Howard Schultz vs. General Patton: Leadership Styles

Introduction

Howard Schultz is one of the transformational leaders in the modern business environment, given his role in the creation and development of Starbucks. Starbucks is renowned for its long-standing record of growth, profitability, and success, which reflects effective leadership in building a thriving enterprise. The growth and profitability of Starbucks is largely attributed to the leadership of Howard Schultz, who utilized an effective leadership and communication style that contributed significantly to the company's development. In contrast, General George Patton is also renowned as a transformational leader who has been idolized as an all-powerful commander. General George Patton achieved tremendous success because of his ability to empower and inspire others when commanding his troops. However, there are significant similarities and differences in the leadership styles of Howard Schultz and General George Patton that merit careful examination.

Profile of Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz is renowned for utilizing an effective leadership and communication style to promote the growth and development of Starbucks. Schultz led the company and built it into a global brand after purchasing it and assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer in 1987 (Sardelli, 2013). Generally, Howard Schultz had a vision that he used to develop a successful company before stepping down from the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2008. Following Schultz's decision to step down, Starbucks experienced significant challenges that had considerable impact on its operations and productivity.

Schultz returned to the position of Chief Executive Officer at Starbucks in 2008 in order to transform a failing company that was experiencing major challenges stemming from significant self-induced financial losses. His return was geared towards rebuilding a brand that echoed a positive culture to all stakeholders at a time when the world was experiencing an economic recession. His biggest challenge upon return was identifying an effective way to preserve and improve the company's culture, guiding principles, and trust from its customers and potential customers (Ignatius, 2010). After developing an effective strategy, Howard Schultz achieved his objective of rebuilding the company and attained considerable success. Schultz attributed his achievements to effective communication, relationship-building, and listening skills.

Comparing Howard Schultz and General George Patton

Howard Schultz and General George Patton are good examples of leaders who utilized effective leadership styles to motivate their followers and subordinates toward the achievement of mutual goals and objectives. Nonetheless, these leaders share certain similarities as well as notable differences in their leadership styles despite their respective successes in very different endeavors.

One of the similarities between the two is their use of effective communication styles to motivate their subordinates. General George Patton was an ardent believer in communicating directly, to the extent that he usually kept a microphone nearby (Cohen, 2009). Similarly, Schultz utilized communication and listening skills to achieve his objective of rebuilding Starbucks. Secondly, both Schultz and General Patton employed an inspirational approach to motivate their subordinates toward established goals. General Patton used his personal example to inspire an army to carry out the demanding business of war (Power, 2014).

One of the key differences between the two leaders is that Schultz focused on acting ethically, whereas General Patton was a strong leader guided by certain governing principles. General Patton's principles governed his personal conduct and military operations, while Schultz focused on ensuring Starbucks acted ethically as established in its organizational culture ("A Study of General George," 2005). Secondly, Schultz has consistently demonstrated empathy and compassion while giving his best efforts to serve others, which has contributed to his reputation as a courageous and compassionate leader ("Howard Schultz's Connection and Leadership," 2015). On the contrary, General Patton was autocratic and preferred strong discipline, though he also utilized a situational leadership style when circumstances required it.

Conclusion

Howard Schultz is renowned as one of the most transformational and highly successful leaders because of his role in creating a profitable global brand in Starbucks. Together with General George Patton, Schultz effectively demonstrates the use of various leadership styles in pursuit of mutual goals and objectives. Given his contributions to the success of Starbucks, Schultz is regarded as one of the most influential leaders of the 21st century. As evident in this analysis, Starbucks' success can largely be attributed to the vision and leadership of Howard Schultz.

References

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"Howard Schultz's connection and leadership." (2015, February 6). Success Television.

Ignatius, A. (2010, June). Howard Schultz on Starbucks' turnaround. Harvard Business Review.

Kaplan, D. A. (2014, June). Life lessons from Howard Schultz. Inc.

Power, R. (2014, August 20). The General Patton approach to leadership and success. Inc.

Sardelli, J. R. (2013, April 22). Starbucks: A communication perspective. Roger Williams University.