The Chronicle’s Business blog

You’ve heard of Howard Schultz, the dreamer who’s credited with the success of Starbucks and now plans to retire. The man behind that success may be one you’ve never heard about. Orin Smith was the CFO and later CEO of Starbucks in the 15 years it grew from 45 coffee shops to 9,200 world wide. If Schultz was the dreamer, schemer and hare of Starbucks, Smith was the tortoise, the calming hand that insisted on thinking through innovations and new projects and considering all of the options. Both men’s brains, personalities and differences of opinion were largely the reason Starbucks became a retail phenomenon. Without Schultz’s drive and vision, Starbucks may still be a small chain today. But without Orin Smith’s calming influence, insistence on weighing all options and exploring all contingencies, Starbucks may have sunk into massive financial debt. You have undoubtedly seen ventures with great promise fail because they lacked vision and caution at the top. Both are needed and rarely come in one brain. It takes two to tango to succeed. If you are the hare in your business, find a tortoise to bring you discipline. If you are the tortoise, find a hare to goad you and your associates into action.

For a complimentary digital copy of “Uncover Your Inner Sales Genius” email JerryBellune@yahoo.com Copyright 2018, The Bellune Co., Inc.