Best 182 quotes of Howard Schultz on MyQuotes

A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.

Always challenge the old ways.

Americans reading the paper, listening to the news every single day, and all you hear is things are getting worse and worse. And that has a psychological effect on consumer confidence. That's what consumer confidence is.

And with the right mentor, don't be afraid to expose your vulnerabilities. Admit you don't know what you don't know. When you acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for advice, you'll be surprised how much others will help.

Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.

At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.

At its core, I believe leadership is about instilling confidence in others.

At Starbucks 0 as in any business, in any life - there are so many hectic moments during the day when we are simply trying to do the job, trying to put out the fires, trying to solve any number of small problems, that we often lose sight of what it is we're really here to do.

Authentic brands don't emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does.

Believe in your dreams and dream big. And then after youve done that, dream bigger.

Beverages have to be created. And they're created by looking at what trend is in, say, the fashion industry - what color's hot right now.

Business leaders cannot be bystanders.

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.

California, in a sense, is almost Starbucks' largest country, with almost 3,000 stores.

Certainly the caffeine in coffee, whether it's Starbucks or generic coffee, is somewhat of a stimulant. But if you drink it in moderation, which I think four or five cups a day is, you're fine.

China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.

Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money.

Customers don't always know what they want. The decline in coffee-drinking was due to the fact that most of the coffee people bought was stale and they weren't enjoying it. Once they tasted ours and experienced what we call "the third place" ... a gathering place between home and work where they were treated with respect.. they found we were filling a need they didn't know they had.

Customers have different need states and life experiences.

Customers must recognize that you stand for something.

Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy.

Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.

Despite the fact that Starbucks has grown to be a large company. We've always played music in our stores and has always acted as an opportunity to create a mood in our stores. And customers started asking, "What song are you playing and can I buy that?" . And we said "No." And that was kind of the catalyst for beginning to look at music. We started out with our own compilations and after the success of that. We had the courage to say, "Let's produce our own record." and the first record was with Ray Charles before he unfortunately passed away.

Do I take criticism of Starbucks personally? Of course I do.

Don't be threatened by people smarter than you.

Don't settle! Embrace a dream--and keep dreaming. Don't be a bystander. Take it personally.

Early on I realized that I had to hire people smarter and more qualified than I was in a number of different fields, and I had to let go of a lot of decision-making. I can't tell you how hard that is. But if you've imprinted your values on the people around you, you can dare to trust them to make the right moves.

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.

Europe has always represented a major strategic opportunity to achieve our goal of creating and building an enduring global brand.

Even though people are under economic pressure, they still want to support those brands with values that are compatible with their own.

Everyone must have a shot at the American Dream.

Everyone starts strong. Success comes to those with unwavering commitment to be at the end.

Every step of the way, I made a point to underpromise and overdeliver. In the long run, that's the only way to ensure security in any job.

Good results is not an entitlement. It has to be earned and earned each individual working day via the lens of humility.

Great companies are defined by their discipline and their understanding of who they are and who they are not.

Great companies that build an enduring brand have an emotional relationship with customers that has no barrier. And that emotional relationship is on the most important characteristic, which is trust.

Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families.

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don't embrace the status quo.

Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can't tell you whether someone will fit into a company's culture.

I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.

I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see And pursuing that vision.

I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!

I conduct my life with an expectation that people will do the right thing. Yet even with all my experience, I am still surprised when they do not.

I could've just walked away but I never could have forgiven myself to allow Starbucks to drift into mediocrity or not be relevant. I just couldn't be a bystander.

I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.

I don't have any secret sauce and I'm no smarter than anyone else. I will say I have surrounded myself with unbelievable talent that has made my job easier.

I do think - as self-serving as it sounds - that I was the right person, given the very, very strong headwind we had from the economy and our own issues, to come back and rewrite the future of the company.

If Vancouver did not succeed as Starbucks from '87 on, our entire international business, which is now thousands of stores and a significant amount of growth and profit, may not have existed.

If you don't love what you're doing with unbridled passion and enthusiasm, you're not going to succeed when you hit obstacles.

If you look at coffee, tea, food and juice, we think there are inherent opportunities. If you look at health bars or grab-and-go products that are in our stores, we think we can significantly enhance them and make them more widely available.