Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was recently interviewed in the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review. In it he has a lot of interesting thoughts on his return as the CEO of Starbucks. Those thoughts include the pressures on a public company to continuously perform, trying to keep employee trust amidst layoffs, and defining shareholder value. That last point on defining shareholder value caught my attention. Finishing his idea, he said, " We built Starbucks not through traditional marketing or advertising but through the experience. And that experience can come to life only if people are proud, if they respect and trust the green apron and the people they represent." Those thoughts reflect Bios Christian Academy and what we work at daily.
A friend of mine once said to me as we had just passed another automobile on the road with one of those Christian fish symbols attached to it's back side, how he could never place a fish symbol on the rear of his vehicle because of his sinful driving habits and how everybody on the road would see how he consistently dishonors God's name when he starts his engine.
On our website we have a cross with a vine wrapped around it as a symbol of Bios. Everyday the students, parents, and the surrounding community watch to see if we come close to representing the meaning of that symbol as we serve our families. And Mr. Schultz is right in saying that the experience provided to the students and parents is built on a trust. A trust that the men and women of Bios are going to strive always to honor God in all they say and do, to build their teaching through a knowledge built over time of each student, and supported by clear and individualized daily goals.
We don't have much in common with Starbucks but what we do share, people based companies built around experience and trust, are the best commonalities to share.
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