Page 147 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 4

cians. We had close to 300 people show up at this small drive-
through Starbucks, and the mayor also attended. It was just
such an incredible experience.”
For Leeann, softening the relationship between Starbucks
and the San Fernando community meant “opening up forms
of communication and paying attention to the input of our cus-
tomers. For example, our menu was mostly in English, and we
had to make a transition. At the beginning it was difficult. We
were able to receive some informational pamphlets in Spanish
that helped us advertise our product a little better. But it was
literally the partners who came from the community and spoke
Spanish who helped customers appreciate our offerings.”
Leeann and her team found ways to turn initial cautious-
ness into a motivator for growth. Leeann puts it best:

Once people in the community were able to get past the
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Starbucks “corporation,” they saw that we were intimate
with our customers. We’re one-on-one, personable, and
approachable. I think that’s the key word: approach-
able. When you say “embrace resistance,” that’s what I
think of—being approachable. Not that we will fix
everything for you, but that we will stay open to you as
you share your needs and reactions with us.

While most resistance can be overcome with patience and
concerted effort, there are times when resistance is simply too
strong. The leadership challenge in these situations is accept-
ing that the resistance needs to be honored. There comes a
time in business life when resistance actually increases in pro-
portion to the efforts to defuse it. This is an indication that
the best move is simply to walk away.
Starbucks leadership has experienced situations in which
excessive resistance has been encountered when entering a