How did Howard Schultz engage employees at Starbucks？

Let me take you back to 2021. Starbucks was in trouble. They were making good money, but the employees were really not happy. Issues around increased work pressure, pay, lack of training, and the list goes on. Starbucks was no longer a great place to work. It was a crappy place to work. Question is, what did Starbucks do to make things better? Watch this. Starbucks called Howard Schultz, who's the founder of Starbucks. He officially left the company in 2000. Then in 2008, Starbucks was struggling financially, and they called Schultz and asked, hey, can you come back and help us? He did, and then he left again in 2017. Now it was 2021, and Starbucks no longer wanted Schultz to fix the money. They wanted him to fix the people. Ah, it's hot in Hong Kong. It's time for iced coffee. Back to the story. Howard Schultz said yes, and he returned to Starbucks as the new CEO. And then he did what Inc. Magazine called a brilliant move. Some people expected Howard Schultz to return, declaring something like, hey, I'm super Schultz. I'm back for the third time. Now, let me show you how to fix this company one more time. But that's not what he did. Instead, Howard Schultz prioritized the employees. He traveled around the country visiting different Starbucks outlets, meeting employees in small groups, some experienced, some less experienced, and then he listened. Schultz invited the employees to share their problems and challenges. He also asked them to suggest ideas on how they could make things better. I know, I know, this is Leadership 101. Yet, so many leaders don't do it. They don't listen. I can't tell you how many people in different organizations have looked at me at some point and said, I just wish, I just wish that our senior leaders would listen, really listen. Many leaders don't listen. They think they're smarter. They have a lot of experience. They walk into the meeting room and they go, hey, team, I have 25 years of experience. I've been there. I've done that. I got the T-shirt. I got out alive. And here I am to show you how we're gonna turn this thing around. Does that sound familiar? People will quickly lose motivation when they sense that you don't care and you will not really know what's going on. Instead, do like Howard Schultz. The act of listening really opens the door. When your people feel understood, they are much more motivated to help you. Also, when they feel they're part of the solution, they will work even harder. Yes, this is not rocket science. Get out of the office and meet with people in small groups. And when you have your little group, you sit them down, you look them in the eyes, and you invite them to share their problems and offer solutions. And when they do that, you do three things. Number one, listen carefully. Number two, do not interrupt. And number three, take a lot of notes. Can you do that? Yeah, you. Thank you. Ice cream time. Oh man, this is good. Oh man. McDonald's. I'm done. It was awesome. See you in the next one. Boom.