Author: Gregg Dedrick

By: Gregg Dedrick, Co-Founder & President of David Novak Leadership

Imagine you are the best leader you can be. Think about your leadership style. What do you do that makes your team successful? How do you lead others? How would your team describe you as a leader? Now hit the rewind button.

What steps did you take to become this amazing leader? Becoming the best leader you can be doesn’t just happen. In fact, it takes time, commitment, and dedication.

My journey to becoming an Executive at Yum! Brands required me to become an avid learner by being open to learning from everyone. I was fortunate to have leaders like David Novak and Mike Feiner who mentored me and saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself. I also invited some trusted friends to become truth tellers in my life. Learning from others helped me become the best leader I could be.

You may not have access to the CEO or top leaders in your organization. Yet you can leverage David Novak Leadership as your personal mentor. David Novak Leadership is all about helping others learn how to heartwire and hardwire their leadership so they can be more effective leaders and make a bigger difference in their world. Through our resources, you have access to top leaders who vulnerably share their experiences and advice with you. However, if you just read a blog without downloading the learning guide and completing it, or if you just listen to the podcasts without implementing some of the tips the leaders provide, you are missing out on ways to transform your leadership.

According to Micky Pant, the role of the leader is to develop other leaders and produce great results. Do you know how to develop yourself and other leaders? Here’s tips on how to use our resources to develop yourself and others.

Grow Yourself with David Novak Leadership Resources

1. Adopt a Power-FULL Mindset.

• Power-FULL mindsets focus on the positive: I’m committed to doing this and I’m excited to see what happens. I believe I can change, even if it’s hard right now. This could work here.
• Power-LESS mindsets focus on the negative and are limiting: I can’t do this. I’ll never change. This won’t work here.
• You choose your mindset. Do you have a Power-LESS or Power-FULL mindset?

2. Develop intentionality and discipline about getting better.

• Schedule time on your calendar to engage with our leadership resources each week.
• Consider scheduling time one week to read a blog and complete the learning guide, and then listen to a podcast and complete the Podcast Action Journal the following week.

3. Apply what you learn.

• Make a list of what you learned.
• Challenge yourself to apply at least one learning each week.
• Share your plan with a trusted friend or colleague and ask them to hold you accountable.

4. Teach others.

• Review what you learned and think about someone you know who could use this to become a better leader.
• Schedule time to teach them about the concept.
• Share how it helped you and what’s in it for them.
• Hold each other accountable to implementing what you learned.

Grow Your Team with David Novak Leadership Resources

1. Review your team’s strengths and areas of opportunities and use this information to determine your plan of action.

• Answer these questions for each individual team member and for the whole team.
  • What are they doing well?
  • What can they do even better?
• Do you need to work with each team member individually first?
• Or would it be more beneficial to develop skills together as a team?

2. Choose a development topic for each individual or the team.

• Make a list of the development topics.
• Review the David Novak Leadership website for tools.
• Use the tools yourself first so you can explain why you chose the tools and how they helped you.
• Gather the tools from our resources.

3. Communicate your development goals with the team.

• Schedule a meeting to share your plans to grow the team.
• Discuss what your expectations are.
• Share what you’ve learned from David Novak Leadership.
• Explain what’s in it for the team.
• Define how you will work together.
• If working with individuals, schedule 1:1 meetings and partner with each individual to define their development plan.

4. Share this resource and schedule time to discuss. Once the development task is completed, discuss these questions:

• What did you learn?
• How are you applying what you learned?
• What do you want to focus on next?

5. Invite your team to check out our resources to choose their own development activities. Whether you’re developing yourself or your team, it must be integrated. Unless development becomes part of the way you operate as a leader, there will always be something more important to do. You have to decide to make developing yourself and others a habit. You have to hardwire it into your schedule, and by your example, your team will understand its importance and they will hardwire it into their schedules too. It all starts with you.

By taking the time to invest in yourself and your team, you are on your way to becoming the best leader you can be! As Simon Sinek says, “A leader’s job is not just to get the best out of their people – a leader’s job is to make more leaders.” Let David Novak Leadership help you make more leaders! Do you know other leaders who could use help developing themselves or their team? Then take action right now and pay it forward by sharing this blog with them. You never know how the simple act of sharing this blog post with others can encourage them to become the best leader they can be!

By: Gregg Dedrick, Co-Founder & President of David Novak Leadership

Have you ever considered whose shoulders you stand on? What did these people do to invest in your life? How did they influence you to become the leader you are today? Sometimes these life investments were for a moment, while others were long term. Yet regardless of the length of time, you are standing on the shoulders of others.

When you look down, who do you see?

These are some of the people I see when I look down:

• David Novak, my boss at Yum! Brands
• Mike Feiner, my boss at Pepsi
• My High School Football Coach

I became a successful leader at Yum! Brands because these men invested in me and allowed me to rise higher by standing on the shoulders of their wisdom.

A few years ago, I was inspired to let each of these leaders know how they impacted my life. I’m a firm believer that it’s never too late to say thank you, so I took the time to personally thank each one. And when I say it’s never too late, consider that my High School Football coach was from 35 years ago!

My High School Football coach was hard, yet he challenged us to become better than we were. The odds were often stacked against our 28-player team. He pushed us and I learned to ignore the odds and focus on doing my best. He taught me to believe victory was in our power, not determined by our opponent.

It took some research to reconnect with my coach. I started the process by calling my mom and she had the contact information for my coach’s daughter. The coach’s daughter then gave me his phone number.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Gregg: Coach Cal?

Coach: Yes?

Gregg: This is Gregg Dedrick. I played for you in the 70’s.

Coach: Yes, I remember you. You went on to play in college.

Gregg: (I paused at this response. Really, I thought? He knew what I did after I graduated? This touched me. I took a moment to bring Coach Cal up to date on who I became in my business and family life. Then, I shared how he influenced me.)

You know, you were an important part of that foundation of success. You taught me to do my best and believe that victory was in my power, rather than focusing on the odds. You challenged me to live up to my potential. You believed in me.

Silence followed… and then more silence.

Coach, in a broken voice: Well, geez. That’s something. Thank you so much for telling me that.

Coach Cal’s emotional response was unexpected. The “hard-nosed” coach was choked up and touched by learning about the positive impact he had on my life.

By taking the time to thank Coach Cal, it made a part of his life a little more meaningful, as it did for me. We were both encouraged by this conversation. I also discovered that sometimes people don’t even realize how they impact the lives of others. That’s why I’m passionate about identifying whose shoulders we stand on, and then intentionally thanking each one.

I’m a firm believer in these wise words of Isaac Newton: If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. The lessons and wisdom of the giants in my life allowed me to see more clearly and become a successful leader.

What about you? Who do you need to thank today for his/her life investment in you? Are you willing to take the time to let others know how they helped you become who you are today? If you need some help, then download this guide. It provides you with an outline for appreciating those whose shoulders are the foundation for your success. May you experience the joy that comes from humbly recognizing that you, too, are standing on the shoulders of giants.

By: Gregg Dedrick, Co-Founder & President of David Novak Leadership

What is your True North as a leader? Tough question, I know. Identifying your True North requires hard work, and then intense determination to stay the course when people or circumstances tempt you to give up or change directions. And how do you identify your True North anyway? If you read my blog, Three Questions You MUST Ask and Answer as a Leader, you know the three questions that help you identify your True North. If you haven’t read it, I recommend checking it out. 

When I was President of KFC, I identified KFC’s True North by answering these three questions:

• Who are we?
• Where are we going?
• How are we going to get there?

Once I answered these questions, my next step was to communicate KFC’s True North to the team. The Pyramid Slide was the outcome. 

Did you know I used the same Pyramid Slide for five years? This single slide provided a roadmap for KFC brand revitalization, which was much needed at the time, and it helped us stay the course over the next five years. Our True North, or the top of the Pyramid, was Brand Positioning. All other levels of the Pyramid were viewed through the lens of Brand Positioning. We asked questions like the ones below around each level of the Pyramid to stay on course: Given who we are as a brand, 

• Menu Vision – How do we create food that’s consistent with who we are?
• Operations – How do we design the Back of House to meet our menu vision? How do we realign operations to deliver the menu vision?
• Asset – How can we ensure our assets look like the brand and carry out our brand promise?
• Values – How do we work together as a franchise organization to deliver who we are in a way that exceeds customer expectations?

The Pyramid Slide answered the question “Why are we doing this?” for my team. They knew before new initiatives could be added, they first needed to fit somewhere on The Pyramid Slide. For example, we made a decision to remodel 3,000 restaurants. We didn’t take this on for the sake of remodeling. We ultimately took on this initiative because we were revitalizing the expression of the brand through the asset. Our goal was to provide our customers with a great KFC experience, and brand remodels were one way we could accomplish our goal. I wanted my team to know the reason we took on this initiative tied back to our True North rather than have them think it was just another “to do” on a long list of “to do’s.” My team knew every initiative had a purpose.

We also had to think beyond a single initiative to reach our True North. Remodeling 3,000 restaurants impacted other parts of The Pyramid Slide. If we remodeled the asset without investing time and money into team training, we would veer off the path towards our True North, because a beautiful restaurant with poor customer service would not lead to a Wow! experience. We made sure team training was implemented prior to the remodel and grand reopening of the asset so our customers had an amazing overall experience, not just a shiny new building.

Are you starting to understand the beauty of The Pyramid Slide? It always brought us back to this is why we’re doing what we’re doing and it helped us remember what was most important. As initiatives were added, changed or completed, the Pyramid Slide was updated to reflect how our actions aligned with our True North. By reviewing the slide (at every single meeting, I might add), my team was constantly aware of the plan for reaching our True North – KFC Brand Revitalization.

What about you? What’s your True North as a leader? Work through this learning guide to identify your True North.

Identifying your True North is one thing, but sticking with it is a totally different challenge. In the movie Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln says, “The compass points you True North but does not warn you of obstacles and swamps along the way.” If you’ve identified your True North, but you’re unsure about how to handle the obstacles and swamps along the way, you don’t want to miss the final blog in this series. I’ll explain how focusing on the vital few helps you avoid the seduction of shiny objects.
In the meantime, who can you invite to help you identify your True North as a leader? Share this blog and learning guide with them and spend some time discussing what you learned and how to cascade this to your team. You’ve got what it takes to be successful! Go Lead!

Leadership: It’s a quality hiring managers look for when interviewing potential employees; classes are taught on it, and books are written about it; organizations can’t function without it.

Leadership skills are a crucial asset that will most certainly help you develop in your career. But how can you grow in your leadership if the organization you work for doesn’t offer any training?

Don’t fret. You don’t have to be limited when it comes to developing your leadership skills.

Here are several ways you can grow as a leader:

1. Read great books. There are so many great leadership books out there. Buy a bestselling leadership book and study what it says. Or search for one that speaks directly to your situation, and learn how you can make an impact in your realm of influence.
2. Listen to podcasts. More and more people are creating podcasts on leadership. Podcasts are great because you can listen to them on the go, during your morning commute or while you exercise. It’s a convenient way to learn leadership skills.
3. Interview a great leader. Ask questions about their experiences, like “What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your career?” Most people are willing to share advice to help someone grow. If you’re hungry and want to become a better leader, this is a great way to learn.
4. Find a mentor. Ask someone you look up to if they will mentor you. Finding someone who can spend time with you, and who has the energy to coach you through your career, will be invaluable. You’ll gain insight by having someone who wants to see you succeed there to walk you through big decisions, and point out ways you can be better at what you do.

Ready for some good news? Our blogs are great resources to help you grow as a leader. On DavidNovakLeadership.com you will find great articles and learning guides on many relevant leadership topics like setting priorities, learning from your mistakes, dealing with setbacks, and the power of recognition. You will also find the David Novak Leadership Podcast. You’ll hear practical wisdom and insights from many of the top leaders in the country, like Target CEO, Brian Cornell; PepsiCo CEO, Indra Nooyi, Home Depot Founder, Ken Langone, JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, and many more.

Listen to a podcast, or check out one of our recommended books. Even if your organization doesn’t offer leadership training, you can still grow as a leader. Learn something new today.

By: Gregg Dedrick, Co-Founder & President of David Novak Leadership

Change is never over. This statement might generate some type of reaction within you, and it could be positive or negative. But if you pause and think about it, you’ll discover there’s truth here. We are all living in a state of constant change. Did you know that an average person stays in the same job for only 4 ½ years according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics?¹  That’s a lot of change! Even preparing to change jobs requires you to reposition yourself, your plans, and maybe even develop new skills. This can be uncomfortable and is not always easy.  

Some changes are minor, while others are major. Seven years ago, I experienced a major change when I retired from Yum! Brands. This change in my life was exciting, but also uncomfortable!

My life includes two acts so far. Act 1 focused on my family (being a husband and father), my career, and building a nest egg. I experienced much success and many failures during Act 1. I learned and grew. I made tough decisions because my family was a top priority.  And I achieved success as a business leader by serving as President of KFC and Chief People Officer at Yum! Brands.  

Act 2 began when I retired from Yum! Brands. The plot for Act 2 was different from Act 1 because I entered the world of entrepreneurship. I quickly discovered that being an entrepreneur required different skills – skills of nurturing a new company from scratch verses leading a large organization. Relationships also changed as my daughters became my business partners – but that’s for another blog. I couldn’t rely on doing things the old way anymore.

The biggest challenge for me in Act 2 was transitioning from my comfort zone of connecting personally with others to the digital connections driven by social media. Digital learning appeared to be the best approach for the business, but I didn’t know much about this. I was presented with a challenge: am I willing to humble myself and learn the new skills required to embrace the digital world? Am I willing to learn from those younger than me, who thrive on digital learning and social media? Will I embrace the way of the future or live in the comfort of the past? Will I stay stuck or dive in and become a student of digital expression? But the biggest question I faced was this: Do I care enough to change?

After thinking about these questions, I decided I DID care enough to change. I chose to embrace the future and I became a student of the digital world. I took online classes to understand how to build a digital platform. I sought advice from those younger and experienced in the digital world. And you are experiencing some of what I’ve learned so far. There’s more to learn, and Act 2 isn’t finished yet, but I’m excited about learning how to make a positive impact on many through digital expression.  

I’m not the only person faced with this question: Do I care enough to change? Let me share another example from Act 1 in my life. Andy Pearson, the Co-Founder of Yum! Brands with David Novak, was 70 years old when David began launching the recognition culture. Recognition made no sense to Andy. And rightfully so, as Gallup Research reveals people in the workforce 10-15 years ago rated compensation, benefits, job security, and a company’s financial stability as the most important factors for job satisfaction. Today’s workforce values the following factors: 

• Meaningful work where I can make a difference
• Feeling a sense of pride in my work
• Having someone invested in my growth and development
• Being appreciated for the work I do

Andy was faced with this question: Do I care enough to change? When Andy decided he cared enough to change, he was faced with a new challenge: How do I embrace recognition even though I don’t understand it’s value? Andy showed humility and courage as he learned about recognition from people who were younger and more junior in the organization. He demonstrated his desire to change through his actions, and employees noticed and provided positive feedback to Andy through his 360 Feedback Report. I respect Andy’s example of caring enough to change.

Do You Care Enough to Change? 

At some point in your life, you will be faced with this same question:  Do I care enough to change?  In fact, you will probably answer this question many times in your professional and personal life. Change isn’t always easy. You may have to spend significant time learning. Yet change is possible IF you are willing to invest time, energy and effort. Change is possible IF you are willing to humble yourself and ask for help. Change is possible IF you believe in the value of learning and IF you let go of fear.

If you are ready to make a change, download this guide. It includes a 3×5 exercise to help you identify who you are today and how you can be even better tomorrow. I’ve used this exercise throughout my career and it helps me stay focused on who I’m becoming. The guide also includes a sample of my own 3×5 exercise.

“Change has a bad reputation in our society. But it isn’t all bad — not by any means. In fact, change is necessary in life — to keep us moving … to keep us growing … to keep us interested… Imagine life without change. It would be static … boring … dull.”  This quote from Dr. Dennis O’Grady in Bottom Line – Personal reveals the value of change.  Will you take action to show you care enough to change?  You never know how you can inspire others by caring enough to change.  

Leaders also inspire others by sharing what they learn. Who can you share this blog with today? Paying it forward through a simple share can make a big impact in someone’s life.

¹ Source: http://fortune.com/2015/04/21/shahrzad-rafati-changing-careers/