Howard Schultz: belief

Transcript context

…Yes. I entered Starbucks as the interim CEO when this was already going on. I think the company made some early mistakes, some of which were COVID-related. Again, no textbook had to deal with COVID issues, health issues, safety issues. Then I underestimated the groundswell of public sentiment for this movement in America. I then became vilified for trying to defend the company in a way that I thought was appropriate. I think what’s lost in all this is the percentage of stores that have been petitioned, and the number of people is very small in relationship to the whole. Then all of the people in Starbucks who were depending on me to defend the company, trying to do that in a world of disinformation is very difficult. At the time when I was trying to restore the company back to health, clearly mistakes were made. This story is still unfolding, and my heart’s with the company. The thing that I think was lost in the story is the shareholder is not the primary person. It’s the Starbucks partner in the green apron, which is the cloth of the company. If we exceed the expectations of the cloth of the company and our people, shareholders and customers are going to win. That’s been my whole life story. And that’s basically worked for decades and decades. It also seems like Starbucks has become such an institution in our society, that leading a small disruptive organization, everyone gives you the credit for all the positives and all the exciting things you’re doing, and you get a pass on anything that didn’t work.…

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