Lessons from Starbucks

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Lessons LearnedIf you don’t know who Starbucks is then you really need to get out more, read more, or watch more TV. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse in the world (21,000 stores in 65 countries) and one of the fastest-growing companies in the USA.

I am a firm believer in learning from other people’s success (and failure) and applying those lessons to my own organisational context. There are some great lessons from Starbucks to be learned. If you are in the customer business (and every company, Church, School, Aged care entity is), then you can learn from Starbucks. These lessons all come from an article I read in Forbes (Read it here), where you can get the details on the following bullet points:

  1. Have a Mission
  2. Ask Your Customers Questions
  3. Know Your Customers and Employees
  4. Be Innovative
  5. Take Responsibility
  6. Go Against the Grain
  7. Embrace Social Media
  8. Everything Matters
  9. Choose the Right Partners
  10. Be Consistent
  11. Fit In With the Region
  12. Have the Right Leaders

Some readers will already be saying, “These don’t apply to my industry or business”, or “What does this have to do with me?” I guess all I can say is that Starbucks is successful and achieving growth at world-record rates. Are you?

The Avondale Business School can help you and your team develop leadership skills – find out how by contacting Warrick Long at the Avondale Business School.

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