Formatting note: I think we've fixed the problems! Fingers crossed. Also, if anyone was not able to read Monday's newsletter (Red flag phrases), it's published online here.

How much Shakespeare have you read? Don't worry, there's no test at the end of this article. But I am going to reference the second-most-famous scene in one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays.

And it's all because of Starbucks.

Here's the scene, first. It comes from Henry V, which Shakespeare wrote in 1600. It's about how a newly crowned king in the 1400s is about to go to war, and so he disguises himself as an ordinary soldier so that he can walk unnoticed and find out how his army truly feels about him and their fates.

Here, you can get some of the gist of it. Remember, Henry is disguised:

Everyone around a leader, the new king realizes, is likely to tell only the story that the boss wants to hear. Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news. And so, the only way to get the unvarnished truth is to go out to the front lines and learn for yourself.

It's true for troops going into battle, and it's true for baristas. I'm guessing it's also true for your employees.

This all comes up because over the past month or so, new Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan announced a new policy for all Starbucks corporate leaders, and that he says he's doing himself.

Basically, all higher-ups are expected to work a half-day shift each month in a Starbucks retail store. (Not in disguise though; that would be overkill, or else an episode of the TV show, Undercover Boss.)

"To keep us close to the culture and our customers, as well as to our challenges and opportunities," Narasimhan wrote to Starbucks staff as he took over in March, "I intend to continue working in stores for a half day each month, and I expect each member of the leadership team to also ensure our support centers stay connected and engaged in the realities of our stores for discussion and improvement."

Last week, Narasimhan explained some of the specific takeaways he's learned. It's hard to know exactly which of these things he saw as a part-time frontline Starbucks worker, but they at least seem influenced by his experience. As an example, he cited the realization that Starbucks currently has "over 1,500 cup and lid combinations."

I mean, I've never worked at Starbucks, but that seems like a lot of cup and lid combinations, and perhaps -- as Narasimhan put it -- an "opportunit[y] to optimize."

Of course, Narasimhan is not the first CEO to suggest that senior leaders should spend time working in the most ubiquitous, customer-facing jobs in their companies. A few examples:

• The late Tony Hsieh was known for requiring new employees at Zappos to work on the customer service phone lines, and for taking shifts himself and encouraging other top executives to do so too.
• Last September, for the first time apparently, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi started driving for Uber. (In the process, according to one report, he learned how hard it was to become a driver, and learned about tip-baiting and being punished for having rejected trips.)
• At DoorDash, they announced a few years ago that every employee in every other division would be required to do at least one food delivery run per month, including the CEO. Employees sort of rebelled against the idea at the time, but as you might gather, I think it was a good one.
• Oh, and one more, that I sort of love: The former CEO of American Airlines, Douglas Parker, used to travel incognito without even meaning to, because he's officially "William D. Parker," even though he goes by his middle name, and so he said airline employees looking at his boarding pass or the flight manifest often wouldn't realize who he was.

Anyway, I don't think that every leader has to be recruited from within the ranks, so to speak, or to have first-hand knowledge of every job. But I also know I worked more than a few jobs where I was convinced the bosses had no idea what it was like for the worker bees on a daily basis.

And, it can be a valuable source of information, a brilliant if surprising policy, and a real morale-builder for your employees, as well. I'd also especially suggest this for family-owned companies in which the next generation plans to take over.

It's an idea that we've been talking about since the time of Shakespeare, and thus I apologize to my high school literature teacher for not having done all the assigned reading back then. But, I feel as if I'm making up for it now.

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7 other things worth knowing today

• A new study out of New York University and Columbia University suggests the work-from-home trend will have a large and lasting effect on New York City office space, perhaps losing 44 percent of its value from before the pandemic. (The Real Deal)
• The First Social-Media Babies Are Growing Up—And They’re Horrified: How would you feel if millions of people watched your childhood tantrums? (The Atlantic)
• Related, maybe: The U.S. Surgeon General is issuing an advisory that social media use may be harmful to the mental health of young people, citing growing evidence that online content is hurting the development of the nation’s youth. Teenagers on average spend 3 1/2 hours on social media every day, according to data cited in the advisory. (The Hill)
• WNBA star Brittney Griner, who spent months imprisoned in Russia, says she'll stand for the national anthem during basketball games this season. (Time)
• I'm not planning to write about every presidential campaign announcement, but the way Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will kick his campaign off tomorrow is interesting: He's going to announce it live on Twitter in an interview with Elon Musk. (I guess we know who Musk wants to win!) (WESH)
• Some Amazon corporate workers have announced plans to walk off the job next week over frustrations with the company’s return-to-work policies, among other issues, in a sign of heightened tensions inside the e-commerce giant after multiple rounds of layoffs. Workers have two main demands: asking the e-commerce giant to put climate impact at the forefront of its decision making, and to provide greater flexibility for how and where employees work. (CNN)
• Elephants, the gentle giants of the animal kingdom, have actually domesticated themselves, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If so, that would make them the only known animal besides humans and bonobos to have done so. But not everyone sees it as an open-and-shut case. (Science.org)

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Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who keeps me connected by replying via the star links below. Photo courtesy of Pixabay. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com.