--- title: Critics Flood Howard Schultz Masterclass on Leadership description: People are imploring Howard Schultz to follow his own "values-based leadership" advice in regards to his potential 2020 presidential run. canonical: https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-29T17:50:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:10.321Z og:title: Critics Flood Howard Schultz's Masterclass on Leadership og:description: Here's how some feel about the former Stabucks CEO's potential presidential run og:url: https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbf532dec6ce357/69894429656a3f69cebd6874/starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Critics Flood Howard Schultz's Masterclass on Leadership twitter:description: Here's how some feel about the former Stabucks CEO's potential presidential run twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbf532dec6ce357/69894429656a3f69cebd6874/starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Critics Are Flooding the Comments on Howard Schultz's MasterClass on Leadership > Sponsored content. 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Jason Redmond—AFP/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 29, 2019 5:50 PM UTC Following [Howard Schultz’s](http://time.com/5515050/howard-schultz-presidental-campaign/) announcement that he is considering [running for president](http://time.com/5514457/trump-howard-schultz-guts/) in 2020, people are imploring the former Starbucks CEO to follow his own [“values-based leadership”](https://www.masterclass.com/classes/howard-schultz-leading-a-values-based-business) advice. Dubbed “Real Leadership: What Do You Do In Crisis,” the first in a series of lessons Schultz is teaching on the celebrity-led online education platform [MasterClass](https://www.masterclass.com/classes/howard-schultz-leading-a-values-based-business) sees him share his take on being a leader in troubled times. “One thing’s for sure, it’s very easy to lead when things are going great and you’ve got the wind at your back,” he says in the [video](https://www.forbes.com/sites/vickyvalet/2019/01/24/howard-schultz-teaches-you-how-to-be-a-leader-in-a-crisis/#375b767c3da7). “It gets really hard when you’ve got headwinds, disappointments and people are telling you you’re going the wrong way.” The episode debuted on Jan. 23\. But in the wake of Schultz’s “60 Minutes” interview, some people are now using the video to appeal to him to run as a Democrat rather than a “centrist independent” who some fear [could act as a spoiler](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/howard-schultzs-independent-run-could-help-trump/581374/) and help President Donald Trump get re-elected. “Mr. Schultz, I admire your vision, but please do not run as an independent,” one Facebook user [commented](https://www.facebook.com/howardschultz/posts/2116167678450010?comment%5Fid=2120667661333345&comment%5Ftracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%2344%22%7D). “The priority in 2020 will be to defeat Donald Trump, and we do not need to see the Democratic party splitting a la Ralph Nader 2000\. If you believe you have the right stuff, run as a Democrat.” “Please do not run as an independent!” [added](https://www.facebook.com/howardschultz/posts/2116167678450010?comment%5Fid=2118512438215534&comment%5Ftracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D) another. “We don’t need you to hand Trump this election!” However, others were totally on board with Schultz’s current stance on a potential presidential bid. “I like what you stand for politically, I appreciate how you run your business and I really admire how hard you have worked to get to where you are,” [wrote](https://www.facebook.com/howardschultz/posts/2116167678450010?comment%5Fid=2120436808023097&comment%5Ftracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%2339%22%7D) one supporter. “Go for it Howard!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/"},"headline":"Critics Are Flooding the Comments on Howard Schultz's MasterClass on Leadership","datePublished":"2019-01-29T17:50:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:10.321Z","description":"Here's how some feel about the former Stabucks CEO's potential presidential run","url":"https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","Howard Schultz","2020 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbf532dec6ce357/69894429656a3f69cebd6874/starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dbf532dec6ce357/69894429656a3f69cebd6874/starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"starbucks-howard-schultz-masterclass","caption":"Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz speaks at the Starbucks Annual Meeting of Shareholders at McCaw Hall in Seattle, Washington on March 21, 2018.","creditText":"Jason Redmond—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5515443/howard-schultz-masterclass/","name":"Critics Are Flooding the Comments on Howard Schultz's MasterClass on Leadership"}}]}] ```