A turnaround can fix the past. Leadership sustains the future
A turnaround can fix the past. Leadership sustains the future.
By the mid-2010s, Starbucks was thriving again — but the signs of stagnation were already there.
Instead of adapting to shifting consumer behavior, leadership leaned too heavily on expansion and financial engineering.
The result:
→ Overreliance on store growth instead of new formats and digital engagement
→ Rising complexity that diluted execution
→ Slowing innovation just as competitors caught up
Schultz’s turnaround proved that discipline can restore value. But sustaining it takes more than one reset. Without continuous adaptation, even great brands drift back toward mediocrity.
👉 For investors, the lesson is clear: Don’t judge leaders only by their recovery — judge them by their ability to keep compounding value after momentum returns.