Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol says the company is back. His turnaround comes down to 1 leadership principle

There’s an interesting leadership lesson unfolding at Starbucks that has very little to do with coffee. When Brian Niccol took over as CEO, he inherited a company that had drifted from some of what made Starbucks distinctive. Service had become inconsistent. Stores felt less inviting. Employees needed more support. And customers had fewer reasons to stick around. Niccol’s answer wasn’t some complicated management strategy. It was getting back to what made Starbucks Starbucks. Two years into his “Back to Starbucks” strategy, Niccol says the company has focused on making coffeehouses warmer, service more consistent, operations simpler, and frontline employees—whom Starbucks calls partners—better supported. There are signs the approach is working. Starbucks has reported four consecutive quarters of positive global comparable-store sales growth, including strong gains in U.S. sales and transactions. Being that I write on leadership, I believe the bigger lesson isn’t found in the numbers. It’s in how Starbucks got there. Getting back to the basics When companies struggle, leaders often add more initiatives and strategies. Niccol went the other direction. His early assessment was that S…