Former Starbucks CEO’s ‘6 pm work cut-off’ under scrutiny following replacement
PTC News Desk: Brian Niccol will take over as chairman and CEO of Starbucks, the company recently announced. Laxman Narasimhan will step down.
On September 9, Niccol, the current CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, will formally assume his new position. Rachel Ruggeri, Starbucks’ CFO, will take over as CEO in the interim.
On social media, this change in leadership has generated a lot of discussion. A month-old interview with Narasimhan has become viral among the numerous conversations. During the interview, Narasimhan disclosed his strategy for upholding a work-life balance, disclosing that he ends his workday at 6 p.m.
Saying, “If anyone at Starbucks gets a minute of my time after 6 pm, they better be sure that it’s important,” Narasimhan establishes his limits at work in the video.
Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan recently said that he doesn’t work past 6pm and that if anyone at Starbucks gets a minute of his time after 6 pm they “better be sure that it’s important.”
He was just fired today. pic.twitter.com/ATEhYTFddB
— Triple Net Investor (@TripleNetInvest) August 13, 2024
His remarks have generated a lot of debate online, particularly in view of his recent resignation from Starbucks. In addition, users posted a video of the outgoing CEO speaking and commented, “This will always be remembered as the interview that led to the CEO of Starbucks being fired.”
This will always be remembered as the interview that got the Starbucks CEO fired. pic.twitter.com/GalSPqLmm2
— Joseph Carlson (@joecarlsonshow) August 13, 2024
In the course of his interview with Fortune Magazine, Narasimhan, who is 57 years old, spoke upon his work-life balance concept. He emphasised the value of personal time, saying that unless a problem is really important, his workweek stops at six o’clock.
Who is Brian Niccol, replacing Laxman Narasimhan?
Since March 2018, Brian Niccol has led Chipotle Mexican Grill. He started out as the company’s CEO and director before taking on the role of chairman of the board in March 2020. Prior to working at Chipotle, Niccol was President and Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Taco Bell in addition to serving as CEO.
He started his career with Procter & Gamble in brand management. In addition, Niccol has held executive roles at Pizza Hut and sat on a number of boards, formerly at Harley-Davidson and Walmart Inc. He graduated from Miami University with a bachelor’s degree and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA.