The StarBuck Stops Here

Earlier this week I happened upon a used book store that was going "out of business."  Naturally, I had to drop in with the intention of taking a few titles off their hands, but I ended up asking for a large box. Among the titles I discovered (all for $1 each) was an 1880 edition of Charles Dickens's A History of England, several first-editions written by E.L. Doctorow, a magnificent volume of children's poetry, and a Booth Tarkington novel published at the turn of the century.

I also absconded with The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, by Joseph A. Michelli.  This was a book I intended to read some years back, but didn't. Last night I drank the book in a single sitting.  Tasty stuff here.  And all pertinent to leadership of any organization, large or small.

Sips of wisdom here include:
Make it Your Own (my words:  give your all to your work/effort and demand the same of others!)
Everything Matters (attention to detail is vital, and make the good, great!)
Surprise and Delight (don't settle for average, make the organization spectacular and be excellent at what you do)
Embrace Resistance (learn from criticisms and suggestions, don't bury them)
Leave Your Mark (work long enough, hard enough, and smart enough that your life counts for something in the organization...as everyone is giving his/her life to something...so make it count for something!)

I gained much from reading this book and I hope I can practice these principles in everything I do: pastoring, marriage, parenting, writing . . . .

The only thing missing from the book was a Starbucks gift card.  Reading 180 pages in three hours made me thirsty, and I think Starbucks missed a golden opportunity here.  Everyone who bought the book should have been given a free tall latte . . . would have sealed the deal and given every reader the true Starbucks experience.

Now that I've written this review, please excuse me.  I'm headed for the gym, and afterwards, to Starbucks.  My abs are burning, and I'm buying!