While perusing the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble one recent Friday night, I came across a book that caught my attention called It's Not About the Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks by Howard Behar, the former president at Starbucks. It's a short book that covers the ten basic principles that can be found in The Green Apron Book that employees at Starbucks receive and presumably read.This book needed another copy-edit or at least another proofread before it was published. But if you can get past the odd phrasing in some places, the missing words in other places, and a lack of specific examples in yet other places, it's a book worth reading.
I liked what Behar said in the first chapter, based on the principle that we should "wear one hat" in business--meaning, we ought to know who we are, what motivates and inspires us--and choose a profession accordingly. In that chapter, he said this:
To know who you are may sound like a solo enterprise, but it's not. Every book you read, person you meet, and experience you have is an opportunity to learn about yourself and what you're made of. We all need the wisdom of others. There's nothing like your own spouse or roommate or child to keep you honest about who you are.He's right. The idea that we need to fly solo in order to find ourselves ignors the fact that we are easily self-deceived. We convince ourselves of all sorts of crazy things; that we aren't really addicted, that we aren't really that far in debt, or any number of other lies. Whenever I spend time reading or with friends I can feel a certain synergy that I don't feel when I'm disconnected from others.
Of course, all input isn't created equal, but I know who I trust and I bet you do too. Recently, I've been trying take it a step further when I'm interacting with someone who doesn't know me all that well, or, who I don't trust; I'm mindful of the fact that he or she might just see something in me (good or bad) that nobody else does--so I'm trying to stay open.
At the end of the section I quoted above, Behar says this:
Learning--from experts, workshops, trainings, practical experiments, therapy, coaches, observing, and silence--is all good. It's how we test and hone our values, our potential, and our goals in the real world of life.
