Onward Quotes

“Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don't embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and overcommunicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. Hold people accountable, but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it's how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth in trials and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear, and do. Believe.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.

This is the kind of passionate conviction that sparks romances, wins battles, and drives people to pursue dreams others wouldn’t dare. Belief in ourselves and in what is right catapults us over hurdles, and our lives unfold.

“Life is a sum of all your choices,” wrote Albert Camus. Large or small, our actions forge our futures and hopefully inspire others along the way.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we're made of.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“When we love something, emotion often drives our actions.

This is the gift and the challenge entrepreneurs face every day. The companies we dream of and build from scratch are part of us and intensely personal. They are our families. Our lives.

But the entrepreneurial journey is not for everyone. Yes, the highs are high and the rewards can be thrilling. But the lows can break your heart. Entrepreneurs must love what they do to such a degree that doing it is worth sacrifice and, at times, pain. But doing anything else, we think, would be unimaginable”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“My passion. My commitment. This is the most important thing in my life other than my family.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“For more than three decades, coffee has captured my imagination because it is a beverage about individuals as well as community. A Rwandan farmer. Eighty roast masters at six Starbucks plants on two continents. Thousands of baristas in 54 countries. Like a symphony, coffee's power rests in the hands of a few individuals who orchestrate its appeal. So much can go wrong during the journey from soil to cup that when everything goes right, it is nothing short of brilliant! After all, coffee doesn't lie. It can't. Every sip is proof of the artistry -- technical as well as human -- that went into its creation.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“For all the promise of digital media to bring people together, I still believe that the most sincere, lasting powers of human connection come from looking directly into someone else's eyes, with no screen in between.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Work should be personal. For all of us. Not just for the artist and entrepreneur. Work should have meaning for the accountant, the construction worker, the technologist, the manager and the clerk.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“There is a word that comes to my mind when I think about our company and our people. That word is 'love.' I love Starbucks because everything we've tried to do is steeped in humanity.

Respect and dignity.
Passion and laughter.
Compassion, community, and responsibility.
Authenticity.

These are Starbucks' touchstones, the source of our pride.

Valuing personal connections at a time when so many people sit alone in front of screens; aspiring to build human relationships in an age when so many issues polarize so many; and acting ethically, even if it costs more, when corners are routinely cut--these are honorable pursuits, at the core of what we set out to be.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Life is a sum of all your choices,” wrote Albert Camus. Large or small, our actions forge our futures, hopefully inspiring others along the way.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“But the reasons against going to New Orleans--that spicy southern city known for jazz and Mardi Gras and hospitality--were the very reasons we had to go.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“So when some refer to Starbucks' coffee as an affordable luxury, I think to myself, Maybe so. But more accurate, I like to think, is that the starbucks experience - personal connection- is an affordable necessity. We are all hungry for community.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Protect and preserve your core customers," he [Jim Sinegal, cofounder and CEO of Costco] told our marketing team when I invited him to speak to us. "The cost of losing your core customers and trying to get them back during a down economy will be much greater than the cost of investing in them and trying to keep them.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Whenever I see someone carrying a cup of coffee from a Starbucks competitor, whether it’s an independent coffee shop or a fast-food chain, I take their decision not to come to Starbucks personally. I wonder what I, as Starbucks’ chairman and ceo, might have done to keep them away and what I might do to encourage them to come back or to try us for the first time.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“When you give up,' said a slim older man whose home we rebuilt, 'you might as well lay down and die.' It was obvious that we weren't just giving people back their homes, but also restoring a sense of dignity.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“After the storm, many citizens left New Orleans to live elsewhere, but those who stayed were determined to rebuild. They loved their city.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“This is not his job, I thought, it's his passion.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Many of us spent time talking with the men and women who had lived through Katrina, and we heard stories of not only individual sacrifice and loss, but also of neighbors taking care of neighbors. The power of community was so evident in New Orleans.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Large or small, our actions forge our futures, hopefully inspiring others along the way.

Entrepreneurs must love what they do to such a degree that doing it is worth sacrifice and, at times, pain. But doing anything else, we think, would be unimaginable.

In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.

Effective leaders share two intertwined attributes: an unbridled level of confidence about where their organizations are headed, and the ability to bring people along.

Fixing moments, like mopping a dirty floor, only provides short-term satisfaction. But take the time to understand the cause of the problem—like how to keep a floor from getting so dirty in the first place—solves, and maybe eliminates, a problem.

How leaders embody the values they espouse sets a tone, an expectation, that guides their employees’ behaviors.

While I would not want to constantly battle against the odds, the raw feeling of accomplishing something that others did not think possible, or leading people beyond where they thought they could go, is extremely gratifying.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Just. Plain. [Fu*king.] Grilled. Swordfish.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“The world belongs to the few people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.” I”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Infusing work with purpose and meaning, however, is a two-way street. Yes, love what you do, but your company should love you back.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Starbucks has always been about so much more than coffee. But without great coffee, we have no reason to exist.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“I’ve said often that every enterprise and organization has a memory. And those memories create a path for people to follow.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“Large or small, our actions forge our futures, hopefully inspiring others along the way.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“I could not allow us, or myself, to drift into a sea of mediocrity after so many years of hard work”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

“A well-built brand is the culmination of intangibles that do not directly flow to the revenue or profitability of a company, but contribute to its texture. Forsaking them can take a subtle, collective toll.”
― Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul