Howard Schultz’s Connection and Leadership

Howard Schultz¡¯s Connection and

Leadership

By Michael Lee Stallard

A leader I know and much admire is Howard

Behar, the former president of Starbucks

North America and Starbucks International.

Howard tells about the time when he received

a call in the middle of the night at his home in

Seattle alerting him that three Starbucks

employees at the Georgetown store in

Washington, D.C. had been shot and killed,

including an 18-year who had just recently

begun working at Starbucks, his first job.

Behar immediately called Howard Schultz,

Starbucks¡¯ CEO, who was in New York City

at the time.

What Schultz didn¡¯t do, says a lot about his

character. He didn¡¯t immediately call

Starbucks¡¯ public relations people or

lawyers. Instead, Schultz headed to

Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he spoke

with the police then proceeded to the store to

get the addresses of the three murdered Starbucks employees. He went to each of their homes,

told their families he was sorry and shared in their tears.

Howard Schultz¡¯s empathy and compassion spoke loudly to Howard Behar, a leader who has a

huge heart. Behar left his former employer and joined Starbucks in part because the previous

CEO he worked for advised him he ¡°shouldn¡¯t wear his heart on his sleeve.¡± Schultz was the

type of leader Behar wanted to work for, a leader he could respect and admire because of his

courageous and compassionate heart, a leader he wanted to give his best efforts to serve.

Howard Schultz¡¯s heart was broken. He showed courage by expressing the grief he felt. Doing

so contributed to helping the victims¡¯ families, friends and colleagues. As awful as grieving the

loss of a loved one or friend is, it¡¯s far worse to grieve alone. Howard Behar became part of the

group of three leaders at the top of Starbucks who were referred to as ¡°H20¡± (i.e. Howard

Schultz, Howard Behar and Orin Smith).



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Behar had an enormous impact on Starbucks North America as its president then went on to

become the first president of Starbucks International where he led it to spectacular growth. After

Behar retired, he continued to serve on Starbucks¡¯ board of directors. Behar was loved and

respected throughout Starbucks for his heart and passion as well as his work ethic, openmindedness and judgment about the retail business. He became a Starbucks¡¯ employee for the

rest of his career, in no small part because his boss, Howard Schultz, had a heart.

One of the great privileges of my work is that I get to meet, observe and know leaders at a wide

variety of organizations including businesses, government organizations, churches, universities

and hospitals. I¡¯ve met quite a few who exercise frequently to keep their hearts and bodies fit for

the long hours and no small number of them are also motivated by the desire to impress others

with their physical presence, energy and competitiveness.

Regular physical exercise is certainly of value. What many leaders miss, however, is the need to

develop their hearts in other ways beyond exercise that are even more important: ways that

produce the character strengths of love, kindness, compassion, gentleness and empathy. A leader

whose character is missing these strengths may have power over others but will never lead from

influence that moves people to give their best efforts and align their behavior with the leader¡¯s

goals. This truth is expressed in sayings such as you have to ¡°earn the right to be heard¡± and

¡°people don¡¯t care what you know until they know that you care.¡±

Research has shown that 75 percent of employees in America today are not engaged at work.

They show up for the paycheck but don¡¯t give their best efforts. Part of this is because they

don¡¯t feel connected to their leaders. From where they sit, their leaders appear heartless and

could care less about them. That¡¯s why cultivating the hearts of leaders is especially important

to getting America back on the right track.

To develop heart, we must care about and serve others, including the people we lead: our

colleagues at work; our spouses, children and parents; our friends; and the less fortunate in our

midst who have nothing to give back to us. Care about and serve the people in your life and in

your community, and you will develop the strength of heart that helps you connect.

As you serve, take the time to ask questions of others such as ¡°where did you grow up?,¡± ¡°how

are you doing these days?,¡± ¡°what¡¯s going on in your life?,¡± and ¡°what do you enjoy in life?¡±

Slow down and listen closely. Find out about the career aspirations of the people who report to

you and help them learn and grow in ways that advance their careers. If you¡¯re a leader, you can

develop the heart of the people you lead by scheduling a teambuilding event where together you

volunteer to serve at a local charitable organization and take time to connect with the people you

meet.

¡ª

Michael Lee Stallard is the co-author of Fired Up or Burned Out.



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