• It's Not About the Coffee

  • Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks
  • By: Howard Behar
  • Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
  • Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (260 ratings)

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It's Not About the Coffee  By  cover art

It's Not About the Coffee

By: Howard Behar
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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Publisher's summary

Howard Behar is one of three top executives who have helped shape one of the most recognized companies in the world: Starbucks. A widely acclaimed leader, Behar, with his signature energy, smarts, high expectations, and belief in people, has become a symbol of the soul and candor of the Starbucks culture.

In It's Not about the Coffee, Behar outlines his simple yet effective approach to success: focus on people over profits. He offers 10 fundamental leadership lessons we all need to practice as well as preach everyday, including clarity of purpose, listening, truth telling, accountability, and persistence. Each chapter explores one of these principles, incorporating inside stories of turning points in the development of Starbucks' culture and business, and offering inspiring advice.

©2007 Howard Behar (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[S]haring anecdotes from Starbucks itself is Behar's strong suit....[T]he voice of experience and in-house examples from a popular company make for a decent read for those wanting to develop or refresh basic business leadership skills." ( Publishers Weekly)
"It's Not About the Coffee offers the true ingredients for enduring results: a set of proven principles we can all aspire to work and live by." (Bob Fisher, former chairman, Gap Inc.)

What listeners say about It's Not About the Coffee

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Great ideas to help the leaders in our company

I enjoyed all of the short stories and experiences of the author. Lots of great leadership tips we will put to use in our company. This book will be required reading for all of the leaders in our businesses.

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Great book!

Book gave out great methods on how to be a leader and how to run your business. narration was great, too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Top Level Leadership

Behar nails it! One of the top 5 books on leadership I've read/listened to.

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2 people found this helpful

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it really is not about the coffee

I enjoyed it tremendously. gave me much needed reassurance and clarity about my style and strengths in my quest to start my own business. if I had managers like Howard Behar, I would be still with the corporate world.

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A book you can read again and again

I don’t usually write reviews but what I loved about this Book is that the leadership skill taught and incorporate in everyday life if you are starting a business or want to be entrepreneur hands down this is the book to read
And just because you’ve heard it all doesn’t mean you can’t be reminded once in a while

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My absolute favorite

This is absolutely one of my favorite leadership books of all time. I have listened to it maybe 4 times over the last 3 years. I always come away inspired to engage and nurture my team and customer relationships more. This is a must read for any and every leader out there

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Outstanding choice

Fantastic book. Excellent content, kept my attention and provided concepts I want to integrate into my habits. I plan to listen again!

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It’s not about Starbucks

While there is a lot of good Starbucks history in this book, it’s not about Starbucks! It’s about leader ship on all levels. It’s about living your life with a purpose and doing the right thing! Everyone can get some thing out of this book!

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  • 10-17-11

Very drawn out

This book had some good ideas/concepts in it, but it was very drawn out. The content could have easily been condensed by at least half without losing any of the meaning. I have started listening to Dave Ramysey's Entreleadership book and it is much more entertaining and to the point. Enjoying it much more.

It has a similar theme, but goes deeper in a more interesting way, and Dave has a funny and entertaining delivery.

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