Onward (37 page)

Some people say, “Come on, markets are not about morals, they are about profits.” I say that is old thinking. That's a false choice. The
great companies will be the ones that find a way to have and hold on to their values while chasing their profits, and brand value will converge to create a new business model that unites commerce and compassion. The heart and the wallet. . . . The great companies of this century will be sharp to success and at the same time sensitive to the idea that you can't measure the true success of a company on a spreadsheet—

He paused for a second and smiled wryly. “I can't believe I just said the word ‘spreadsheet.’ Please do not tell the band I said the word ‘spreadsheet.’”

We laughed, but most everyone in the arena also believed, especially after the week we'd just had, that Bono was right: People want to do business with companies they respect and trust, especially in the current climate, when they are being more discerning and are scrutinizing their purchases.

Ever since we'd expanded our relationship with Conservation International back in March, Starbucks had taken more steps to do the right thing as well as to earn consumers’ respect, including putting a stake in the ground and setting some significant goals for how we would approach business in the future. We called this effort Starbucks Shared Planet, and it represents our commitment to doing business in a manner that is good for people as well as the earth. Starbucks Shared Planet is not just a philosophy, but also a set of tangible, ambitious, forward-looking goals that, for the first time, Starbucks committed to publicly.

The goals address how we design and build stores, the environmental footprint of our cups, how we give back to neighborhoods, and, of course, how we source Starbucks’ coffee. We reaffirmed our commitment to ethical sourcing by, first, announcing there would be more farmer support centers, this time in East Africa, and vowing to ethically source 100 percent of Starbucks’ coffee by 2015, 45 percent more than we were currently procuring.

We also committed to double our annual purchase of Fairtrade certified coffee to 40 million pounds in 2009, making us the largest purchaser, roaster, and retailer of Fairtrade coffee in the world that year. The move would affect thousands of farmers, including many who only harvested two or three acres of land.

Putting ourselves out there in this way at such a tenuous time in our business affirmed for many of our partners—who held the company
to high standards in this regard—that, despite financial challenges, Starbucks was not abandoning its values. In fact, we doubled-down.

At the end of Bono's talk, Michelle walked onstage and put a red barista apron on him. Our partners exploded into applause. I thought nothing else could match their joy at Starbucks’ long overdue participation in (RED), our Shared Planet commitments, or the image of Bono as a barista. But I was wrong.

Bono was upstaged. By Cliff.

The head of Starbucks’ US business walked onstage holding a mysterious metal briefcase, the contents of which he had just gotten the go-ahead to publicly announce. In fact, Cliff had been in his hotel room the night before when he received an e-mail from our chief information officer, Stephen Gillett. Since Stephen had stepped into that role, he'd initiated sweeping IT reforms, among them negotiating to acquire 10,000 Hewlett-Packard laptops to supplement our stores’ outdated computer systems. Stephen couldn't make it to New Orleans because his wife was due to have their fourth child, and his back-and-forth discussions with HP were still going on when he arrived at the hospital. Finally, from just outside the delivery room, Stephen e-mailed an anxious Cliff: “Go ahead and tell the partners. I just closed the deal.” And with that, a relieved Stephen clicked off his cell and returned to his wife's side.

Before opening the silver case onstage, Cliff first reviewed the various new support tools coming to stores: a new, easier-to-use point-of-sale system (essentially, the automated cash registers) would be ready to pilot in 2009. Labor scheduling software would empower managers to better control staffing and expenses. A “retail dashboard” would provide data and a common language to improve business acumen. Each announcement was followed by cheers from a stadium filled with store managers fed up with Starbucks’ antiquated technologies.

“Okay, you've been wondering what's in this briefcase.” Cliff picked it up and placed the case on the podium. He flipped open the top and removed a black laptop computer. A roar of applause. There were whistles. High fives. Hoots. Cliff received a standing ovation that rivaled Bono's. “The tools you need to do your job are on the way,” said Cliff above the din, announcing that every store would
soon be getting its own laptop. The volume and duration of our partners’ jubilation exceeded anything we had heard or seen that day, providing proof of just how desperately our managers needed better resources and how hungry they were to do a better job.

I spoke for the last time.

The power of this company is you. We need to recognize as leaders that, unlike any other time in our history, this is a seminal moment. This is a test. A crucible. A challenge for how we are going to respond. And my primary message is to share with you the pride that I have in being your partner. The faith that I have in you. People talk about the power of the Starbucks brand, but the power of the Starbucks brand is not some external force. It is you and the people you represent. You are going to restore it. People are going to be writing history books about the business of Starbucks, and the business of Starbucks is going to once again demonstrate that you can build a company with a conscience.

Please remember what you have experienced here. Remember how you felt. And when you get back, please do not be a bystander. Change and refine behavior when you see it is inconsistent with the standards that we all have observed here this week. We made this investment in you because we believe in you. And all we ask is that you take all this back. Do not allow the pressures of the day to in any way erode the emotion, the feeling, and the power of 10,000 that you have each experienced in the last few days.

The conference ended. Our partners packed their bags. They headed home. The city seemed empty.

Craig Russell, his assignment over, was exhausted from a week of 16-hour days spent orchestrating events with his team, and before heading back to Seattle he stayed in the city on Friday to relax. Later, he told me this story: As he walked through New Orleans’ famed French Quarter, he stopped at the booth of a young street vendor to admire the art.

“Where you from?” the artist asked.

“Seattle,” responded Craig.

“Did you have anything to do with Starbucks being here?” When Craig answered yes, the young man got choked up. “You paid my mortgage this month.”

That's when it hit Craig. The New Orleans conference had been an unequivocal success.

Opportunities to authentically galvanize people are few and far between. These moments cannot be invented. They must be real and above reproach and exist on their own merits. Like Craig, I had a gut feeling that New Orleans had met this test, and as with so many other touchstone moments in Starbucks’ history, the only proof I needed was the direct feedback from our partners. Hundreds e-mailed me in the days and weeks following the leadership conference, including eight-year partner Gina Hurstak, a regional director of operations:

Howard,

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am to be a partner . . . working with amazing people who want to and will transform this company one cup at a time! These four days have been life changing for many. . . . The highlight was definitely rebuilding New Orleans. I appreciate your passion and belief in all of us. . . . We won't let you, the coffee, our partners, customers, farmers or shareholders down. The troubled economy and competition are challenging our business. Our partners are looking for leadership. And our customers expect more. . . .We will deliver! Thank you for having a vision, sharing it, and allowing us to carry it on.

As I did my own reflecting on the power of the week, a word I'd not consciously thought of for what seemed a long while came to mind. “Love.” I've always loved this company. Love is why I had come back as ceo and why I feel so personally responsible for its failure and success. Yet somewhere along our journey, the love our people had for Starbucks had blurred. New Orleans had brought it back into focus, and once again our values stood in stark relief. I felt confident that thousands of others also loved what we had built, and because of everything we experienced in New Orleans, it was apparent to all of us what it meant to love something—and the responsibility that goes with it.

Someone tapped Terry Davenport on the shoulder before plopping a MacBook on his lap.

“Watch this,” said David Lubars, the chief creative officer of our advertising agency, BBDO.

Terry was sitting in the front of one of the buses that was taking Starbucks’ partners from the conference's general session back to their hotels. David stood in the aisle of the moving bus and pushed “play” on the computer. Terry waited. First he heard delicate, almost primitive piano music. Then on the screen, against a subdued burlap background, dark green words in clean capital letters popped up one at a time to form a question, then another. There was no talking in the video. Just piano music and two questions:

WHAT IF WE ALL CARED ENOUGH TO VOTE?

NOT JUST 54% OF US,

BUT 100% OF US?

It was less than one week before the 2008 presidential election in the United States, and the race had been historic. Former first lady and senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had narrowly lost the Democratic primary to the first African-American presidential candidate, a senator from the state of Illinois, Barack Obama. And in five days, on November 4, 2008, Americans would go to the polls and vote for either Senator Obama and his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, or for Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain and his unexpected running mate, the governor from the state of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Yet despite the importance of this election, only slightly more than half—54 percent—of Americans were expected to show up at the polls to vote.

As the bus rolled down the streets of New Orleans, Terry watched the commercial, intrigued as more green words and questions danced on the screen, sometimes pushing each other aside, to the dramatic piano notes that seemed to crescendo with each silent question:

WHAT IF WE CARED AS MUCH ON NOV. 5TH

AS WE CARE ON NOV. 4TH?

WHAT IF WE CARED ALL OF THE TIME

THE WAY WE CARE SOME OF THE TIME?

WHAT IF WE CARED WHEN IT WAS INCONVENIENT