Howard Schultz Quotations | Page 3

When companies fail, or fail to grow, it's almost always because they don't invest in the people, the systems, and the processes they need.

We are deeply saddened by the tremendous loss of life and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, .. Starbucks has a long tradition of striving to bring together people and communities where we do business. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and many others impacted by this natural disaster; our prayers and thoughts are with all the families who have lost loved ones.

Sometimes the difference between winning and losing is will. The will to make it happen.

Sometimes you have to create the thing you want to be part of.

Sports was a great equalizer. It didn't have color. It didn't matter whether you were rich or poor, black or white. It really shaped me in many ways to be able to deal with a lot of different personalities and different cultures. Sports were the common thread.

When I returned as CEO in 2008, Starbucks had forgotten that meaningful innovations balance an organization's heritage with modern-day relevance and market differentiation, so we had to reorient. In one brainstorming session, we visited and observed great retailers, then asked ourselves, 'If Starbucks did not exist, what type of coffee experience would we create?

At its core, I believe leadership is about instilling confidence in others.

Don't buy preground coffee.

While their service is ending, our responsibility is just beginning!

Great companies are defined by their discipline and their understanding of who they are and who they are not.

I think what we're lacking in society, not only in the U.S. but also around the world, is to find heroes once again and to celebrate these kind of people.

I think that sometimes the difference between winning and losing, success and failure, is this gray line between will, passion and self-belief that says, 'I'm going to do this'.

Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone.

The entrepreneurial opportunity in America is alive and well.

There's this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.

At Starbucks 0 as in any business, in any life - there are so many hectic moments during the day when we are simply trying to do the job, trying to put out the fires, trying to solve any number of small problems, that we often lose sight of what it is we're really here to do.

Success is the by-product when you work toward the target.

Always challenge the old ways.

The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.

Whatever you do, don't play it safe. Don't do things the way they've always been done. Don't try to fit the system. If you do what's expected of you, you'll never accomplish more than others expect.

It's one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you've got to be willing to leave what's familiar and go out to find your own sound.

Success is best when its shared

More than anything else, technology will pave the way for innovative change at Starbucks. The bulk of Starbucks' innovation over the next several years will be technology-focused.

Passionate conviction ... sparks romances, wins battles, and drives people to pursue dreams others wouldn't dare. Belief in ourselves and in what is right catapults us over hurdles, and our lives unfold.

Starbucks is rekindling America's love affair with coffee, bringing romance and fresh flavor back to the brew.

And with the right mentor, don't be afraid to expose your vulnerabilities. Admit you don't know what you don't know. When you acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for advice, you'll be surprised how much others will help.

While we are a coffee company at heart, Starbucks provides much more than the best cup of coffee—we offer a community gathering place where people come together to connect and discover new things.

Every step of the way, I made a point to underpromise and overdeliver. In the long run, that's the only way to ensure security in any job.

The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.

Be bold, but be fair. Don't give in. If others around you have integrity, too, you can prevail

Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?

We want passion for our business.. workers who can interpret and execute our mission, who want to build a career, not just take a temporary job.

My father had a series of blue-collar jobs and never made more than $20,000 a year. When I was seven, he got injured on a job. That was a very important point - because of the injury, he couldn't walk, and the company he was working for did not pay him. There was no compensation. So there was no money and no food.

I don't have any secret sauce and I'm no smarter than anyone else. I will say I have surrounded myself with unbelievable talent that has made my job easier.

Starbucks trying to build a different kind of company around the balance of profitably and benevolence. A social conscience. And that isn't a program it has to be a way of life.

I honestly never dreamed at the time that I would one day own the Starbucks and or be in a position where we would have more than 10,000 stores around the world. It has just been an incredible journey for all of us.

You cant build any kind of organization if youre not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.

To be an enduring, great company, you have to build a mechanism for preventing or solving problems that will long outlast any one individual leader.

Work should be personal. For all of us. Not just for the artist and entrepreneur. Work should have meaning for the accountant, the construction worker, the technologist, the manager and the clerk.

Overnight the digital age had changed the course of history for our company. Everything that we thought was in our control no longer was. But within a year we had invested in social media and digital experts. Now Starbucks is the number one brand on Facebook.

In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we're made of.

Success is best when it is shared.

Authentic brands don't emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does...

Risk more than others think safe.

Business leaders cannot be bystanders.

The issue of managing through a crisis is you have to be decisive even if you don't have perfect information.

If you put on a lousy production with white actors, it's lousy. There is a problem, or can be, at this stage of our social evolution, with mixing the casts. It may not be a question of race so much as class. You would rarely find a black man in a high executive position where he was swinging his weight around.

I conduct my life with an expectation that people will do the right thing. Yet even with all my experience, I am still surprised when they do not.

The success of the Starbucks has been based on this balance between profitability and a social conscience. Everywhere we're doing business, were trying to manage the business through the lens of humanity.

Don't settle! Embrace a dream--and keep dreaming. Don't be a bystander. Take it personally.

In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.

People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they're really proud of, that they'll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.

But when you really believe-in yourself, in your dream-you just have to do everything you possibly can to take control and make your vision a reality. No great achievement happens by luck.

I think growth covers up mistakes.

Success is not an entitlement. It has to be earned

There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don't embrace the status quo.

We have no patent on anything we do and anything we do can be copied by anyone else. But you can't copy the heart and the soul and the conscience of the company.

Don't be threatened by people smarter than you.

We would take something old and tired and common - coffee - and weave a sense of romance and community around it. We would rediscover the mystique and charm that had swirled around coffee throughout the centuries.

Customers must recognize that you stand for something.

People want guidance, not rhetoric. They need to know what the plan of action is, and how it will be implemented. They want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and authority to act on it.

Early on I realized that I had to hire people smarter and ore qualified than I was in a number of different fields, and I had to let go of a lot of decision-making. I can't tell you how hard that is. But if you've imprinted your values on the people around you, you can dare to trust them to make the right moves.

Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can't expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don't exceed the employees' expectations of management.

If you want to achieve widespread impact and lasting value, be bold.

Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can't tell you whether someone will fit into a company's culture.

Everyone starts strong. Success comes to those with unwavering commitment to be at the end.

We are not in the coffee business serving people, we are in the people business serving coffee.

I realize that idealism is out of sync with the cynicism of our age. Skepticism has come to be synonymous with sophistication, and glibness is mistaken for intelligence. In such an atmosphere, why bother aiming high? Far too many people don't. I just want to reassure people to have the courage to persevere, to keep following their hearts even when others scoff. Don't be beaten down by naysayers. Don't let the odds scare you from even trying.

Believe in your dreams and dream big. And then after youve done that, dream bigger.

All we want is what the other two teams have already been given.

The current high level of revenue performance is not sustainable. February 2004 benefited from strong post-holiday Starbucks card redemptions and an early start to our annual brewing event,