Alex Hoffer

What a Leaking Starbucks Lid Taught me About Value

Leadership

I like to say that I have been tired since my first son, Will, was born in 2011. With three kids, there is a secret formula to sustainability…coffee. 

Okay, it is not so secret. 

Coffee is the starting point of every day. I can’t even hit the gym at 6 a.m. without brewing a little coffee to get the day going. 

I have been an avid customer of Starbucks because of this. I have liked the consistently good coffee I have gotten from there since I started the addiction (what else do you call it?) in the early 2000s. 

Until recently, that is. 

Providing Value

Value is what customers are willing to pay for. As I just admitted above, I have always been willing to pay a little extra for my perception of better coffee (and by that, I mean better quick-serve coffee — I feel like that distinction is necessary for die-hard coffee drinkers!). 

While the product (coffee) has not changed much, other factors have led me to doubt my loyalty to Starbucks: 

First, I have had CONSTANT leakers. Since the start of 2023, I have had so many coffee stains on my pants that I have bought a Tide-to-Go pen for my office. I have also grown tired of wiping coffee stains out of my car. As a manufacturer (who could mold plastic lids, no less), this is infuriating. I do not pay to get hot coffee dumped on me repeatedly. Obviously, there is an issue with the lid and cup fit. 

Second, the location I frequent is not convenient. There is only one way in and one way out. I have dodged several rear-end attempts by other drivers (who are probably too focused on their leaking coffee cups!) 

Third, there is an alternative option (Dunkin Donuts) that is more conveniently located to the office. So, I gave it a try in early June. While I do not think the coffee is as good, I have gone 10+ times and have yet to have a single drop of coffee drip on my pants. I have moved from the “loyal” Starbucks camp to the “free agency” camp — I now frequent both.

Guarding Against Slippage

The point of this post is simple to grasp but hard to live out. The businesses we lead differentiate themselves on various small, subtle value differences. Just as I did not fully realize how much I valued (and was willing to pay for) a coffee cup that does not leak, I suspect some of our customers probably do not even realize what they value from us. 

Our job as leaders is to find out what those things are and ensure no “leakage” on any aspect of our value. Unfortunately, there will always be some. I am sure if I go to Dunkin long enough, they will mess up an order, or I will have a leaking lid. The point is that leaders need to look for and guard against this slippage. When it comes, we have to address it immediately and fix the problem. 

Then, we will hold on to the value and keep the customer. 

P.S.: I now split my time more evenly. Starbucks won me back in the summer with some really good Nitro Cold Brew. Can you say, addict?!?

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Mr T., the Wall Street Journal, and Leadership

Leadership

Earlier this year, I saw an editorial in the Wall Street Journal about how the American worker continues to be ignored by upper management and owners. Ironically, I read this article on a Saturday morning after an awful night’s sleep; I had been up since 3 a.m. thinking about the announcement we’d made that we were pausing wage increases due to slowing business conditions. 

“Slowing business conditions” is the exact kind of phrase this editorial would probably take issue with. But how else should a leader describe things when that is occurring?

**Allow me to be clear on one thing at the start of this post: I was up at 3 a.m. because while “slowing business conditions” was our reality, it was MY job to co-lead the business in and during, those conditions. NO EXCUSES. I was not blaming Obama, Trump, Biden, or anyone else — and I’ll never understand why business leaders blame the President for their crappy performance? I was up at 3 a.m. because I care about the people on our team. I think about their financial needs and the reality of inflation, and I want to be all-in on helping them win. After all, our mission is to be all-in for people first.** 

Leaders Bring People Together

Fast forward to today. This morning, I made the mistake of turning on YouTube TV while finishing my cereal. I listened to some “posers” talk about how business owners do not care about the American worker. I call the people spouting these ideas “posers” because they are “posing” as leaders. They might have positional authority (or what leadership coach John Maxwell describes as Level 1 Leadership – the lowest kind), but outside of their authority, no one would follow them to Dairy Queen for free ice cream. 

Here’s what I think: Anyone who sows discontent between one group and another is not someone worth following. And at the risk of alienating my readers, there is far too much of this kind of behavior being displayed on television by political leaders on both sides of the aisle. “Us vs. Them” sayings do nothing but add to the vitriol most people feel these days. Leaders are worth following because of how they bring diverse groups of people together. 

The next thing I did was turn off the TV, pour some coffee, and head to work. I listened to worship music on my ten-minute commute to recenter my mind. I was reminded that these people “posing” as leaders are treasured children of the most High God. Feel free to disagree, but I re-centered my thinking on their value in Jesus. He died for them and for me. So, as much as I disagreed with their viewpoints, as much as I would like to take them through our facility to show them the specific actions we are taking to help people (even, and especially in, seasons when business conditions are slow), I must remember their worth. The next time they say that plastic is evil and all business owners are in it for themselves, I have to go back to this position of remembering their worth and praying for their best. 

Making the Connection

After getting to work, I did what I try to do at least once a week by walking our night shift before that team left. It was 7 a.m., and I connected with one lady who was celebrating 26 years with the company. Then, I connected with a foreman who was celebrating 43 years. 

Finally, I talked with another team member who always gives it to me straight: “Alex, when are wage increases coming?” After explaining to her where we currently are and sharing some exciting new business that is almost here, she put her hand on my shoulder. She looked at me and thanked me for the explanation. 

I’ll be honest, I almost broke down.  

I am all-in to helping these people. 

I am all-in on helping our customers. 

That’s my why.

That’s my purpose. 

I usually don’t get this blunt, but let me be clear. 

To quote the philosopher Mr. T.: 

I pity the fool who says I don’t care about the American worker. 

Those are fighting words to me. 

Following His Calling

I originally ended the post with the previous line. But now, a week later, I will finish it with this: Despite our revenue and run hours being down, my sisters and I are issuing a cost-of-living increase for every person in the company except ourselves. I am not sharing this to get a bunch of accolades. I am sharing this to point to the true Giver, and publicly say that I trust in His provision. So do my sisters! 

All praise and glory to Him. We unashamedly believe God will provide, so we will be obedient to what we sense He is calling us to do. 

Mr T., the Wall Street Journal, and Leadership Read More »

I Will Never FORGET

Special Post

There are some days in life that I will never forget, and 9/11 was one of them. 

We all have our stories.

I was shaving when my fraternity brother told me what was happening. My sister was living in New York then — was she alright? Were the people stuck in the tower going to get out?

A little while later, I was at my first class of the day, an elective drama class. It was an all-time favorite class! But this day was that day. I will never forget the sound of one of my classmates sobbing — a girl whose name I have somehow forgotten all these years later. “Is my sister alive?” she wailed. Her sister worked near the World Trade Center. 

In our drama class two days later, we learned that her sister was okay. And thankfully, my sister was okay too. 

But for thousands, the answer was different. 

Let’s remember those people today.

Let’s never forget.

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If You Look for It, There’s Something Good to Find

Special Post

On vacation this summer, I learned a valuable lesson about failure and being hard on myself. I’m sharing it, hoping some of you can relate. 

The Quintessential Father/Sons Fishing Trip

I wanted to take my sons Will and Ben out fishing.  I did the appropriate research and landed on a company with great reviews. In my mind, the boys would have the time of their life. I was going to the #bestdadever! 

We were all psyched as we pulled out of the harbor and headed to the fishing spot. I was not concerned until the boat headed to the open ocean. After all, this was not supposed to be “deep sea” fishing, so I did not know what the Captain was up to. Was he just giving us a glimpse of the open water? 

“The Look”

A mile and a half into our journey, Will gave me “the look” that kids give. It is kind of like “the look” my wife gives, the kind that you don’t need to interpret. The kind that you immediately know there is a problem. Onward we went, however, for another 1.5 miles. 

“Here we are at an old shipwreck,” the Captain said. 

How cool is that, I thought? The waves, however, tossed me to the side of the boat like a little crumb falling from the ice cream cone my kids would eat later that day. My next thought was, “How long will this last?” 

Kudos to the Captain regarding the volume of fish at the shipwreck. We caught fish after fish in the ~13 minutes we were there. The Captain even claimed I had a shark on my line for .23 seconds — the best .23 seconds of my life, an admission that would undoubtedly cause my wife to give me “the look.” 

Ben’s “look” came next. “Dad, I don’t feel well.” It was at this moment that I went into sales mode. “Captain,” I said, “we have a problem.” Captain informed me that his experiences are about “reef” fishing, which I admittedly misinterpreted not to be “deep sea fishing.” I can occasionally hit 300-yard drives, but I have a “25” handicap for fishing. However, I don’t care who’s to blame when seasickness is on the line. I owned my mistake and said he was getting paid regardless, but we needed land in a hurry! After looking at Ben’s face, the Captain knew his mission had been redefined. I later learned that he’s happily married and understands “looks” too.  

The Joy of Unexpected Delight

Ten minutes later, we were back in calmer waters, and the seas lessened considerably. The Captain asked Ben if he could fish there. Ben, of course, rebounded. The next few hours, we had fun fishing, although our success rate decreased considerably. And while we saw a small shark, none were hooked, much to my chagrin. 

Then something happened that I did not expect. While moving from one spot to the next, the Captain let both boys have a turn at the helm. Both were legitimately excited, and Ben had us looping around like he wanted us to be sick this time. His smile is something that words simply can’t describe.

What Does this Experience Make Possible?

As I retell this story, however, I have to confess something. During this moment I did not feel like the morning had gone well. I am embarrassed to admit that when Sarah asked how the morning went, I said it was a failure. I felt like I had failed Will, Ben, my father-in-law who had joined us, and even the Captain. Sarah reminded me that the Captain did not care as he was getting paid. 

Isn’t it alarming how negativity prevented me from seeing what was really going on and also led me to think things were much worse than they were? 

Ben, however, had rolled with the punches. He had lived out a credo I learned from Michael Hyatt, “What does this experience make possible?” 

Ben got it. 

I had missed it. 

I learned that I am so hard on myself about parenting, leadership, golf, and just about everything — even planning a once-a-year, 1/2-day fishing experience. It would be like someone who never plays golf getting mad at themselves for hitting bad shots, an occurrence that happens all the time at my local golf course! 

Yet, if I look for it — if you look for it — there is something good to find. 

You have to look for it, not just what you had hoped for. 

When Things Don’t Go According to Plan

The video of Ben driving that boat will be something I will think about when I am 80 years old. It never would have happened if we had sea legs and if things had gone to “Dad’s plan.” 

A few days later, as the vacation wrapped up, my in-laws asked all 14 of us what our best moment was. 

Ben’s? “Driving that boat.” 

Writing this post made me realize it was mine, too.

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Negative Glasses or Gratitude Glasses?

Personal Growth

You get to decide this week which glasses you want to put on — your Negative Glasses or your Gratitude Glasses. But before you choose, let me tell you a little bit more about the unique selling points (and potential pitfalls!) of each of these products: 

Negative Glasses

Product features: These frames help you see everything in the worst possible way. 

Potential side effects: Cynicism, hopelessness, negativity, pessimism, fatigue, stress, and anger. 

Gratitude Glasses Product Features

Product features: These frames help you see everything in the best possible way. You see provision when it rains, wonder when it snows, and bountifulness in the summer. 

Potential side effects: optimism, positivity, energy, peacefulness, joy, and possibly annoying grumpy people.

Your Perspective, Your Choice

Is the sun shining? 

Or is everything bleak? 

It’s your decision. 

You make your choice. 

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Dear Will (2023)

Birthday Post

My son Will turns twelve today. Here is a letter to him: 

Dear Will, 

I suppose these letters all start the same, with me acknowledging how fast another year has gone by. While this won’t make sense until you are older, time seems to go faster when you are older. I used to think that was just because I was getting older and had more things to do. Now, however, I see that the real reason is value — the things and experiences I value tend to go by faster and faster. 

Your childhood is almost gone. I suspect that you probably do not think of yourself in terms of being a “child,” and that is fair. But this time in your life is unique. It is a time filled with adventure and possibility. As the oldest, you might be tempted to hurry into more responsibility, your teenage years, and even adulthood. Give yourself permission to be a kid. Play with your sister, and take part in your brother’s fun games. You will have to work at this more when you are a 41 like me, so don’t lose sight of it now. And remind your dad to make time for laser tag or Nerf wars with the three of you from time to time!  

While you are incredibly gifted with golf and baseball, I want to remind you that my love is not predicated on your sports performance. You can strike out 100 times in a row, hit 100 home runs, or shoot an incredibly low score (though you should chill out on beating Dad anytime soon — though secretly, I’m rooting for that day to happen!). 

None of this impacts my love for you. I will tell you this a thousand more times over the next ten years, so I apologize in advance. I want you to do your best, be a great teammate, and be a good sport. Your performance is not, and never will, impact my love for you. 

To this end, I want to challenge you on something I have struggled with all my life: “self-talk.” What I mean by that is how I talk about myself in my head. For example, I used to say horrible things to myself when I shot 90 or worse in competitive high school golf. For example: 

“You suck.” 

“You will never be as good as your dad was.” 

“You are a failure.” 

Get the idea? 

My dad (your grandfather) never pressured me to be as good as he was at golf. Yet, I often believed the lie that my lack of national golf success was a failure in his eyes. Again, that was NOT on him, but it was a lie generated by my self-talk. 

As I close, what I have learned more than anything from you this year is how to be resilient. I admire your ability to stay consistent emotionally, regardless of the circumstances. I think this is a quality you inherited from your mother. If things go wrong on the baseball field, you are not flustered. You just keep going on. This has inspired me as a leader this year because things have not always been easy with the economy we are in. That probably does not make sense to you now, but know you have reminded me to keep going back to the “pitching mound” every day in a business sense. 

I am incredibly proud to be your dad. Your future is filled with possibilities. I pray that you continue to read God’s word and receive your identity in Jesus. This is a thought I was reminded of in church recently, so it bears repeating: You cannot find your identity. You can only receive it.  I must confess that on too many days, I have chased finding it. But it was never meant to be found. 

Jesus is your perfect Father. I am your very imperfect father. Being a Christian is recognizing that you cannot save yourself. While achievements are great, and progress is part of being a member of a productive society, no amount of achievement works in the end. There is always a gap, always a hole.

Therefore, I pray that you receive your identity as you enter your teen years. 

You have nothing to prove to your earthly father. 

You have nothing to prove to your Heavenly Father. 

You are accepted, and you are loved. 

Praise the Lord. 

Love, 

Dad 

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bald in business symbol

Who Defines Your Identity?

Personal Growth

Stop defining yourself by what you think you aren’t. 

Start defining yourself by who God says you are. 

Scripture says: 

  • “So God created mankind in his own image…” (Genesis 1:27) 
  • “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..” (Psalm 139:14)
  • “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
  • You are utterly secure in God; “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) 

How Will You Define Yourself?

Here is the deal:

You can define yourself by what you think, what the world thinks, or in a lot of other ways. 

Or you can redefine yourself with what scripture says. 

Your identity. 

Your choice. 

Just make a decision.

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Dear Sadie (2023)

Birthday Post

My daughter turns seven today. Here is a letter to her. 

Dear Sadie,  

There is a movie I have written about on my blog before called “About Time” — someday in the future, I will watch it with you. At the end of the movie, there’s a moment where the father transports himself back to a time he spent with his young son on the beach. His son runs into the waves, plays, and laughs; it’s a perfect moment that the dad wants to remember about his son’s childhood. 

There will come a time when I will think back to this year and remember you at this age. I will remember you dancing in our kitchen. I will remember your bright pink outfits. I will remember hearing you singing “Let It Go” in the shower. And I will certainly remember the warmth of you cuddling up next to me as we watched one of the lousy shows the boys picked for us to watch on TV. 

There will come a time when I hope you begin to know how meaningful these moments have been to me. When I think of how uniquely special all three of you are, I can’t help but think of how unique your gentleness is — it has touched a deep part of me this year. Jesus talked about the faith of a child, and it is clear that his gentleness has been entrusted to you as a gift. Your gentleness is heavenly. So, share sparingly. 

There will come a time when I have advice to offer in this letter, but not today. Today, keep twirling. Keep singing. Keep dancing. And when the harder times and lessons come, I advise you to fall back into these childhood habits. After all, you’ve taught me that it is better not to take life, or yourself, too seriously. 

We actually are better off dancing. 

To that end, there will also come a day when I look back and dream I could see my dancing seven-year-old one more time. 

With all the love in the world, 

Dad

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Alex’s Unofficial Rules of Little League

Special Post

In the Hoffer household, every April through mid-July is Little League season! And as a veteran Little League parent, I’ve learned a few things over the years.

With that in mind, allow me to introduce my completely unofficial (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) rules for Little League parents. 

  1. Anticipate the weather being 30 degrees hotter or colder than the temp your weather app said it would be. Dress appropriately, even if that entails long underwear on Memorial Day weekend.
  2. Eat whenever you can leading up to the game. If you need to eat lunch at 10AM or dinner at 4PM, do it. The concession stand hot dog is only good when you are near starvation — and all those who claim it is good are near starvation.
  3. Do eat the concession stand popcorn. It somehow always tastes better at Little League.
  4. The bathroom situation is like Illinois state politics. For the sake of everyone’s stomach, I’ll leave it at that.
  5. Decide beforehand if “having fun” is REALLY what you believe. Every adult claims this is what it’s about, but only about 1% follow through on this belief after the first pitch is thrown.
  6. Remember that the umpire is usually a teenager (in-house game) or volunteer adult (all-star/travel). Neither umpire for a living. Both are human and WILL make mistakes. Ask yourself if you would A. want to umpire and B. be any better at it? If you answer both “yes,” please sign up at your local Little League — we play games every season without an umpire and could use the help.
  7. Obsess more over your kid’s handling of adversity than success. Hitting the home run may happen once or twice a career, but strikeouts will occur more often. So how Junior handles a strikeout, bad call, or any of the frustrations that come with baseball are the most applicable lessons of Little League.
  8. Everyone knows that 99.99% of these kids are not destined for a career in the MLB. A good practice for most dads (and moms!) is to start the day repeating this statistic to themselves over and over. Seriously — repeat it over and over!
  9. Yelling at kids in Little League is just as effective as yelling at your preferred news channel or your favorite team’s mediocre quarterback during the playoff game.
  10. Yelling at coaches and/or making sarcastic remarks is similarly unhelpful. Respectfully, get off your butt and coach if you know everything.
  11. If you’re coaching, however, remember that this is not game seven of the World Series. Elaborate signs, strategy, and the like make you look as petty as one of those politicians you are yelling at in rule #9.
  12. Speaking of yelling: There is simply TOO MUCH yelling at Little League these days. Leave the yelling to the kids clamoring for ice cream or donuts.
  13. Finally, a baker’s dozen donuts can single-handedly help a team come back from an 8-1 last-inning deficit. Don’t ask me how this happens, but I saw it with my own eyes at a tournament this season. Those kids chanted “Donuts! Donuts!” after the game ended. Now THAT is how every little league game should end! 

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Ownership Mentality

Leadership

Earlier this year, Craig Groeschel released a powerful podcast, “The Most Important Mindset You Need to Succeed.” In it, he talks about generational businesses and the differences from one generation to the next. Most companies don’t make it to the third generation — a reality I’ve often heard as a third-generation leader — so I was all ears to learn from Craig on this topic. 

While I am not going to cover the entire podcast here (do yourself a favor and listen to it yourself), I will share that Craig’s “The Gen 1 Mindset” really resonated with me. Craig asserts that Generation 1 has an ownership mindset because they typically are the owners. This means they: 

  • Think higher
  • See broader 
  • Care deeper

Put plainly, Craig says that “owners obsess over what is the best for the organization.” 

And that made me think.

Question for Thought

Do YOU obsess over what is best for the organization? 

Yep, I’m asking you, the reader of this post. 

Do you just have a job, or do you have a calling? 

Are you the kind of leader that looks within and examines their leadership failures? 

My Challenge to You

I am posing these questions as a wrap-up for topics I’ve discussed in Q2. I believe you need to have an ownership mentality — an obsession over what is best for the organization and its people — to be someone worth following. 

I challenge you to take time this week to reflect. 

What needs to become true for you to take an ownership stake so that you can think higher, see broader, and care deeper?

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