Last week I finished reading Starbucked which includes some great leadership learnings. Here is one that stood out in particular -- Taylor Clark, author of the book, shares about his experience of interviewing Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in his office at their Seattle headquarters -- one thing that really spoke to me was this observation that Clark points out:
When I pointed out the bottle of Mazagran (the failed carbonated coffee drink) displayed on his desk and the rack of Joe magazines (the failed magazine quarterly) in the corner, he explained that they were there to ward off complacency by reminding him of past missteps. "We don't want to take anything for granted," he said. "I really believe that our success is not an entitlement, that we have to earn it every day." (p.135,136)
This is how I have been prodded as a leader as a result of reading that observation above:
1. Visible icons are important. They can serve as great points of inspiration, but also as great points of sobriety as noted by the bottle of Mazagran and issue of Joe. (Side note -- I may be one of the few people that have actually tasted Mazagran -- I bought 4-pack of it when it first came out. I actually finished a bottle but discarded the other three.)
2. Though this has been stated over and over I need to be continually reminded that I can learn more from our failures than from our successes.
3. Everyday presents great opportunities for me to be successful, the key is that I need to be looking for it and doing my part in it.
4. I should never take anything for granted.
5. Failure is a part of the success and leadership equation. It shows that we are willing to test new ideas, take risks and pick ourselves as we learn from it.
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