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Onward cover art

Onward

Written by: Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon
Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
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Publisher's Summary

In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as CEO, eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company to become chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he shares the remarkable story of the company's ongoing transformation under his leadership, revealing how, during one of the most tumultuous economic times in history, Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity.

A compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman, Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not just about winning, but the right way to win.

©2011 Howard Schultz. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

What the critics say

"This is a must-read for anyone interested in leadership, management, or the quest to connect a brand with the consumer." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Onward

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    5 out of 5 stars

Too Long and Boring

Here's what I liked about the book:
- Written by Howard Schultz (CEO) which gives an insider's perspective to a beloved brand
- Gives a really good look at the inner workings of such a well known consumer brand
- Gives a lot of insight into Howard's leadership style and some of his leadership habits such as a lot of choices they made with the brand were very fascinating (closing stores, getting back to the core competency, investing in training and development, etc).

Here's what I didn't like
- I don't think it was 100% genuine. I thought it was kind of a sales job, in that CEO sales job kind of way. I'd say it seemed less then 75% genuine.
- Telling the results of a turnaround story before time has run its course is ridiculous, as is the general timing of the "turnaround." Hello, we were in a major rebound after a recession.
- Howard comes across as annoying - sounds to me like he believes a lot of his own reerick.
- I found the book to be a couple of hours too long and not a lot of detail into why they opened all those branches and the cost of closing them.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Law
  • 2019-05-03

Was Okay

Easy to listen, but was expecting more substance from a successful company. Felt the story was watered down. Was okay overall.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • S.D
  • 2019-04-05

Interesting story- worth listening to

This was a very interesting story. If you are a fan of the coffee the story is worth listening to.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Definitely not a good lesson in Leadership

Some interesting facts about Starbucks but a lot about Howard Schultz telling everyone how great he is and how many problems he solved. He sounds like a nightmare to work with and probably believes he is the only capable of solving every problem.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Reads like a training manual for employees

I've never returned a book on Audible...until today. I was listening to the Wondery podcast episode on the story told in this book. At the end of the first episode it mentioned it so I thought what the hell. I love coffee and after reading on how the company turned around, I was intrigued.

The first few chapters are exclusively about:

1. The company had to close its American stores for a few hours in 2008 to retrain their staff
2. The CEO's journey to Milan and how it changed him (this part felt genuine)
3. How Starbucks is the best, how great they treat their employees (which are called partners) and how they were the first to go big on fair trade.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Business Book

Definitely recommended for people interested in businesses. Personally one of my favourites.

There are many business lessons to be learned here. The main one is what can happen to an organization of any size when profits and short term gains, get on the driver seat over long term vision, identity and routes.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Inspiring Book.

Love the story and the narrative is great. This give me much more in-depth understand of how Starbuck runs it company.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Overwhelming trope

Starbucks is now "pivoting" (insert annoying buzzword here,) to providing coffee via pick up and drive through only. No more 3rd place. Less and less interaction with the barista, friends. I very much enjoyed the first book as just as a novice effort by a musician, the passion was evident, and Howard really had something. This book is like the same thing made for contract fulfillment, under duress. Over and over the same concept driven past. Maybe 10 years ago it might have struck but not any more. Maybe it's me. I couldn't get through it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent production but too promotional

I was expecting a better history of what happened. It was a little too self-promotional at moments. I had the impression that I was in a 9 hours Starbucks publicity.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love what you do

It’s very clear how do you go from chapter to chapter highs and lows that Howard Schultz absolutely loves the process that is involved in every cup of Starbucks coffee. It’s truly a great story for any business person that wants to run their business and operate themselves at the highest standard possible.

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