The Independent View: ONWARD: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul

I attend his book signing today. There was a hour long discussion about how he restarted Starbucks and a Q&A.

In his new book, "ONWARD: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul" Schultz recounts those dark days and how he and his team found their way back.

On February 26 2008 Schultz ordered 7,100 Starbucks stores to shut their doors for the day so that he could, despite the enormous financial and PR hits, retrain the company's barristers on the art and technique of espresso making.

In "ONWARD" he writes, “There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.”

This is Schultz's second book about his life at Starbucks. His first "POUR YOUR HEART INTO IT" (1997) was the story of the then young company's founding, in "ONWARD" Schultz takes a look at a more mature company, a company very much like a teenager in need of constant oversight, nurturing and yes, a dose of some tough love.

For me his concept of spending the early days of all new hires, no matter their position, with "getting their hands dirty", working in and running a store, I always used in my 40 years in business. The other was getting my employees to understand the concept that their spending the companies money should be like taking it out of their pockets.

Howard and I lived in the same federal sponsored project in Brooklyn but I graduated high school in 1962 and he in 1971. I meet him a couple of times when I worked in Seattle from 1996 to 1999.