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Leadership Analysis on Howard Shultz

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It’s not coffee, It’s a way of life
Being a leader seems rather simple by definition. One that is followed by other is a leader. However, the trivial aspects are uncovered when you ask what makes followers follow a leader, how far are they willing to follow them, and does where the leader want to go a reason for the following?
The leader I chose is Howard Shultz, Chairmen and CEO of Starbucks. His book is titled Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. Shultz describes his vision for what a company should be and how he implemented this vision into Starbucks overtime. His vision is value, and unlike many others in his shoes, is not distracted by profit. As many leaders have something of a crucible at some point
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He thought that Starbucks could serve more than just a place to get coffee but a public place that could provide a much needed environment to socialize, read/study, or even just to think. It was ideas like this that Shultz was not willing to let go of and, in turn, made Starbucks such a giant in American society. Shultz has really illustrated what it means to be persistent. Whether it was arguing with Starbucks back in the early 80’s for over a year to eventually convince them to make him the director of marketing, or completely breaking off from the organization to start his own coffee house because Starbucks did not see the vision he had for what a coffee house should be. He had, what some would see as, stubbornness in him because he knew that his vision was not fueled by capitalism but by passion and he was not willing to sacrifice that for anything. After breaking off from Starbucks and starting Il Giornale to continue his apparition for an ideal coffee house he was successful enough to buy out Starbucks within 16 months of his departure.
Howard Shultz possesses a very unusual amount of courage in his leadership style. When you think of what a leader really is at its most basic definition it is one who is followed by others. When Starbucks stepped into uncharted territory Shultz was able to connect with employees furthest away on the chain of command, the baristas. In order to gain followers in his vision for Starbucks he went to very risky
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