Page 142 - The Starbucks Experience

Embrace Resistance

Adopting this flexible posture can be a difficult and frus-
trating challenge for many businesses. As a result, corporate
executives often deal only with criticism or push back in a reac-
tive manner. Often small issues are ignored until the negative
rhetoric takes on a life of its own. At that point, the business
leader has very little choice but to address the concern, which
is likely to have grown into a much larger problem. Leadership
at Starbucks not only attempts to react to criticism early, but,
where possible, anticipates potential areas of resistance.
This proactive approach is reflected in the Emerging Issues
Council. This standing committee of senior officers at Star-
bucks meets regularly to anticipate and track potential prob-
lem areas, look for solutions, and gain consensus on acceptable
courses of action.
Sandra Taylor, senior vice president of Corporate Social
Responsibility, comments, 127
This council brings in dissenting voices among our sen-
ior leadership and helps us look to areas of our business
that may experience complex future challenges. We
come together and talk about varying points of view. We
have done this for many issues, like efforts to more
actively engage cocoa producers in West Africa. It’s a
very effective way for people to get their issues heard
and to achieve buy-in for difficult decisions and policies.
Managers need to look forward for any and all potential
obstacles, while monitoring problems that have plagued the
company in the past. From the Starbucks leadership per-
spective, embracing resistance means not only responding to
the forces that are coming up from behind, but also looking
to the future, both for solutions and for other potential prob-
lems or areas of conflict.