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A star bucks the trend Have you ever been turned down for a job that you wanted badly? If yes, what did you do? Walked away? That's what most people do. They accept the outcome as final and move on. Some people, however, do the opposite. They stay around to try just once more. Does it help? If you ask Mr Howard Schultz, he would say: "Yes, it helps." Almost two decades ago, Mr Schultz refused to accept the rejection by a potential employer. Not only did he eventually join the company which had earlier refused to employ him, he went on to take it over and created an empire that everyone knows today: Starbucks. It all started in 1981, when Mr Schultz was working in New York for a company called Hammarplast, selling a line of Swedish-designed kitchen equipment. He noticed that a little known retailer in Seattle, Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice, was placing unusually large orders for a certain type of Hammarplast drip coffeemaker. Intrigued, Mr Schultz decided to find out more about this business. He paid a visit to Starbucks in Seattle and got to know its business, which was selling coffee beans. He met its owners Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. It was during this visit that Schultz got hooked to Starbucks and coffee. He writes in his autobiography Pour Your Heart into It: "There was something magic about it, a passion and authenticity I had never experienced in business. I couldn't stop thinking about Starbucks. Although it was much smaller than the multinationals I had been working in New York, it was so much more intriguing, like a jazz tune you can't get out of your head. I could see so many ways I could contribute." Over the next one year, Schultz made several trips of Seattle, each time meeting the owners of the company and proposing the idea of hiring him. Finally, in the spring of 1982, he was invited to have a decisive dinner cum interview meeting with the owners of Starbucks. During the dinner, a well-prepared, immaculately dressed Howard lost no time sharing his enthusiasm to work for Starbucks. He shared his vision to turn the little retailer into a national company. By the end of the session, he thought he had charmed his way into Starbucks. Not so. A day later, he received a call from Mr Baldwin conveying to him that Starbucks had decided not to offer him the job after all. Recalls Mr Schultz in his book: "Instead of charming them, I had spooked them. They feared that I would be disruptive. I wasn't going to fit. I felt like a bride, halfway down the aisle, watching her groom back out of the side door. I was too shell-shocked to think clearly. I saw my whole future flash in front of me and then crash and burn." At this point, most people would have accepted the outcome and moved on. But Mr Schultz decided to give it one more try. He couldn't begin to think about giving up the idea of joining Starbucks. So he called Mr Baldwin the next day and asked him about Starbuck's reservations about offering him the job. First, he listened carefully as Mr Baldwin explained how the owners saw him out of alignment with their own vision for the company. Then, Mr Schultz made a passionate pitch about how his experience and enthusiasm could help the company grow. Finally, he made Mr Baldwin comfortable by agreeing to follow a vision which they would all agree upon. At the end of that conversation, Mr Baldwin agreed to give it a second thought. The next morning, Howard picked up the phone on the first ring. It was Mr Baldwin, offering him the job!! That was the turning point for Mr Schultz. He joined Starbucks and later left it to start his own company, which went on to take over Starbucks. Today, Starbucks is a multi-billion dollar company and Mr Schultz is its chairman. If someone should turn you down from a job, remember the story of Mr Schultz and Starbucks. Do not walk away immediately. If you are convinced that you are truly the right person to help the potential employer, do give it one more try. Who knows what may be in store for you?
Copyright © Atul Mathur, 2004 |
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