I finished Onward by Howard Schultz Interestingly I was at the Global Leadership Summit (#WCAGLS) where he was on the agenda to speak and Bill Hybels was planning to interview him about the book.  Unfortunately, Mr Schultz canceled his appearance at the last second due to pressure from a minority group. 

I read the book because it was recommended in preparation for the WCAGLS and I kept wondering when I was going to come across the "meat," i.e. the instruction in leadership that was purported to be in this book.  I did find some interesting information that I didn't know:  Starbucks is socially conscious and environmentally conscious.  They make a serious effort to treat their employees with care and respect and they are serious, and I mean, SERIOUS about coffee.  Mr. Schultz did lead Starbucks through a re-organizational effort at the peak of the recent depression and brought the company back to a level of success, but how he did so couldn't easily be defined.  In my opinion, there was little "meat."  I suppose you could pick up some leadership tidbits from Mr. Schultz's rambling narrative, however, a lot of it felt self-vindicating, when he wasn't going into excruciating detail on issues that didn't seem to contribute to the book's purpose. 

What would I rate the book?  Probably 2 stars out of 5, and that's being generous. 
Would I read it again?  NO, 
Would I recommend it to a friend?  NO. 
Did Mr. Schultz's cancellation at @WCAGLS impact my opinion of the book? Possibly a little because it seemed to me that he defaulted on being a leader and caved in to pressure that was unfounded - definitely NOT a leadership trait.