Pour Your Heart Into It

I like reading different kind of books.  Business, Investigative, Autobiography, Sports, Organization.  Fiction are for kids.

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks wrote a book entitled: Pour Your Heart Into It — How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time.  It has so many ideas that one can learn from and I definitely enjoyed reading it.

Here's some of the ideas I found interesting: 

1. Selling has a lot to do with self-esteem.
2. If you say you never had a chance, perhaps you never took a chance.
3. In daily life, you get so much pressure from friends, family and colleagues, urging you to take the easy way, to follow the prevailing wisdom, that it can be diffeicult not to simply accept the status quo and do what's expected of you.  But when you really believe — in yourself, in your dream–you just have to do everything you possibly can to take control and make your vision a reality.  No great achievement happens by luck.
4. There is no more precious commodity than the relationship of trust and confidence a company has with its employees.
5. Taking on debt is not thebest way to fund a company.
6. Heavy debt, which can limit the possibilities for future growth and innovation.
7. The most attractive business start-ups have a propriety idea or technology–something to offer that no one else has.
8. Best ideas are those that create a new mind-set or sense a need before others do and it takes an astute investor to recognize an idea that not only is ahead of its time but also has long-term prospects.
9. Underpromis and overdeliver.  In the long run, that's the only way to ensure security in any job.
10. Big opportunities lie in the creation of something new.  But that innovation has to be relevant or inspiring, or it will burst into color and fade away as quickly as fireworks.
11. Treat people like family and they will be loyal and give their all.
12. Being extravagant toward employees seem more expensive.  But if it reduces turnover, it will cut costs of recruiting and training.
13. When a company shows generosity toward them, employees show a more positive outlook in everything they do.
14. When you're starting a business, whatever the size, it's critically important to recognize that things are going to take longer and cost more money than you expect.
15. Bring in experts before you need them than to stumble ahead with green, untested people who are prone to making avoidable mistakes.
16. Once you've figured out what to do, find someone who has done it before.
17. Don't be afraid to expose your vulnerabilities.  When you acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for advise, you'll be surprised how much others will help.
18. An intelligent executive team is vital for a company to prosper.
19. Any product-oriented company has to keep reinventing its core product if it expects to prosper.
20. Great brands have distinctive memorable identity, a product that makes people look or feel better and a strong but comfortable delivery channel.  To succeed, you must be in  a category large enough to be robust and vibrant and to have a clear and original vision.
21. You go after mass markets with mass distribution and mass advertising and then focus on grabbing market share from your competitiors
22. If you can control your own distribution, you will not find yourself at the mercy of a retailer who may or may not undersand your product.
23. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.
24. Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last.  If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to a brand.
25. The number one factor in creating a great, enduring brand is having an appealing product.
26. Nothing truly great can ever be achieved without taking risks.
27. Whatever you do, don't play it safe.  Don't do things the way they've always been done.  Don't try to fit the system.  If you do what's expected of you, you'll never accomplish more than others expect.
28. One of the fundamental aspects of leadership is the ability to instill confidence in others with you yourself are feeling insecure.
29. The head of a company can't and shouldn't, always be the cheerleader.  He has to be willing to let his peole see the weaknesses and the pain, as long as they understand them in the context of the company's greater accomplishments.
30. When the chips are down, it's wrong to give a rah-rah Knute Rockne speeck.  People want guidance, not rhetoric.  They need to know what the plan of action is, and how it will be implemented.  They want to be given responsiblitity to help solve the problem and the authority to act on it.
31. How easy it is to lose sight of the long term when the short-term problems scream for attention.  When times are tense, it's easy for people in the ranks to make bad decisions because they don't understand the larger implications.
32. A good chief executive keeps the broader picture in mind when everyone else is focusing on the details.  But management also should strongly urge department heads to consult one another and examine the wider implications of policy changes.  A decision to cut costs or raise efficiency will add value only if it is consistent with the overall long-term goals the company is trying to achieve.
33. A company whose management is not planning for the distant future can never grow beyond the latest faddish concept.
34. Exceptional leaders cultivate the Merlin-like habit of acting in the present moment as ambassadors of a radically different future, in order to imbue their organizations with a break-through vision of what it is possible to achieve.
35. We have to lead with our hearts.  In business, as in life, we each should have an internal compass that guides our decisions, an instrinctive understanding of what matters most in this world.
36. Business can teach us a lot about what people can achieve when they work together.  One person can do only so much.  But if he gathers a company of people around him who are committeed to the same goals, if he galvanizes them and inspires them and taps into their inner drive, they can perform miracles together.
37. You'll be left with an empty feeling if you hit the finish line alone.
38. You want to be surrounded not just by cheering onlookers buta crowd of winners, celebrating as one.
39. Victory is much more meaningful when it comes not just from the efforts of one person, but from the joint achievements of many.  The euphoria is lasting when all participants lead with their hearts, winning not just for themselves but for one another.
40. Success is sweetest when it's shared.