment, hope, or fear. Give that voice courage and share it
with those around you. That small inner voice has a place.
Honest conversations keep you from being immobilized
and stuck in your uncertainty. You can get through hard
times when you listen to the truth, share it with others,
and remember that you’re not alone.

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