Page 65 - The Bible On Leadership

52 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

things we did not have access to in terms of privileges. As I got older, I
realized there were things about my childhood that gave me . . . the
unique view towards wanting to do something for others because we
didn’t have it ourselves.’’ In a word, Schultz wanted his workplace to
be more compassionate. ‘‘I always wanted to build the kind of company
that my father never got to work for.’’
What kind of company is it? Most of us know Starbucks only from
the receiving end: upscale coffees and confections served in pleasant
physical surroundings by smiling, motivated young employees. What
makes these employees so motivated are the working environment and
benefits package Schultz has put together for them. He has made every
employee an owner by initiating the ‘‘Bean Stock’’ option plan. He
feels his benefits package is ‘‘the greatest single advantage we have be-
cause of the value and relationship that our people have to the company,
to each other, and most important, to our customers and shareholders.’’ 2
One of Schultz’s ‘‘baristas’’ (fancy name for counter help who own
‘‘Bean Stock’’) adds, ‘‘Because we are treated so well . . . it’s reflected
in the way we treat our customers.’’ 3
All of this grew out of Schultz’s own version of the Golden Rule:
‘‘Do unto your employees what was not done for your father.’’
Gordon Bethune’s leadership of the Continental Airlines turnaround
was based largely on focus and purpose. He made the airline run on
time. But he didn’t do it with cold-hearted efficiency the way that
Mussolini made the trains run on time in Fascist Italy. Bethune, despite
the large scope of his mission, never lost sight of the value of ‘‘being
nice.’’
‘‘Be nice, but how?’’ he writes in From Worst to First. ‘‘Simple! You
act nice. And you insist that everybody act nice. I treated my direct
reports the way I would want to be treated. They treated theirs the
same way, and on down the line.’’ What’s more, Bethune tied this
‘‘niceness’’ to a very important business variable, compensation.
‘‘Everybody knew that part of their compensation . . . would be based
on whether the people they worked with said they were pleasant to
deal with and whether they were working as a team.’’ 4
Bethune’s industry competitor, Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines,