Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says ‘cliché’ career advice made him successful: ‘You absolutely have to…’

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says a cliché’ career advice and a five-word phrase convinced recruiters that he was indeed perfect for becoming CEO of Starbucks

Published on: Sep 12, 2024, 16:08:24 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Abhyjith K. Ashokan

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Brian Niccol, the CEO of Starbucks who gets a base salary of $1.6 million annually, attributes his success to a “cliché” piece of career advice, which he started following in his 20s. It is “Believe in yourself.”

Brian Niccol, named the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks on Aug. 13, 2024, is shown during an interview on June 9, 2015, in New York. (Mark Lennihan/AP)

“I know it’s a cliché, but you absolutely have to believe in yourself and have the grit to not give up, when it at first might not be going your way,” he said in a May 2024 Miami University commencement speech in Oxford, Ohio.

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The 50-year old CEO who was called a “dream hire” and a “hall of fame restaurant CEO” after being chosen at Starbucks said he carries a “beat-up notebook" with him to track the progress of his career goals.

“Whatever it is you need to do to keep yourself focused on your goal, do it, and believe you can do it,” Niccol said, adding that intuition and believing in the gut helped him a lot to become successful.

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“There will be times in your career when your gut will be tingling,” a CNBC Make It report quoted him as saying. “Make space for that instinctive intelligence and take action. Trust your instincts.”

Niccol also said his confidence and a five-word phrase made him stand apart from the other candidates in line for Starbuck's CEO role.

What was the five-word phrase that made Brian Niccols stand apart from the other candidates?

Mellody Hobson, the former Starbucks chair, who ceded her position to Niccol, revealed in a CNBC interview that the phrase was "I know what to do".

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HT News Desk
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