A Call for Civility and Values-Based Leadership | Starbucks Newsroom:
About March 20, there was a full-page add in the Wall Street Journal that had a heading of Howard Schultz calls for Civility and Value-Based Leadership and two column of words, 15 pairs. They were generally antonyms:
The next full page is essentially an open letter to America. Essentially a challenge from Schultz and Starbucks. It says when negative news every day (’cause only bad news is news) and the viscous political environment (including the next presidential cycle), “You could easily mistake America as a nation, lost. A people who have severed the common bonds that hold us together — compassion, respect, shared responsibility, a belief in service, a willingness to unite despite our differences.
The add asks us to put aside hatred, vitriol and negativity and look at all the good. We are 300m plus people who mentor kids, help neighbors, and nurse the sick.
This positive story is the one that Schultz and all partners (employees) believe in; and they think every American should too.
The letter/add finishes with:
“This is not about the choice we make every four years. This is about the choice we make every single day.”
Visit the newsroom to see the ads: Howard-Schultz-on-role-and-responsibility-of-citizens
There’s an 8 min video where Schultz makes this same discussion to shareholders. Two years ago he make a challenge to corporations to be more socially responsible; this year he challenges all citizens.
The whole be-good-and-responsible effort caught a lot of attention from many media sources and the whole twitter scene. A lot of twitter love, but ironically, a lot of hate going on by people who were offended (trying to push individual values and virtues on them is just not right for a company).
Fox News took up the kinder-gentler America story. Ironically, after a rather fare and civil discussion about the civility campaign, they concluded that the left column was actually referring to only one American: Donald Trump. Hmmm? No one else has been throwing mud? Super PAC ads are measured in Pinocchio; a nose that grows with every second of airtime.
It seems that many people/groups need to get together, have a cup of Starbucks coffee, and listen. Notice, the word wasn’t “talk”. Lots of people talk, but almost no one listens.
.‘via Blog this’