John Hendow

Anybody who knows me has probably heard me relate how much I love working for Starbucks.

During the past few decades I have worked for a number of companies. My past experiences have been generally positive and have provided opportunities for me to learn. They helped me define my requirements for long-term employment requirements based on certain characteristics:

Great Human Connections
Staff cohesion is amazing. It makes the work day joyful and fosters support for personal growth. A few of my closest friends came out of my experience working in this kind of company. These work environments are fun and stimulating. The down side is that unless the company also has a solid business model, the people wind up being the only truly valuable asset. Some of these businesses don’t survive long enough to leverage their positive energy.

Fighting The Good Fight
There is something magic about pride in working for the greater good. It is inspiring how hard people will work when they believe their efforts make the world a better place. Doing the right thing also can make for a challenge; it’s usually less economically efficient and takes greater effort. If this is the main (or only) characteristic of the business, it’s difficult to maintain momentum for the organization’s positive efforts while constantly in search of funding.

Solid Business Model
Eventually (usually near the end of the fiscal / tax  year) it all comes down to profitability. The business needs to produce something that people will buy. And there has to be a market large enough to sustain sales. The down side is that without a conscience, a profit-driven business can make poor moral choices. The consumer market will buy all kinds of things that are not good for them, for the environment, or for the people who make those things.

So, I’ve worked at places that one or two of these things going for them. Ultimately it wasn’t all that satisfying to have a subset of these characteristics. I have found myself

1. Loving my work environment, feeling proud of the work but stressed about the business model
2. Working for the greater good and loving my teammates but hamstrung by lack of funding
3. In a successful business where the product was morally neutral but the social fabric was poor

And then, like Goldilocks, I found a place that is “just right”. I had done my research and knew when I applied to Starbucks that it embodied all the things that I hold to be important. Working for Starbucks is the best career choice I have ever made and I continue to be proud to be part of what we stand for. I work for the best manager I have ever had, with a great team, doing something to make the world a better place, for a global company whose ethical business practices actually improve the lives of people all over the world.