Why It Ranks #78
The best corporate turnaround memoir ever written. Schultz's willingness to sacrifice short-term revenue to rebuild Starbucks' culture is a masterclass in values-driven leadership during a crisis.
The Review
After retiring from Starbucks, Howard Schultz watched the company he built lose its soul — expanding too fast, cutting corners on quality, and becoming just another fast-food chain. Onward tells the story of Schultz's return as CEO in 2008 and the dramatic turnaround that followed: closing 7,100 stores simultaneously for retraining, shutting down unprofitable locations, and refocusing the company on the customer experience that made Starbucks special.
Key Takeaways
- 1Growth for growth's sake dilutes the very thing that made the company special
- 2Sometimes you have to go backward to go forward — closing stores to retrain is an investment
- 3The founder's return only works if the founder is willing to make painful decisions the hired CEO would not
- 4Brand equity is built over decades and destroyed in quarters — protect it relentlessly
Fun Facts
- •Schultz closed all 7,100 U.S. stores for a single evening of retraining — it cost $6 million in lost revenue
- •Starbucks stock tripled within three years of Schultz's return
- •He sent a memo titled 'The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience' that leaked and went viral
Book Details
Onward by Howard Schultz with Joanne Gordon
Pages
368
Goodreads Rating
3.94/5
Copies Sold
500K+
First Published
2011
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