Best Howard Schultz Quotes

To get rich is glorious.

The word saturation is not even in our vocabulary.

Compromise anything but your core values.

Large or small, our actions forge our futures, hopefully inspiring others along the way.

When you're in a hole, quit digging!

In anything we do, any endeavour, it's not what you do; it's why you do it.

I always saw myself wanting to do something deemed successful and good at the same time.

Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners.

Success is not sustainable if it is defined by how big you become or by growth for growth's sake. Success is very shallow if it doesn't have emotional meaning.

I am convinced that most people can achieve their dreams and beyond if they have the determination to keep trying.

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.'

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

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

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

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.

The ability to recognize limitations in yourself is what determines whether you have a great idea that can become a great business. You can't keep your finger on the pulse of all the issues you'll face; no one person can do everything. Entrepreneurs are bold thinkers, but they're usually not detail-oriented. You need the self-esteem to hire people who are smarter than you and give them the autonomy to manage their own areas. Surround yourself with great people and get out of the way; don't try to micromanage things as you did early on.

You can't expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don't exceed your employee's expectation of management.

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. That's the contract.

It's different when you're trying to turn something around, especially something that you built, at a time when so many constituents - the media, Wall Street, competitors, ex-employees - are all saying that Starbucks's best days are behind it, and that Schultz is never going to be able to bring it back.

On balance, I am a supporter of the minimum wage going up. We've got to be very careful what we wish for because some employers - and there could be a lot of them - will be scared away from hiring new people or creating incremental hours for part-time people as a result of that wage going up.

We will never-and I mean never-turn our backs on our employees.

It's ironic that retailers and restaurants live or die on customer service, yet their employees have some of the lowest pay and worst benefits of any industry. That's one reason so many retail experiences are mediocre for the public.

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.

Starbucks is committed to evolving and enhancing our customer experience with innovative and wholesome food offerings.

Customers have different need states and life experiences.

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.

The Starbucks customer and the Teavana customer are two very different customers, two different need states that are highly complementary.

We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.

You need to be willing to surround yourself with people more talented than you are in certain areas. You need a degree of fear of failure to keep you going. And, while everyone wants leaders who demonstrate courage, passion and boldness, you should not be afraid to show vulnerability now and then.

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.

To stay vigorous, a company needs to provide a stimulating and challenging environment for all these types: the dreamer, the entrepreneur, the professional manager, and the leader. If it doesn't, it risks becoming yet another mediocre corporation.

One of the fundamental aspects of leadership, I realized more and more, is the ability to instill confidence in others when you yourself are feeling insecure.

I think the currency of leadership is transparency.

Business leaders cannot be bystanders.