Embrace Resistance

Valuing criticism is a major piece of the Starbucks puzzle, and it plays a large role in the Embrace
Resistance. Embracing resistance involves a complex set of skills that can enable businesses and
individuals to create business and relationship opportunities when they are confronted with skepticism,
irritation, or wariness. Embracing resistance involves more than simply placating people or groups that
pose a challenge. It focuses on learning from individuals who don’t always make it easy to listen.
When presented with negative feedback by a customer, recognize that you may have an opportunity
to actually strengthen that relationship. By first thanking customers for their business and recognizing
their grievances, . . . you are far more likely to keep that customer as well as gain useful feedback
to improve your business.
When employees see that management actually cares about feedback—positive and negative—they are
more likely to care as well. When they see that management is personally committed to addressing
issues, repairing and/or solidifying relationships, they will likely be more committed as well.
When these complaints are shared with other managers, strategies can be developed to fix commonly
occurring breakdowns. Directing those same complaints back to front-line staff offers employees
palpable data about how they also can be more effective.
Starbucks has developed a talent for embracing the resistance that has been directed its way. It has
learned not to discount its critics and dissenters, but to listen for the learning opportunities that come
through those voices. Starbucks managers have found ways to see possible lessons that can be gained
from those who challenge them. Starbucks leadership has learned to troll for emerging issues and
possible areas of resistance and apply resources to those areas early and proactively.

Macro Resistance
Businesses and individuals, particularly those that grow and develop rapidly, meet the resistance of
dynamic market and social forces. Despite the fact that people are very vocal about Starbucks, its
leadership frequently takes an accepting and respectful approach to the views of others. In a business
environment in which many corporate leaders strictly monitor every outgoing brand message—and
sometimes threaten legal action when an outsider tinkers with their image—Starbucks executives have
instead successfully built their brand by generating an often more relaxed approach. Starbucks
leadership took immediate action when social concerns about the living conditions and environmental
practices
in many third world coffee-growing countries began to surface. Starbucks leadership is sensitive to
issues of globalization, and given that its customers feel strongly about the company’s being a good
steward of human and environmental resources, Starbucks executives sought to create a program that
rewarded best
practices for coffee growers in the third world, where most of its coffee is purchased. Starbucks
executives clearly do not suffer from an “ostrich syndrome,” burying their heads in the sand when faced
with criticism. Successful leaders take the course of action that not only quells criticism, but on occasion
actually turns
critics into company champions. The lesson of Starbucks success in China is twofold: not only must
businesses make the products and services they offer more meaningful to new markets, but they must
understand what is important to individuals in those markets and demonstrate that they have a
legitimate concern for individuals’ well-being.

Never Try to Beat Them; Always Join Them

Resistance to a company or a product is often the direct result of a lack of information about the
company or its product or service. Starbucks executives knew that Japan offered a great opportunity,
even though tea was the favored beverage. To be successful, Starbucks had to distinguish the quality of
its coffee from what the Japanese consumer had previously experienced. Through education, Starbucks
leadership took initial market resistance, born from a lack of exposure to gourmet coffee, and turned it
into a booming, sophisticated Japanese coffee market. Through a continued focus on educating people
in response to resistance, the number of Starbucks stores is now over 500 in Japan alone. While Asian
markets required education to overcome resistance, Starbucks faced a very sophisticated coffee
consumer upon opening stores in France. To gain acceptance, Starbucks leadership provided foods to
meet local tastes, adding typical French pastries including croissants, pains au chocolat, and pains aux
raisins. All these food items are organic and produced by local bakers. From the Starbucks leadership
perspective, embracing resistance means not only responding to the forces that are coming up from
behind, but also looking to the future, both for solutions and for other potential problems or areas of
conflict.

We Don’t Want You Here

In its normal state, Starbucks occasionally gets a warm welcome from the communities it enters.
However, Starbucks also gets resistance from them. And rather than ignoring the concerns of citizens in
the community, Starbucks leadership engages in active listening and responds to the issues. District
manager, Shelli Taylor, shares how she went door-to-door to every single café, listened and talked to
people about their fears and reassured them of Starbucks’ commitment to create a win-win for their
business and Starbucks. There will always be competition, but Starbucks is more interested in adding
value to the business environment.
Starbucks leaders in general realize that fear is often the emotion that leads to greatest resistance to
growing companies. Starbucks management has overcome these concerns by listening to people’s issues
and showing how the company has actually helped community business in thousands of
neighbourhoods around the country. It’s important for Starbucks to show up as people rather than as a
brand, to form synergy and develop habit, and finally let people have their options. Rather than ignoring
detractors or resisting them, these business leaders could be far more effective if they searched for
common ground that could lead to successful partnerships. As an example, an independent business
shot up 40% after Starbucks stores opened, because the owner focused on inventory control and
teaching salesmanship to his staff.
While new competition is always feared, in truth it can infuse energy into existing businesses.
Competition can require a company to reevaluate itself, identify its strengths, address its shortcomings,
adapt, and improve. There are times, when resistance is powerful. Starbucks then came up with
different approaches to overcome the issue. Once, it engaged with local artists and held an art
exhibition at its store, later created postcards to be sent out to the community and handed out in its
store, donating the proceeds to youth organization that educated future musicians.
There are also times when resistance is simply too strong, and leadership challenge in these situations is
accepting that the resistance needs to be honoured. Starbucks leaders went to council meetings and
listen to citizens who saw them as a threat to local shops. Starbucks then got involved in community,
organized activities that serve the local communities. Embracing resistance is about respecting other
people’s perspective. When the resistance is unbearable, it’s time to accept the fact and say there will
be another chance on other days. On the other hand, Starbucks leaders have learned that walking away
from short-term battles often promotes a healthier, more collaborative long-term future.
Beware the Naysayers
One of the most challenging resistance faced by every business is that from those who say, “It can’t be
done.” The leadership in Starbucks didn’t simply give up, but instead examined how options can be
meshed with core business objectives. For example, music turned out to be a pretty natural fit with
Starbucks. Starbucks management are able to combining musical products with in-store experience,
while keeping the integrity of the coffee experience. Successful business leaders figure out how to
determine whether the sky is falling or the sky is the limit. By focusing on values, objectives, and
feedback that can make them better. Reat companies exceed the expectations of customers,
employees, and the communities they serve.

When Customers Say No

When we are faced with customers who reject our company’s product or service, we could either
experiment with new ideas or abandon the product altogether. The challenge for Starbucks leadership
was to find a solution that appealed to new customers, while not alienating the original market. Teams
at Starbucks come together to brainstorm how to help the product appeal to all of its customers, which
leads to product development. Starbucks also listened to customers in that market to learn more about
their preferences, to understand which type of beverages they prefer.
No matter how convinced we are about the probable success of a product or service, we are often too
close to our own ideas to objectively evaluate their viability. Successful leaders understand that careful
evaluation of resistance often makes the difference between success and failure. Instead of viewing the
introduction of certain beverage as a mistake, Starbucks saw it as a learning opportunity. It is the rare
business leader that knows how to leverage setbacks and losses into future gains.
Errant Perceptions and Taking Valid Responsibility
In the world of globalization, misinformation can become a monumental source of resistance for
businesses. Starbucks once had to deal with negative and false information related to its policy against
military personnel. Starbucks leadership swiftly addressed the misinformation, led to a retraction email
stating that the news was wrong. Before errant information gains momentum, leaders urgently need to
find ways to communicate the whole truth to set the record straight.
On the other side, in order for a business to maintain the trust and credibility, senior managers must be
willing to take full and immediate responsibility when errors do occur. When something went wrong in
one of Starbucks’ store with an ambulance company during World Trade Center attack, CEO Orin Smith
called a representative of the business personally to apologize. Later, Starbucks stores located at Ground
Zero were operating around the clock and providing free beverages and pastries to rescue workers and
volunteers. Orin Smith understood something that most great leaders appreciate: when you are wrong,
admit it, fix the problem, and stay the course in areas where you are making a positive difference.

Resistance inside the Store

For a company to be truly successful at embracing resistance, individuals at all levels must be
empowered to deal in a proactive manner when things go wrong. Partners must be well trained in how
to deal with unhappy and resistant patrons. Team should frequently thinks in terms of alternatives,
rather than say no. Partners should always offer suggestions that will work. Growing a business or
leading a team often requires a willingness to think in shades of gray. Taking it one step further,
Starbucks leadership helps partners look for nonverbal cues to customer resistance, even if the
customers haven’t shared their dissatisfaction directly with the partner.
For a company to be truly successful, workers at all levels must become attuned not only to what their
customers are saying, but equally to what they aren’t. When leaders listen to complaints, it not only
helps customers, but models the behaviour that the leaders hope to see in the people who work for
them and with them. Great leaders drop the defensiveness and open their ears and minds to the input
of others, accepting resistance as a valuable developmental tool.