Analyzing Howard Schultz's Leadership in Starbucks Corporation

This essay delves into the leadership of Howard Schultz, the former CEO and Chairman of Starbucks Corporation, focusing on his transformational leadership style. It examines his characteristics, skills, and the influences that shaped his approach, including his early experiences. The essay highlights how Schultz fostered team collaboration, implemented ethical practices, and prioritized employee well-being, contributing significantly to Starbucks' success. It discusses his innovative ideas and consistent focus on market competitiveness. The essay also covers his impact on the company's culture and the integration of transformational leadership within the organization, ultimately crediting his leadership for Starbucks' prominent position in the global market.

Running head: LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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The leadership styles might refer to the approaches and the manners which is used for
providing the direction to the concerned employees, the implementation of the plans and thereby
providing the employees with the needed motivation. The leadership styles might be observed by
the employees to be the combined amount of the various implicit as well as the explicit actions
that are undertaken by the concerned leaders (Rubin, 2013). Starbucks Corporation, an American
company dealing in coffee and a chain of coffeehouses, might boast of having one such leader
who demonstrated highly appreciable leadership skills, the past CEO of the company, Howard
Schultz. The following essay deals with the various characteristics, knowledge and skills of the
leadership that was followed by the eminent leader. The essay further tends to look into the
matters that pertain to the earlier experiences of the leader and the influences of these
experiences on the leadership style that is depicted by the concerned leader in discussion. The
essay further proceeds to discuss the development of the leadership skills and characteristics
within the leader. The essay finally nears its conclusion with the discussion of the various
leadership approaches, concepts and methods that are implemented by the concerned leader in
the concerned organization that he had been serving, Starbucks Corporation in this case.
Starbuck Corporation is one of the most successful business organizations in the world.
This extreme amount of the success that the company has faced is often credited to the CEO and
the Chairman of the concern, Howard Schultz. The position that is held by Starbucks
Corporation in the present-day industry might highly be attributed to the apt leadership style that
has been depicted by the concerned leader in discussion. The leadership style that is majorly
depicted by the concerned business leader in discussion, Howard Schultz of Starbucks
Corporation is the transformational leadership style (Eisner, 2016). The transformational
leadership style generally refers to the leadership style wherein the concerned leader is observed

2LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
to be working with the concerned team in order to deal with the various matters that might arise
in the identification of the changes that are to be implemented within the organization (Odumeru
& Ogbonna, 2013). The transformational leader is known to be dealing with the various factors
that are related to the creation of the vision that is needed for providing the guidance to the area
of the change that is experienced by the concerned business organization. The transformational
leader is known to be highly responsible in the instances that help in providing the concerned
members of the organizational workforce with the needed inspiration that is needed to bring
about the change that has been detected in order to help in the overall improvement of the
organization (McCleskey, 2014). The transformational leader is also known to be helpful in the
execution of the needed change by collaborating with the concerned members of the concerned
business organization, the Starbucks Corporation in this case (Leavy, 2016). The leader in
discussion, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation is also known for the implementation and
the strict adherence to the various ethical practices in the concerned business. This might have
helped the concerned business organization, Starbucks Corporation, to secure the position in the
market that it enjoys in the recent times.
Howard Schultz, born in the year 1953, is one of the most famous businessmen in
America. The eminent businessman was primarily appointed as the CEO of Starbucks
Corporation for the duration of 4 years since 1986 to the year 2000 and was re-elected for the
same post for a longer duration of 10 years starting from the year 2008 to the year 2017 (DuBrin,
2016). The organizational leader was appointed as the executive chairman of the well-known
American company dealing in coffee and a chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks Corporation from
the year 2017 to the year of 2018. The eminent leader had announced his retirement from the
post of the executive chairman of the concerned company, Starbucks Corporation that is to be

3LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
effective from the 26th of June, 2018 following which the leader would be adorning the office of
the chairman emeritus of the company. It is rumored that the eminent leader has been ambitious
for the presidentship of the United States of America (Sorkin, 2018). The leader is further known
to head a number of businesses apart from his involvement with the American company dealing
in coffee and a chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks Corporation. The concerned business leader is
known for the display of the skills and the leadership styles that are related to the
transformational leadership styles. The concerned leader is known to have motivated his
employees by encouraging them to work as a team and thereby bring about an improvement in
the overall performance of Starbucks Corporation. Schultz was also a member of the board of
Directors at Square Inc., a San Francisco based company that deals in the financial services,
aggregator of the market services and the mobile payments (Gasparro, 2018). The concerned
business is also known for the fact that he co-founded a venture capital organization that deals
with the investments in the various businesses that are customer-centered with a major focus on
the technologically-enabled services and products that are related to the fields of commerce,
health and wellness and education. The corporate leader was known to have been ranked 288th
among the richest members who have been residing all over the country of the United States.
The net worth of Howard Schultz has been calculated to be almost $3.1billion as on the month of
April, 2017 (Forbes.com., 2018).
The leader is observed to have been depicting the leadership skills that are implemented
within the American company dealing in coffee and a chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks
Corporation, in a very natural manner. The leader seems to have been adapting the various
leadership skills on his journey in the concerned American company dealing in coffee and a
chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks Corporation. The implementation of the various leadership

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skills that are depicted by the concerned leader has helped the concerned organization to have
attained a respectable position within the concerned market as well as in the global market
(Koehn, Helms & Mead, 2003). The concerned leader in discussion, Howard Schultz of
Starbucks Corporation, an American company dealing in coffee and a chain of coffeehouses
seems to have been learning and adapting to the various situations that have been arising while
he had been serving the organization. The leader is observed to have been demonstrating a huge
amount of interest in working with the Starbucks Corporation, an American company dealing in
coffee and a chain of coffeehouses. The business leader has also demonstrated the ability of
suggesting various innovative ideas within the organization and thus aiding the improvement of
the organization in terms of the overall performance of the concerned company. The innovative
idea and the constant determination to help the concerned company to achieve a certain place in
the competitive market has been the major point behind the success of the eminent business
leader (Flamholtz & Kannan-Narasimhan, 2013). The net worth of the business leader in the year
2018 according to Forbes is a huge amount of almost 260 crores USD. The concerned business
leader in discussion, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation, an American company dealing in
coffee and a chain of coffeehouses, has been known to depict the characteristics of a leader in the
early days of his career with the Starbucks Corporation, an American company dealing in coffee
and a chain of coffeehouses.
The leader showed the various qualities that are needed for the smooth operations of the
concerned organization and the proper management of the staff of the company. The concerned
leader in discussion might be termed to be one of the fifty greatest leaders who have been
existing in the global business world (Kotter, 2013). This is due to the fact that the concerned
leader has depicted a trait of hiring the appropriate person for the job at hand. The selection and

5LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
the appointment of the proper staff member might have a huge impact on the matters that pertain
to the overall performance of the concerned company in discussion, Starbucks Corporation. The
leader has demonstrated the skills of having the intuitive skills in the matters that pertain to the
leadership of the company. The CEO of the Starbucks Corporation is k own to demand similar
skills within the other managerial staff members of the company. The leader is also known to
depict the skills that are needed to provide the concerned staff with the needed motivation in
order to help them deliver the best of their services towards the company which in turn will help
in bringing about an improvement in the overall performance of the company (Mohrman,
O'Toole & Lawler III, 2017). The leader is also known to have been maintaining the consistency
in the matters that pertain to the delivery of the products and the services to the concerned
clientele of the organization (Fitzgerald, 2013). This has helped in the matters that pertain to the
development of the goodwill of the company. The leader is also known for taking good care pf
the various employees of the concern as well (Braun et al., 2013). The employees of the concern
are known to be offered with various facilities that have been introduced in order to motivate the
employees. The concerned employees of the company are known to enjoy various perks as well
as variable and shifting schedules which helps them to keep in touch with the other activities
wherein they might be involved (Weaver, 2016). The concerned employees also receive benefits
in the matters that pertain to the educational courses that they might have been pursuing while
serving the company on a part-time basis (Kark & Shamir, 2013). The leader is also known to
respect the inclusion of the employees belonging to the various cultural backgrounds and
welcome the diversity that has been existent within the workforce of the famous Starbucks
Corporation. The leader opines that the inclusion of the employees of the various cultural
backgrounds leads to the diversity among the staff members and thus might help in the

6LEADERSHIP IN STARBUCKS CORPORATION - HOWARD SCHULTZ
development of the company. The leader is further known not to discriminate among the
employees on the basis of their personal choices thereby leading to the conditions wherein the
employees could communicate freely with the concerned leader and the management of the
company.
Thus, from the above discussion it might be stated that the concerned leader in
discussion, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation, an American company dealing in coffee
and a chain of coffeehouses, is a great leader who has been known for the integration of the
transformational leadership within the concern along with the retainment of the soul of the
concerned business organization. The huge amount of the success that Starbucks Corporation has
faced is often credited to the CEO and the Chairman of the business organization, Howard
Schultz. The position that is held by Starbucks Corporation in the present-day industry might
highly be attributed to the apt leadership style that has been depicted by the concerned leader in
discussion, Howard Schultz.

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