Howard Schultz: Starbucks’s Savior During Financial Trouble

Howard Schultz, Starbucks's former CEO, smiling on stage

Why did Howard Schultz return to Starbucks in the mid-2000s? How did Schultz make a smooth transition back into the CEO role? During a grave position at Starbucks, Schultz stepped in as CEO for the second time in 2008 to steer the company in a better direction. In his book Onward, he discusses his motivation for reprising his role as CEO and the leadership strategies he used to restore stakeholders’ trust in Starbucks. Discover more about the process behind Schultz’s return to Starbucks.

The Psychology of Procrastination: Why You Can’t Stay Focused

A cartoon of a brain next to a clock, showing the psychology of procrastination

What’s the psychology of procrastination? Why are humans ill-equipped to deal with distractions? One reason we find ourselves procrastinating is that we don’t prepare for even the most obvious things that might go wrong, according to Timothy A. Pychyl. You know yourself and know how you typically behave, but you likely don’t use that information to your advantage. Check out how that leads to two causes of procrastination.

The 2 Types of External Leadership & How to Execute Them

A woman practicing external leadership to lead other people.

What’s external leadership? How can you lead your environment and superiors as an employee? If you want to lead, you must take charge of external areas of control: how you can lead people and things outside of yourself. Clay Scroggins implies you have a measure of control over people and things you directly interact with, even without authority. We’ve grouped Scroggins’s ideas into two main kinds of external leadership: leading your environment and leading your superiors.

The Effects of Procrastination on Health: Mental and Physical

A sick person wearing a mask feeling the effects of procrastination on health

How does procrastination affect your mental and physical health? How does putting off a task result in stronger negative emotions? The desire to avoid negative emotions often drives procrastination. Timothy A. Pychyl warns that this rarely works out the way we expect it, because procrastination doesn’t make us happier, nor does it make us feel physically better. Take a look at the mental and physical effects of procrastination on health below.

The 2007-2008 Starbucks Crisis: What Led to Its Near Defeat?

A closed sign on the window of a Starbucks store that shows a Starbucks crisis

What was the Starbucks crisis in 2007 and 2008? What caused Starbucks stocks to drop at a worrying pace during this time? By the mid-2000s, Starbucks was in a great place as a franchise. However, the decision to focus on rapid growth over in-store experience led to customer complaints, dropping stocks, and slow financial growth. Continue reading to learn about the factors that led to Starbucks’s downfall.

Employee Leadership: A 3-Step Method to Take Initiative

An employee smiling and working on the computer while practicing employee leadership

How much authority do you need to take charge at work? What can you do as an employee who’s not in a leadership role? One kind of external leadership is leading your environment, which are the elements of an organization that you interact with regularly. These elements can be intangible, like the processes you use in your role, or tangible, like the way an office is arranged. Learn the three ways you can embrace your inner leader at work.

What Makes Starbucks Special? It’s Not Just the Coffee

A Starbucks coffee store on the corner of a street

What are Starbucks’s values and business principles? What makes Starbucks special compared to other coffee shops? In 1982, Starbucks was just a small coffee shop in Seattle, Washington. After Howard Schultz took over, it became a franchise that customers, employees, and stockholders loved. Let’s look at how Schultz made Starbucks the special coffee franchise it is today.

How Employees Should Propose Change to Their Bosses

Two employees proposing change to their boss through a slideshow

Are you afraid to talk to your superior about making changes in the workplace? How can you successfully propose a change to your boss? Changes are natural in the workplace, and sometimes it takes a brave employee for a manager to realize this. You can be that employee who propels a positive change in the workplace by following Clay Scroggins’s three methods for leading your superiors. Continue reading to bring about a new era in your workplace.

Starbucks in 2007: How the Franchise Fell From the Top

A Starbucks store in 2007

What happened to Starbucks in 2007? Why did Starbucks suffer from opening new stores? By 2007, Starbucks had become a bastion of coffeehouse culture, but it wasn’t performing as well as former CEO Howard Schultz thought it should. In his book Onward, Schultz discusses how Starbucks rose to the top but fell to the bottom during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Keep reading to learn about the rise and fall of Starbucks.