Who we are today is often a result of the obstacles we have encountered. As people go through each day, they continuously discover new information about the world, including themselves. Within an individual’s life, experiencing misfortune allows one to discover the underlying abilities they may obtain, which is why adversity is necessary to uncover an individual’s tolerances and build perseverance.
One benefit of enduring adversity is the determination that a person learns through the difficult process of overcoming that hardship. Howard Shultz is a prime example of how encountering adversity builds perseverance. As it is known today, Schulz has grown to be a very prosperous businessman due to his difficult journey and determined mindset he had in order to become such a successful chairman/CEO of Starbucks. However, he did not start out with this success. Throughout his life, Schulz had to overcome poverty by entering the workforce at a young age, and even gave up his free time to provide for his family who had no income.
He took on multiple occupations in the sales field, which eventually led him to the discovery of the company, Starbucks. He first encountered Starbucks when working at Hammarplast, a homeware business. Due to his interest in working for the Starbucks company, he
ravelled to Seattle to meet the then owners, Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. After a whole year, Shultz finally convinced the owners to hire him as the director of their marketing. However, his future changed when the company decided to send him to international houseware units in Milan, Italy. Once his ideas were rejected, he made the difficult decision to leave Starbucks and begin his own company: IL Giornale. In order to initiate his business, Shultz had to raise over $1.6 million. Instead of giving up, he went to over 200 banks to secure a loan. During this time, his wife also was pregnant with their first child, which made it
even more difficult for Shultz to fulfill his desired plan. After two years of rejections, Shultz finally received a loan from several investors, which allowed the IL GIornale company to take off. Eventually, his company managed to buy Starbucks, and Shultz became the CEO of the Starbucks Corporation. According to Shultz himself, “In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of”. Without the determination created through the obstacles he faced, Shultz would have never been a part of establishing one of most well known coffee companies in today's society.
Many people around the world may protest that adversity only creates negative effects on an individual's wellbeing, as well as how experiencing difficult situations does not necessarily reveal one’s talents. However, this overall idea can be rejected due to the fact that adversity is unavoidable, which forces us to identify how we can guide ourselves to be stronger, determined people as we overcome it. Each individual is destined to endure conflict throughout their lives, which is why it is important to look at struggles in a positive light. With that being addressed, if one did not face adversity at some point, they would not be able to use hardships as a learning experience or discover their hidden strengths.
“Howard Schultz.” Starbucks Stories, Starbucks Corporation, https://stories.starbucks.com/leadership/howard-schultz/.
Whitten, Sarah. “Howard Schultz, Architect of Modern Starbucks, to Step down as Executive Chairman.” CNBC, CNBC, 4 June 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/04/howard-s chultz-architect-of-modern-starbucks-to-step-down-as-executive-chair-and-from-the- board.html.
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