If you take time to read this article, please realize it is not about race and it is not about coffee. It is about a small segment of America's corporate business community and the importance of character in leadership. It contains some names we all recognize, and some very few of us have had occasion to hear, but most of all the purpose is to applaud the willingness of a leader of a successful United States company that is willing to take some risks in hopes of making a difference.
In some way, we have probably all heard of Starbucks (not Star Wars) Coffee. The company is Seattle based with over 21,000 stores and is represented in 65 countries. It employs about 190,000 people to sell freshly brewed coffee and other products and I have had only one cup of their coffee. It was good but too expensive for my plebeian tastes.
The leader of the company is also the founder, Howard D. Schultz, 62 years old, who functions as chairman and CEO which makes him a powerful and influential man in the daily running of the business as well as requiring him to consider the long-term future of the company. This information is important because last week I saw a taped interview on CNBC where the host was questioning Mr. Schultz's decision to put the company in a position not usually undertaken by corporate America. He brought his company into the spotlight of "looking at the racial issue" in our nation.
American companies that I am familiar with would never risk the potential consequences of these issues being associated with their activities. In spite of questions from his board and managers, he chose to have the baristas put the inscription "# Race Together" on Starbucks Styrofoam coffee cups as a short term effort to open up the race issue to nationwide discussion. His desire to spearhead the discussion of racial issues has led to employee discussion forums in Oakland and Los Angeles, Calif., St.Louis, Mo., New York City and Chicago. What has actually come from these forums only time will reveal but it does promote discussion which prayerfully will be productive. The issue is too serious not to be talked about openly and honestly but we cannot always count on the television personalities to be unbiased and to allow complete unedited discussions.
Mr. Schultz's decision to use Starbucks' resources and its reputation to provide this opportunity is the part that is so impressive. In my exposure to the business community, we were always avoiding any controversy that could reflect any negative impact on the company. The "risk" did not justify the time that would be required if it led to backlash. Mr. Schultz apparently sees our nation's welfare, and the importance of working to help heal this divisive issue as a corporate responsibility along with its financial obligation to provide for employees and stockholders. In his comments he acknowledged that the inscription on the coffee cups was not a solution but was a step, hopefully forward.
This is not likely to convert me to Starbucks coffee, nor am I an owner of their stock. I am however, proud of the willingness of a very successful corporate leader to risk personal ridicule, the potential loss of Starbucks' customers and the possibility that some stockholders will see a risk to their investment affecting the price of the stock, yet holding true to what he sees as a societal issue. Having been blessed to work with some very successful business leaders who were responsible community leaders, very few of them would have taken this giant step without an assurance of financial gain rather than potential loss.
It only takes a couple of minutes to see how many potential negative things can come from this decision to realize how strongly he must feel about our nation's future. His character gets an A+ from me.
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. at
Editorial on 03/25/2015