Is it just a cup of coffee?

Is it just a cup of coffee?

I was listening to a replay of an interview with Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, about his new book, Onward, that details the company’s recent transformation. During the discussion, he talks about a few key points that distinguish Starbucks from companies like McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

This started me thinking about the similarities between Starbucks and Loyola. So grab your coffee and settle in for a good read:

First, Shultz talks about how every day, Starbucks employees need to believe in what the company set out to do 40 years ago—to “inspire the human spirit.”

Loyola is proud of its 450-year-old Catholic, Jesuit tradition that focuses on educating the whole person. Students have a choice in their education, and while they can choose to go elsewhere, will they have this same experience? Simply, the answer is NO. Loyola is a community where we strive for magis, or the more, the better, in our everyday lives.  We see this in our faculty, staff, students, and graduates who are constantly looking for ways they can improve themselves, their community, and the world.

Second, Schultz comments that you can’t underestimate the importance of people. He mentions that the most important person in Starbucks is the manager, who each day focuses on seemingly mundane tasks.

Loyola’s managers are our students. As a Jesuit priest once shared with me, Jesuit institutions like Loyola are situated in cities like Chicago so they can listen to the conversations taking place. What is needed? What is important? What makes a city stronger? Each day, Loyola students attend classes, participate in experiential learning, do research, explore social justice issues, and most importantly, they are active participants. Loyola students and graduates offer their time, skills, and abilities to make their communities stronger—and by doing so, they begin to see the extraordinary impact of ordinary, everyday activities.

Third, the company was founded on the belief that each person has the responsibility to help build a community. The experience isn’t just about a quick cup of coffee.

Loyola students continuously build ties within and beyond the Loyola community. They make these connections because they understand that building a truly global community means taking small steps as an individual—to share, communicate, and strive for understanding. These communities that students engage in are critical bridges between their life experiences and create a lifelong web of communities that connect vocation, family, and friends.

Fourth, Schultz mentions that one of the biggest questions lies in whether or not Starbucks can be BIG but stay small.

As the largest of the 28 U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities, Loyola is indeed BIG. Yet, as a community that supports cura personalis, or care of the whole person, Loyola is rooted in a Jesuit tradition of academic excellence that creates numerous opportunities to engage individually. Students get to know their professors—and they build strong relationships with roommates, classmates, and those in the local community.

Finally, Schultz mentions that details matter. Starbucks can earn more profit by using re-steamed milk, but is it simply not the same experience as starting fresh.

Each August, we start with a new class at Loyola, all with different backgrounds and experiences. Each student comes seeking his or her own Loyola story, but we don’t want students to replicate their past experiences—we want them to create new ones. At Loyola, we encourage students to try things they haven’t before, to get to know people from different cultures, to pursue new memories, and to look forward to a future of possibilities.

We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2015.

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