“We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.”

When companies fail, or fail to grow, it’s almost always because they don’t invest in the people, the systems, and the processes they need.

My mother taught me something at a young age – she said ‘you are the company you keep.’ To define yourself by some label or some level of resources – that’s pretty shallow.

Risk more than others think safe.

I think that sometimes the difference between winning and losing, success and failure, is this gray line between will, passion and self-belief that says, ‘I’m going to do this’.

Success is the by-product when you work toward the target.

If you want to achieve widespread impact and lasting value, be bold.

Good results is not an entitlement. It has to be earned and earned each individual working day via the lens of humility.

We want passion for our business.. workers who can interpret and execute our mission, who want to build a career, not just take a temporary job.

People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.

Success is best when it is shared.

Success is something that has to be earned every day.

Work should be personal. For all of us. Not just for the artist and entrepreneur. Work should have meaning for the accountant, the construction worker, the technologist, the manager and the clerk.

Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.

I honestly never dreamed at the time that I would one day own the Starbucks and or be in a position where we would have more than 10,000 stores around the world. It has just been an incredible journey for all of us.

Customers must recognize that you stand for something.

It’s one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you’ve got to be willing to leave what’s familiar and go out to find your own sound.