Anti-Racist Leadership

2 CEO-Driven Change

My interview for the job of CEO at Jamba, Inc., couldn’t have come at a more troubled time in the company’s history. It was November 2008, and the Great Recession had begun to hit hard—but even before the financial crisis blew up the US economy in September of that year, Jamba had started bleeding cash. Its net losses for the previous year had been $113 million, against revenue of $400 million. The weather was turning chilly in Emeryville, California, where the company was headquartered, and that served to remind me that in most of Jamba’s locations this was precisely the time of year when people would be least likely to stop at a smoothie stand for a cold, refreshing beverage.

I wasn’t the board’s first choice for the ...