In addition, the economic downturn and increased competition has caused the company to change its strategies. There were a number of major challenges that this presented. One was economic -- the company simply could not be as profitable as it had been before. Another, however, was cultural. Starbucks had a culture of winning, such that winning came easily. Now in a more competitive, difficult environment, the culture has been forced to change to one where market share is something to be battled for. The company overcame these challenges by scaling back operations and using communication to shift the attitudes of managers. The company began to scale back shareholder expectations. In addition, Starbucks has redoubled its efforts to focus on the strengths that allowed it to grow in the first place, rather than the distractions that were taking away from operational excellence. The leadership of the organization has remained relatively stable in focus -- perhaps shifting to a more transactional leadership style but retaining some of the dynamic transformational leadership style that guided the company through its boom times. 4) I believe that I have a number of different leadership qualities. I have a high degree of emotional intelligence,...

My integrity level is high, however. I feel that it is important for me to behave in a truthful, honest manner or I will lose trust of my charges, negating the value of my formal authority.
If there is a weakness to my leadership qualities, it is perhaps leadership motivation and drive. While I am driven to succeed, I can at times become complacent with my current level of success. This breeds bad habits, however, and more importantly it can hold me back from seizing opportunities that arise. This, I feel, is mainly due to a low risk tolerance. As such, I feel that I can improve my leadership abilities simply by building my risk tolerance, allowing me to take a more driven approach to building my leadership success. I may also need to work on my ability to motivate others. I tend to assume that they are all internally motivated, and this is not the case.

I do feel that I have the capacity to improve. Many great thinkers believe that the mind is able to learn and grow throughout life. One's abilities, therefore, are not static. Indeed, I believe that I can continue to improve for as long as I am committed to making such improvements.