Schultz talked about the strategic business decisions that had to be made as the original concept and company evolved. But it was one idea, one “less businesslike” principle that commanded the attention of many.

Schultz talked reflectively and humbly about perseverance and tenacity as driving principles behind the company’s great success in spite of criticism and doubt about the concept from observers, friends, and family members.

Through the years, this essential idea of persevering, particularly in the early stages of introducing a new idea or product, has been at the centre of numerous efforts by individuals and companies to replicate the business success of those who have gone before and “ made it.” However, the idea is more complex than many may realize. It must therefore be carefully considered in order to avoid being defined and dismissed as simply “hanging on in the face of adversity.”

Perseverance has at its heart four parts. Research into organizations and individuals who have successfully applied it shows the significance of all four parts and the interdependence of them all.

DETERMINATION
We have found that those who persevere have an obvious gritty determination that is not swayed or diminished in the face of adversity. This is neither foolish hope nor unrealistic optimism. Rather, it embraces realism and encourages constructive criticism that challenges and refines the original concept. Schultz’s Starbucks clearly demonstrates the point.

VISION
Those who promote their idea but don’t have a commanding vision of its future – in vivid detail – tend to have a higher overall failure rate. The ability to see the possibilities for what lies ahead, and use that vision to create enthusiasm and excitement, adds immensely to the commitment to stay the course through the inevitable ups and downs that accompany new product launches. Darrius Bickoff, founder and CEO of Glaceau Vitamin Water (recently sold to Coca Cola for four and a half billion dollars), talks regularly about becoming obsessed with the idea of fortified water and of seeing how his idea could become a major product success within that industry. So clear was his vision that he took the value of his concept from zero to billions of dollars in a little over eight years. Add a powerfully clear vision to the equation and, almost instantaneously, perseverance becomes more positively defined.

PASSION
Perseverance must have a component of passion. Time and again, we see that those who passionately believe in their idea and are fiercely committed to it tend to be more open to meeting the challenges and changes necessary to modify and move it to its optimum performance level. In other words, they refine and re-refine their idea or product to assure their success in the marketplace and avoid the mistake of just hoping the original concept works. A Vancouver-based entrepreneur recently told me how he had worked for seven years to get his survey company off the ground, long after his supporters and, more importantly, his financial backers had given up on his idea. Everything inside told him to give up and move on, but he couldn’t. “I was so invested in the concept,” he said. “So passionately sure it could and would work.” And work it did. He borrowed all the money he could and even sold his car to keep going. Then, at the beginning of his eighth year, his first major client came on board. Within two years, he was grossing seven million dollars annually and, in the next three, grew the company by thirty percent per year. Determination, vision and passion together help define perseverance in its truest sense.

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT
The benefit of perseverance is incomplete unless we add the final concept of emotional attachment to the mix. Most ideas are not wholly original and can be copied with relative ease. The ability to make an emotional attachment between the concept and the end user significantly enhances the chances of success. Schultz, of Starbucks, explains the idea in simple terms. During a recent interview, he said that copying the Starbucks business plan was not difficult and had been done by many of their competitors. The difference – the reason Starbucks remains the best in class – is the feeling customers get when they enter each store. That “feeling,” Schultz says, is the connection between the concept and the client that makes the Starbucks experience stand out. Interestingly, it’s also the feeling their competitors are now trying to mimic.

If, as many business leaders say, the difference between success and super success is found in the intangibles, then a serious example of this idea is a combination of determination, vision, passion and emotion which together make perseverance a winning concept for every manager, leader and entrepreneur.