Howard Schultz Biography | Inspiration Quotations | Motivation Quotes

Howard Schultz Motivational Quotations:

• “Starbucks has a role and a meaningful relationship with people that is not only about the coffee.”

• “Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee.”

•  “When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”

• “In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity, or you can pick yourself up and say, 'Listen, I have to be responsible for myself.'”

•  “I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values.”

•  “I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!”

•  “You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there.”

•  “We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.”

•  “It's ironic that no matter where I go, I meet people from Brooklyn. I'm proud of that heritage. It's where I'm from, who I am.”

•  “Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.”

•  “Do I take criticism of Starbucks personally? Of course I do.”

•  “Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money.”

•  “You can't build any kind of organization if you're not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.”

•  “Europe has always represented a major strategic opportunity to achieve our goal of creating and building an enduring global brand.”

  

   

• “I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see And pursuing that vision.”

•  “The challenge of the retail business is the human condition.”

•  “Success is best when it's shared.”

•  “I'm not losing any sleep over Dunkin Donuts.”

•  “I think if you're an entrepreneur, you've got to dream big and then dream bigger.”

•  “Profitability is a shallow goal if it doesn't have a real purpose, and the purpose has to be share the profits with others.”

•  “I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.”

•  “I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse. We must maintain a value proposition to our customers as well as differentiate the Starbucks Experience. That is the key.”

•  “The hardest thing about being a leader is demonstrating or showing vulnerability... When the leader demonstrates vulnerability and sensibility and brings people together, the team wins.”

•  “Managing a business, small or large, today requires an extremely disciplined, thoughtful approach with regard to the pressure that people are under.”

•  “Certainly the caffeine in coffee, whether it's Starbucks or generic coffee, is somewhat of a stimulant. But if you drink it in moderation, which I think four or five cups a day is, you're fine.”

•  “Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.”

•  “I do think - as self-serving as it sounds - that I was the right person, given the very, very strong headwind we had from the economy and our own issues, to come back and rewrite the future of the company.”

•  “The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.”

•  “Expect more than others think possible.”

•  “Dream more than others think practical.”

•  “My biggest concern is that America is drifting towards mediocrity and that people don't recognize - and by people I'm meaning Washington - don't recognize the sense of urgency and the fact that I don't think this is a crisis anymore. I think it's an emergency.”

•  “We can't wait for Washington. Business leaders are going to have to galvanize their own constituencies and do everything they can to demonstrate confidence in the economy, and I think that can be contagious.”

•  “Often, organizations need bold, grand gestures to galvanize people towards a new mission or refocus their attention.”

  

   

• “Care more than others think wise.”

•  “Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy.”

•  “Starbucks has changed the rules of engagement for the music industry.”

•  “Managing and navigating through a financial crisis is no fun at all.”

•  “People around the world, they want the authentic Starbucks experience.”

•  “I love being the underdog.”

•  “I despise research. I think it's a crutch.”

•  “We are witnessing a seismic change in consumer behavior. That change is being brought about by technology and the access people have to information.”

•  “This may sound a bit naive, but I got here by believing in big dreams.”

•  “When we began Starbucks, what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.”

•  “London, a city where creativity and innovation have always flourished, provides a significant home for Starbucks and a significant gateway into Europe.”

•  “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 do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.”

•  “I'm not as interested in what you make as I am in what you're passionate about. What business are you really in?”

•  “When you start a company, it's a singular focus. You have the wind at your back.”

•  “China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.”

•  “Risk more than others think safe.”

•  “My parents really wanted me to get out of New York, be exposed to other people, other ways of life.”

•  “Success in the United States is not an entitlement in China. You have to go there and earn it, and earn it the right way.”

•  “A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.”

•  “As Americans, there are very few things we have confidence in.”

•  “Anybody can leverage celebrity for profit.”

• “Social and digital media is a bullet train, and that bullet train is not coming home.”

•  “Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families.”

•  “I'm optimistic about the country; I'm optimistic about the American people.”

•  “The premium single-cup segment is the fastest-growing business within the global coffee industry.”

•  “America's leaders need to put their feet in the shoes of working Americans.”

•  “Most business people today are not going to invest in the uncertainty that exists in America.”

•  “When you're building a business or joining a company, you have to be transparent; you can't have two sets of information for two sets of people.”

•  “I really believe that you cannot use the stock market as a proxy for the economy.”

•  “I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.”

•  “Great opportunities can be and have been created during tough economic times.”

•  “My kids probably started drinking coffee in their late teens.”

•  “Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.”

•  “Our history is based on extending the brand to categories within the guardrails of Starbucks.”

•  “I think many start-ups make mistakes because they are focusing on things that are farther ahead, and they haven't done the work that has built the foundation to support it.”

•  “You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve.”

•  “I never took classic business classes in college, so I don't have the background that any of the people running large companies have.”

•  “My son is trying to be a sports writer, and my daughter is a college student. She wants to be a comedy writer, and she's at film school. I discouraged both of them early on from getting involved in Starbucks. I didn't think it would be fair; plus, they didn't have any interest anyway.”

•  “We live in an age where everything is based on the short term.”

•  “Beverages have to be created. And they're created by looking at what trend is in, say, the fashion industry - what color's hot right now.”

•  “Customers have different need states and life experiences.”

•  “At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.”

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