howard behar

In this episode, Wendy Horng Brawer speaks with Howard Behar. Howard Behar's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer oriented businesses covering several industries. He retired from Starbucks Coffee after 21 years where he led both the domestic business, as President of North America, and was the founding President of Starbucks International. During his tenure, he participated in the growth of the company from 28 stores to over 15,000 stores spanning five continents. He served on the Starbucks Board of Directors for 12 years before retiring. Mr. Behar is committed to the development and education of our future leaders and has been a longtime advocate of the Servant Leadership Model. He has also authored two books on leadership titled It's Not About the Coffee and The Magic Cup.

Wendy and Howard focus their conversation specifically on the Servant Leader Model that Howard cultivated during his tenure at Starbucks. Howard defines what servant leadership is and how he first encountered it. Wendy and Howard discuss how companies can adapt and develop this people first model in any iteration of the business while sharing personal experiences. 

They also discuss how the emerging workforce shaped their social emotional skills through their educational experiences. With expectations for a people first approach growing amongst the workforce, the time is ripe for leaders to value the perspective that they are first and foremost in the people business over being in business. It’s evident that employee retention, productivity, and the overall health of the company increase when Servant Leadership is in the DNA of the business. 

To learn more about Howard’s work at howardbehar.com. 

To learn more about Intune Collective and the services they offer, go to intunecollective.com. You can follow Intune Collective at @intunecollectivesf on Instagram, @intunecollective on Facebook and @intunesf on Twitter.

This week Andrew talks with Howard Behar, the retired president of Starbucks North America and the founding president of Starbucks International. Howard joined Starbucks in 1989 when the company had just 28 stores. Over the next 21 years under Howard’s leadership, Starbucks grew to more than 15,000 stores across 5 continents. Howard shares a behind the scenes look at how Starbucks became the iconic brand it is today. At the center of it all is a culture built around people, authenticity, and servant leadership. This conversation is filled with practical lessons about organizational culture, how to help others reach their full potential, and the power of putting people first. 

Show Highlights:
1:33 - Getting connected with Starbucks in 1989
1:45 - Meeting Howard Schultz for the first time
2:30 - Working for free before deciding to join the company
3:14 - Evaluating the Starbucks culture
4:55 - Creating a people-centric mindset
5:40 - Reinforcing positive behavior
6:02 - Helping people grow through mistakes
7:01 - Challenges scaling Starbucks
8:37 - Interviewing for human skills
9:42 - Onboarding new team members successfully
11:58 - Making the organization comfortable with mistakes
13:36 - Leading by example
14:40 - Creating unique, joyful customer experiences
16:28 - Howard Schultze as an entrepreneur and leader
17:48 - How Starbucks took care of an employee with AIDS
21:30 - Starbucks leadership's "mission review" process
23:08 - Being vulnerable and transparent
25:34 - Impact of COVID on Starbucks

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Howard Behar's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer oriented businesses, and most recently as a speaker, advisor, mentor, and bestselling author. He is also the former president of Starbucks - one of the world's largest and most popular brands.

Howard joins Nick to discuss the leadership lessons he learned while acting as the overseer to such an empire, including why culture matters so much, and why people should be kept at the heart of things.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• The most successful business enterprises are the ones who remember that while products are essential, the people who come for them, and the problems that it solves for them, should always be at the heart of matters.
• Every organisation has its own culture. They usually arise naturally. The question we must ask is if the natural culture there is the one we strive for. If it isn't, then we must change it from the top down.
• The great leaders are the ones who like to challenged, and want to be held accountable. If our people are doing either, then we as leaders are doing the right thing.
• Nothing in life happens without persistence. In the rivers of life there are rocks, and we strike them below the water line, but the most important thing is that we traverse them and keep moving on.

BEST MOMENTS

'It wasn't meant to be a brand. It was meant to be human in nature'

'I got right away that it wasn't about the coffee. It was about the people'

'We wanted to be able to walk down the hallway, look everyone in the face, and say "We're in it together"'

'The question to ask yourself is "Is this the culture I want?"'

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Howard Behar - http://howardbehar.com

ABOUT THE HOST 

Nick Bradley is a renowned entrepreneur, investor, speaker, and business growth expert.

His background is growing and scaling Venture Capital and Private Equity backed businesses globally.

Over the last decade, he has completed 117 acquisitions and 25 business exits with a combined valuation of over $5bn dollars.His mission is to help business founders build valuable businesses and create life-changing exits so they can realise freedom, wealth, and impact.

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On today's episode, Howard Behar, former Starbucks president of North America and founding president of Starbucks international, talks about his servant leadership approach while he participated in the growth of the company from 28 to over 15,000 stores spanning 5 continents. He shares his “Howard in 50 words or less” that has been a guide for him over the years. This episode is packed with so much wisdom that you can use to make changes in your business and personal life. Howard believes that servant leadership can change the world and wants to inspire others to lead in this way.

Mr. Howard Behar's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer oriented businesses covering several industries. He retired from Starbucks Coffee after 21 years where he led both the domestic business, as President of North America, and was the founding President of Starbucks International. He served on the Starbucks Board of Directors for 12 years before retiring. Mr. Behar is currently a Trustee for the Sheri and Les  Biller Family Foundation and is on the advisory board of Anthos Capital. He formerly served as a board member for:  Starbucks, GAP, Shurgard, University of Washington Foundation and IDTech to name a few.  Mr. Behar is committed to the development and education of our future leaders and has been a longtime advocate of the Servant Leadership Model. He has also authored two books on leadership titled It's Not About the Coffee and The Magic Cup.

Howard's Website

Howard’s email- hb@howardbehar.com

Howard’s phone number- 206-972-7776

Candace Dunaway is the Host of the All Things Relatable podcast. Candace practices daily gratitude and believes that this practice is the key to living a joyful life. Candace sees the world through an optimistic lens and looks for the silver linings, even in the most difficult of times. She believes that life is a collection of simple moments of joy that compound to create a happy life.

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Howard Behar's career in business spans over 50 years, all in consumer-oriented businesses, and most recently as a speaker, advisor, mentor, and bestselling author. His wisdom, generosity, and level of integrity have had a profound impact on thousands of people who have been touched by his example, books, and speaking.

Howard is known for such memorable lessons as “The Person Who Sweeps the Floor Should Choose the Broom” and “Only the Truth Sounds Like the Truth.” For 21 years Behar led Starbuck’s domestic business as President of North America, and was the founding President of Starbucks International, opening the first store outside of North America in Japan. He served on the Starbucks Board of Directors for twelve years before retiring.

Howard shares many important stories and his advice but really focuses on his roots, learning from his parents the importance of charity, the critical element of purpose in both people and companies, and why it is so important for us to get back to a society focused less on "me" and more on "we".