Page 130 - The Starbucks Experience

Embrace Resistance

ceptions. When errors are made, leaders understand the
importance of taking swift, unequivocal responsibility, and
they follow that up with corrective action. What doesn’t kill
businesses does make them stronger, but only if their leader-
ship heeds the lessons presented to them.

Macro Resistance
Nothing in nature grows without facing limiting forces. Seeds
meet the resistance of the earth’s crust. Trees are resisted by
the wind. Animals are limited by other animals. Businesses
and individuals, particularly those that grow and develop
rapidly, meet the resistance of dynamic market and social
forces. Starbucks has expanded at an almost unheard-of rate.
That growth, coupled with its open public access, has put its
leadership face to face with much opposition and has fre- 115
quently placed the company in the middle of many social
challenges.
Although Starbucks buys approximately 4 percent of all
coffee sold worldwide, the company typically draws greater
public scrutiny than far larger coffee buyers who sell their
product primarily in supermarkets. When issues regarding
commitment to purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee sur-
™
face, the evening news is likely to show a protest in front of
a Starbucks store. In truth, the larger buyers of commodity
and noncommodity coffee have more influence on interna-
tional buying practices than Starbucks has, but those com-
panies seldom have to endure the harsh glare of the media
spotlight. Although Starbucks leads the industry in attempt-
ing to create positive change for farmers, it rarely receives
acknowledgment for being one of North America’s largest
roasters and retailers of Fair Trade Certified coffee or the
™