According to Greek mythology, the Greek army couldn’t penetrate the walls of Troy during the Trojan War. So, they built a massive horse and convinced the Trojans to allow the horse to enter the city as an offering from the gods.
Inside the horse, however, were Greek troops that snuck out after nightfall, opened the gates to Troy and let the Greek army enter. Troy quickly fell.
The idea of the Trojan horse emerged to define a subversive tactic to carry out a secret mission and defeat an opponent.
In his “Masters of Scale” book based on the popular podcast, Reid Hoffman of Paypal and LinkedIn fame, talks about business leaders who set-up a Trojan horse for good in their businesses. It’s a secret mission of a business or the leader of a business that is meant to carry out a virtuous vision that is “disguised” in strategies that scale the business.
The book shares the story of Howard Schultz’s secret mission of Starbucks. Schultz tells the story of his father, who was a delivery truck driver – that is – until the elder Schultz was injured. He lost his job and the family sank into financial hardship.
Howard Schultz never forgot feeling inequity from his childhood experience. When he purchased Starbucks from the founders and began to build his empire, he vowed to create a company that was a social force for good for his employees. He desired to end the environment where workers are treated poorly and are not cared for as humans.
The problem Schultz faced, of course, is that his investors and board of directors needed Starbucks to make profits and grow. Social equity is fine, yet a CEO who reports to a board that represents investors must lead with a healthy bottom line and great customer experiences to attract more visits.
Schultz’s Trojan horse – the subversive disguise to hide his hidden agenda – was happy employees creating better customer experiences, which bring customers back day-after-day. He made the business case to take care of employees.
He pushed for health insurance for all employees over 20 hours a week. He championed college education for his hourly employees, which led to an online college offering from Arizona State University.
By making the business case for these unheard of benefits for frontline hourly employees, Schultz made the world a little more equitable and secure for employees of Starbucks.
What’s your Trojan horse?
Like Howard Schultz with a mission to right the wrongs that happened to his family when he was a child, what underlying mission and vision do you have for your business?
Think of something important to you, a legacy, a mission or a North Star that drives you. Even if it has nothing to do with business. If you don’t know already, questions to ask are: What change do I want to see in the world? What do I want for my friends and family? What – even outside of my business – is important to me?
It could be anything that creates a better world and that really motivates you. Something that drives you out of bed determined to win the day.
When you have something that really pulls you to succeed, you can build a business to support that vision. What are the systems and conditions that you need to put in place to aid your Trojan horse vision?
Is it sheer money? Awesome, make the most you can to create the funds for your vision. Does it require your time? Ensure that your business allows you the necessary time. Similar to Schultz, what programs in your business do you need to create that make your vision true – like Schultz pushing to offer health care and college for Starbucks employees. Not only did those decisions invest in the company’s bottom line, it furthered his personal mission.
The point of Starbucks is not to create a society that puts an end to people being ruined by misfortune. Yet, Schultz’s Trojan horse and the employee tactics that came from his vision, was a key ingredient to Starbucks revolutionizing the way that we do coffee.