Tuesday, December 29, 2009

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill

I picked this book up based on a recommendation by my friend (Thanks R!). It is Michael Gates Gill's autobiography about how he, "a son of privilege", falls from his illustrious marketing career and a marred family life. He essentially starts working at Starbucks because his independent business is failing and he is willing to take any job that is offered to him.

The main points I got from this book was that it doesn't matter how much a person gets paid for a job, if he doesn't give and feel respect for and from the people around him, then the job is not worth it. Michael Gates Gill gave his life to his career - he was always willing to sacrifice his family for a big marketing opportunity. He regretted not seeing his kids grow up. In his case, an affair and that led to the eventual disintegration of his family.

Although, I hope Starbucks didn't put him up to this as some kind of marketing scheme.

The book is definitely worth the read.