Kevin Johnson Character Analysis (CEO of Starbucks)

This article was a picture-perfect portrayal of leadership in business to immensely benefit their company. CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson, has dealt with plenty of quarrels as well as business issues like a strong leader. In 2018, Starbucks was faced with a social controversy due to the arrests of two black patrons in one of the chain's Philadelphia stores. So for a company that has spent years making inclusivity a core value of their brand, is especially an ordeal. Thanks to CEO Kevin Johnson remaining true to his companies beliefs, tackled the issue head-on. He immediately took it seriously, issuing a video apology, as well as flying out to Philidelphia for the week to meet with the arrested, the cities Mayor, along with the police commissioner. Not to mention he mandated 8,000 of the companies stores to close for a day so employees could attend racial-bias training which cost them roughly $16.7 million in sales. Kevin has always remained true to Starbucks values throughout his leadership, even committing to hiring 10,000 refugees for work. Starbucks also constantly proudly praises the fact that they retain a "100 percent pay equity" for workers of all races and genders performing related work in the U.S. There was even a questionable idea for baristas to write “race together” on cups to spark discussions about racial issues. It obviously didn’t pan out as the best way to go, but they certainly are trying their best.

 It just goes to show that when controversy hits, there is no need to panic, but remain true to the values your company holds to lead it properly. In Kevin’s apology video he states “I own it. This is a management issue, and I am accountable.” He could have shrugged it off as another corporate mishap but chose to recognize and assess the situation. We learned in class about just how vital it is to remain authentic to your companies mission and views, and how swaying off from it will almost always result negatively for the company. I personally was quite taken away reading about the leadership of Kevin Johnson, and how his instincts are always in the right place. He knew very well that any event, good or bad, that occurs within a company will reflect on the corporation as a whole and acted accordingly. If he hypothetically chose to pass the blame down the long corporate food chain, he would have guaranteed lost any support of the public. In addition to the millions of workers who would not take such an act of leadership lightly, and most likely would go on strike. It was put best in the article, saying how if you don’t show your employees you exercise your core values seriously, they won’t take it seriously. The leadership shown by Mr. Johnson and Starbucks is holding the future to be quite promising, with most ordeals or controversies being easily dealt with.  Facing challenged the way he is has proved himself more than enough to be fit as the CEO of Starbucks.