David Novak

Why are Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Jack Welch, Jeffrey Immelt and so many other top leaders praising David Novak’s upcoming book? Novak, recognized as one of the best-performing CEO’s in the world by Harvard Business Review, runs Yum! Brands—the world's largest restaurant company and parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell—with a staggering 1.4 million employees. He learned long ago that you can't lead a great organization of any size—from a tiny startup to a global giant—without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission. But how do you accomplish that?

As Yum’s chairman and CEO, and as the author of TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen, Novak has personally trained thousands of managers with his leadership guide—which has been 15 years in the making and tested on more than 4,000 managers—and is an action plan that challenges leaders to rise to higher levels of performance.

Novak knows that managers in the trenches don't need leadership platitudes or business theories. With a focus on corporate culture, customer relations and employee empowerment that enabled him to grow Yum! Brands globally, Novak cuts right to the chase and shares the secrets of the unique leadership program he’s developed in easy-to-follow steps: setting big goals, getting your people on board, blowing past your targets, celebrating together after you shock the skeptics, and doing it again and again until consistent excellence becomes a core element of your culture. Highly engaging and motivated, Novak inspires teams—from front line to front office—while delivering a specific process to help organizations achieve growth.