What a week for amazing CEO/Chairman statements — we had David Neeleman’s Jet Blue apology and now Starbucks’ chairman Howard Schultz’s memo to the troops about the commodization of the brand. The language of leadership is apparent in Schultz’s memo. He writes with great clarity and resonance. He also makes the case that everyone must come together to provide a future for all the employees and their families depending on the company’s success. The memo can be understood easily with little jargon and business lingo. Worth a read. A few snippets:

• Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience; but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces.
• At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines. This specific decision became even more damaging when the height of the machines, which are now in thousands of stores, blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista.
• Again, the right decision at the right time, and once again I believe we overlooked the cause and the affect of flavor lock in our stores. We achieved fresh roasted bagged coffee, but at what cost?
• The merchandise, more art than science, is far removed from being the merchant that I believe we can be and certainly at a minimum should support the foundation of our coffee heritage. Some stores don’t have coffee grinders, French presses from Bodum, or even coffee filters.
• We have built the most trusted brand in coffee in the world, and we have an enormous responsibility to both the people who have come before us and the 150,000 partners and their families who are relying on our stewardship.

The part I like alot was Schultz’ s ending — Onward….

I think that leaders should have a consistent close that serves as a rallying cry for the organization. Onward…is a particularly good one.

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Jet Blue, David Neeleman, Starbucks, Howard Schultz, language of leadership
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