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The one skill that helps you get ahead regardless of your degree

Repost from CNBC Make It!

Making the decision to invest in an MBA can be a tough one. It takes time and money and can ultimately help move you forward in your career. MBAs and degrees are often the price of admission for certain jobs. But will an MBA guarantee your success as a leader?

Personally, I don’t think an MBA is enough or is even required. I know that you can be successful without getting an MBA because I don’t have one.

However, I do believe there is one skill that can help you get ahead regardless of your degree: being an avid learner.

I believe being an avid learner differentiates good leaders from great ones, whether you have an MBA or not. I got promoted time and time again without one. Let me share an example with you.

When I was the head of marketing at Pepsi-Cola Company, I wanted to become chief operating officer — even though I had ZERO operations experience. I knew the chairman saw me as a fantastic marketer, but he was leery about me becoming a general manager. I also knew I needed to demonstrate operations ability before I would get promoted to a division president. This is why I sought the COO job. I went in knowing my biggest asset would be having the ability to learn from others and then use my power to help solve the biggest issues and exploit the biggest opportunities.

Given the confidence I gained through the years because I was an avid learner, I decided to ask the CEO for this job. I had a good working relationship with the CEO and I knew I wasn’t the obvious choice, so I made him a deal: Test me in this role, and if I don’t succeed, you can put me back in marketing or fire me. The CEO took a chance on me, and I knew it was time to become an avid learner of operations!

Being an avid learner made all the difference in my success as COO. As soon as I started, I knew I needed help, so I met with the people who really knew what they were doing. I met with route salesmen and asked them questions and listened to what they had to say. I went on sales calls and asked customers questions. I interviewed the workers in the bottling plant too, and all the asking and listening helped me discover the things that mattered and what fundamental processes needed to be changed.

Because I was an avid learner, I was able to pinpoint and solve some longstanding issues, develop operations processes that made significant improvements, and we started making money.

My demonstrated success as COO led to me being promoted to president of KFC — but the learning didn’t stop then.

At KFC, two books greatly influenced me: Walk the Talk by Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura taught me about the importance of doing what I say. Nuts! by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg explains how Southwest Airlines built a powerful culture and gave me a ton of ideas for building a great culture at KFC and later Yum! Brands.

Today, I’m still passionate about avid learning, and I practice it by hosting a podcast with successful leaders from around the world. Their wisdom and knowledge inspire me and teach me things like how adversity can become your advantage.

Learning from other successful leaders, reading books and seeking out people who are experts are three ways to practice avid learning, but these aren’t your only options. There are countless ways you can learn new skills and information.

I recently hosted a podcast with Jimmy Dunne, senior managing principal at Sandler, O’Neill + Partners, who understands the importance of avid learning. He practices avid learning by reading a ton and watching documentaries about people like Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela. He’s interested in learning from anyone who’s particularly successful at anything, whether it’s a professional golfer, professional basketball player, or a surgeon.

Dunne shared this wisdom about the importance of avid learning, no matter where you are in your career: “As you get older, you tend to play it closer to shore. And that’s not where the fun is. The fun is a situation that you’re not that sure about, but you’re willing to work really hard to learn a lot about it and maybe make a few mistakes, but really delve into it and not be afraid of it… You gotta be fearless and get offshore.”

I’m a firm believer in the power of avid learning and how it can help you advance in your career because it helped me become the leader I am today.

As Anthony J. D’Angelo said: “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

Don’t miss: Winning jockey Donna Barton Brothers shares 3 traits that led to her success

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Crystal Balls vs. Rubber Balls: A Lesson in Setting Priorities Effectively

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

When was the last time you felt overwhelmed with all the things you needed to accomplish? Did stress settle in as you worried about how to juggle all the tasks on your list? Did you wonder what would happen if you dropped something? Would you lose your job? Would a relationship become broken? Would you have a second chance? Learning to set your priorities effectively helps you overcome the fear and worry tied to juggling lots of tasks.

A Lesson in Setting Priorities Effectively

My boss at Pepsi taught me a unique way to set my priorities effectively with a crystal ball vs. rubber ball analogy. Let me explain. My first job out of school was with Pepsi and I quickly learned their approach to discovering the best was rooted in a sink or swim mentality. You were automatically thrown into the deep end when you started, and the management team watched to see who would sink and who would swim. Fifty percent of new hires didn’t survive year one and 50% of year one survivors sank in year two.

I was blessed with a boss who set realistic expectations for me right out of the gate. My boss invited me to lunch at an expensive restaurant and shared advice on how to swim and survive. Here’s how the conversation went:

There are two types of companies you can join: ones where you eat well and ones where you sleep well.  As you can see, Pepsi is a company where you eat well. Here’s the deal: you will always have more work than you can EVER get done. You will constantly juggle lots of balls at work, so it’s important to identify what balls you’re juggling: crystal balls or rubber balls. If you drop a rubber ball, you can come back and pick it up later. However, if you drop a crystal ball, it will shatter and it’s all over for you. Make sure you understand the difference so you can effectively manage your priorities, Gregg.

Because of this experience at Pepsi, I developed a crystal ball vs. rubber ball mindset. I always juggle crystal balls and rubber balls in my life – whether personally or professionally. The challenge is to properly label each ball and then use that information to effectively manage my time. I identified my daughters as crystal balls when they were young, and I turned down jobs with travel during this time. My daughters needed my presence during those formative years and I didn’t want to miss out on something I could never get back.

When I retired from Yum! Brands, my dad had serious surgery. For two years, he was in and out of hospitals, and I spent significant time with him during this part of his life journey. This crystal ball moment with my dad required me to say no to some things. When my dad passed away, I was incredibly thankful that I saw him as a crystal ball, because I would have regretted missing out on the time we shared.

Setting Your Priorities:

What about you? Have you taken time to consider what’s a crystal ball or a rubber ball in your relationships? Professional life? Personal life? If you need some help setting your priorities, then download this guide. It includes an activity to help you think through your priorities and identify each one as a crystal ball or a rubber ball. Goethe provides us with a powerful reminder when it comes to setting priorities: Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. Let’s identify what matters most so the cherished crystal balls in our lives maintain their beauty and get the attention they deserve.

Were you inspired to make a change based on what you read? Do you know someone who would benefit from understanding the difference between crystal balls and rubber balls? I’d like to invite you to pay it forward by giving the gift of effective time management. Who will you invest in today by sharing this blog and the guide?

 

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Blog Inspiring Others Intentional Lead Others Lead Yourself

6 Daily Routines of Successful Leaders

One of the powerful secrets of effective leaders is establishing daily rituals or success routines. These leaders identify a few key behaviors that are important to them, and then they Hardwire, or put process and discipline around the behaviors, so they turn their intentions into action. We’ve asked a few of our David Novak Leadership Podcast guests what daily routines they follow to ensure they have the best day possible. Here are a few tips from some very successful leaders.

Prepare the Night Before

For David Novak Leadership founder David Novak, his daily routine actually starts the night before. Before he goes to bed, he looks at his calendar for the next day and asks himself, “What’s going to make each one of those meetings successful?” Then he tries to envision what a successful meeting would look like. By thinking about it the night before, David can go into each meeting prepared and focused on coming out with successful outcomes. Watch Here

Free Leadership Assessment from David Novak LeadershipCultivate A Positive Attitude

Harry Arnett, SVP Marketing of Callaway Golf, understands that deciding in advance to have a good day matters. So, each morning before he leaves for the day, Harry tells his wife and kids the same thing: “Let’s go make sure we have a better day today than we did yesterday, and let’s make a positive influence on at least some person today.”

Ken Langone, Co-Founder of The Home Depot, asks himself, “What can I do today to be as good a person as I hope I can be.” By asking and answering this question, Ken is preparing himself to look for ways to be the good person he wants to be, rather than hoping it will happen by chance. Watch Here

Physical Exercise

Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO of Target Corporation recognizes the importance of exercise, so he is creative about building it into his schedule each day. Whether its 20 minutes in-between meetings or 20 minutes at the end of the day before a dinner function, he gets on the treadmill, which helps him manage his stress and refreshes his energy. Listen Here

Schedule Management

When David Novak realized that people tried to avoid him until around 10:00 in the morning because he is not a morning person, he learned not to schedule any major meeting till after 10:00 AM. This allows him to be at his best.

Connect with Others

Micky Pant, Chairman of Yum! China, makes it a habit to walk throughout the office talking to employees, which ensures that he is available and visible to his team.

Follow Up with Others

Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO, is disciplined about follow-up. One way he keeps track of his tasks is by keeping an 8×10 handwritten list with him at all times. He lists the emails and phone calls he needs to return, he keeps track of who owes things to him so he can follow-up, and he lists things he needs to think about and will reflect on this while he’s driving. When an item is completed, he obliterates it off the list with joy. Watch Here

These success routines have worked well for these leaders. Which ones will help you become the best leader you can be? Think about what behaviors you might put into place to ensure you have the best day possible, then put them into practice and make them part of your daily routine.

If you haven’t received your free subscription to David Novak Leadership click here to subscribe and gain access to all of our free learning guides, blogs, and podcast clips. If you are already a subscriber you will be automatically redirected to all of these resources.

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Three Leadership Skills Elected Officials Should Master

On January 3, at least 109 newly elected members of Congress will assume office in Washington. The looming question is whether the divisive climate in politics will change one iota.
 
I imagine you might doubt the ability of our government to solve any problems the way things are going today.  You know as well as I do that the political parties are deeply divided on core issues like health care and immigration.  If our elected officials keep doing things the same way, nothing will change.  Albert Einstein hit the nail on the head when he said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”  Now is the time for self-examination and self-reflection to launch the changes that will drive transformation in our country.
 
I believe our elected officials have the power to make positive changes for our country if they are willing to work together.
 
Mastering these three leadership skills will enable them to solve big problems and make our country better.
 
Overcome confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is alive and well among our elected officials and American citizens. Confirmation bias occurs when you seek to confirm what you believe, so much so that you miss anything that doesn’t align with your beliefs.  The stereotypes assigned to political groups, such as bleeding hearts or ultra-conservative , lead you to overlook or ignore those who don’t fit into that stereotype.  It takes self-awareness to recognize your confirmation bias, and then discipline to actively look for examples that go against your beliefs.  Checking confirmation bias at the door, and looking for ways to connect across parties, can lead to positive outcomes.
 
Engage in productive conflict. Conflict is not going away in politics, but it can be handled in a productive way. Our country faces big challenges with healthcare, immigration, and the deficit, just to name a few. I believe working together toward a common goal, like solving these challenges, doesn’t require common beliefs, but it does require an open mind.   Productive conflict is all about finding better solutions and working together as a team with an open mind. The best decisions come when you bring all possible points of view to the table.  Imagine an environment where it is possible to raise and discuss points of view and issues without offending or alienating one another and having a clear and honest discussion of all perspectives.  Listening to understand, rather than to defend your position, is key to engaging in productive conflict. Alignment is possible if our elected officials truly seek to understand different points of view and then partner together to find the best solutions for our country.
 
Adopt a powerful positive mindset to solve stubborn problems. How you think matters. If you don’t have the right mindset, you will never make big things happen and distrust will close the door on unencumbered free thinking that leads to the best solutions. It starts with identifying your mindset – is it negative or positive?  Because your thoughts impact your actions, and how you act is contagious, it’s important for our elected officials to adopt a powerful positive mindset.  The negativity we see today catches like wildfire, and our elected officials can lead the change here.  Choosing to believe that change is possible, that opposing political parties can work together, and trusting in positive intentions can ignite fresh solutions to the stubborn problems our country faces.
 
I believe there is hope for our country and what we need is great leaders stepping up to collaborate and find the common ground that will bring us the best solutions.  I believe there is hope for our country and what we need is great leaders stepping up to collaborate and find the common ground that will bring us the best solutions.  To give them the tools to do this, I urge all elected officials in the U.S. at the federal, state, and local level the opportunity to take a leadership program.  The training I offer all about overcoming confirmation bias, engaging in productive conflict, adopting a positive mindset, and taking people with you, would be especially beneficial to our elected officials and of course all aspiring leaders.
 
By David Novak – December 14, 2018 on Chief Executive
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Blog Lead Others Lead Yourself

How a CEO is Challenging All Politicians

A CEO challenge to elected officials: Re-think and hone your leadership skills

|  Published 6:02 AM ET Thu, 6 Dec 2018 on CNBC

On Jan. 3, at least 109 newly elected members of Congress will assume office in Washington. While their beliefs, backgrounds and sympathies may differ, they will all arrive with one thing in common: a sincere desire to solve big problems and help make our country better.
 
That this statement has inevitably caused some of you to roll your eyes is evidence of just how polarized and dysfunctional our political system has become. The growing lack of civility between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives has convinced us that folks with opposing philosophies can’t possibly work together to solve our nation’s problems. As a result, far too many of us — elected officials included — have fallen prey to a nasty case of confirmation bias: We embrace information that validates our existing belief system and ignore that which challenges or seeks to expand it.
 
If ever there was a time for true leadership, now is that time.
As the co-founder and former chief executive of YUM! Brands, I have seen the best of what leadership can accomplish. And in the wake of George H.W. Bush’s death, I am reminded of the power of “honest compromise and shared progress,” as his former rival Bill Clinton wrote about his beloved friend. With engaged, inspiring leaders, warring factions can find common ground and stubborn problems can find solutions. But when leaders tear each other down, don’t invite input and — most dangerously — doubt the sincerity of their coworkers, problems worsen and enterprises fail.

 

Open minds

In my experience, working toward a common goal doesn’t require common beliefs. But it does demand open minds. Leaders accomplish nothing when they work in opposition to their own people. For elected officials, this means forgetting whose vote they did or didn’t win, identifying common goals, soliciting ideas from everyone and walking a path toward practical solutions.

I’ve seen amazing things happen when people with a common purpose are inspired to set aside their differences. When I became president of KFC in 1994, the business was in decline and franchisees, who owned 70 percent of the restaurants, were in open revolt against the company. Still, it was clear that everyone sincerely wanted the business to succeed.

By the time I left the job, in 1997, sales jumped and profits had more than doubled. A financial analyst will tell you that product innovations — new menu items that spurred $125,000 in incremental sales per store — drove that turnaround. But it was only after we settled our differences with the franchisees that we were able to work together and produce those innovations. The revival of KFC was a financial win, but it was a testament to what can happen in a short period of time when common goals meet mutual trust.

Of course, the problems our country faces are far greater than anything a fast food restaurant might contend with. But we can agree on what those challenges are. Health care, immigration and the national debt are critical issues that require solutions now instead of continually kicking the can down the road. Without inspired, passionate leadership, any hope of finding those solutions is dim.

Like many Americans these days, I am saddened by the state of our politics. But I have seen time and time again in business the power of skillful leadership to turn even the worst situations around. And I want to do my part to help.

Teaching leadership

For the past 20 years, I have made it my mission to create better leaders in all factions of life. In 2012, I formed the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program, which helps middle- and high-school students learn leadership skills while working to meet a community need. In 2017, I helped launch the Novak Leadership Institute at the University of Missouri, which offers a new approach to leadership education rooted in the principles of empathy and strategic communication.

At David Novak Leadership, the leadership training company I co-founded in 2017, we give aspiring leaders the opportunity to step back, reflect on their leadership and develop a plan to drive transformational change. Our leadership principles have helped thousands of people from all levels and all walks of life gain a new perspective on their own leadership approach by tearing down confirmation bias, bolstering their productive conflict skills and demonstrating a powerful positive mindset to solve stubborn problems.

As Albert Einstein once noted, we cannot solve our problems using the same thinking that created them. That’s why we are making David Novak Leadership’s Essential Leadership Traits digital training program available for free to all elected officials in the U.S. at the federal, state and local level. I know in my heart that this course can help all leaders, no matter how much experience they have, become more self-aware and effect positive change. If this offer helps even one of our leaders do that, the effort will have been worthwhile.

Like you, I love this country and know we are capable of so much more. Like you, I am dismayed by the state of our political dialogue. But I am not fatalistic, and I am not ready to give up. There’s no doubt in my mind that all our elected officials want our country to succeed.

Time and again, this country has come face to face with despair, until a leader emerged, from either side of the aisle, to help renew our optimism. Personally, I believe there are leaders out there, and we should all do our part to help him or her succeed.

Elected officials can access their free Essential Leadership Traits digital program at ogolead.com. Elected Officials click here.

David Novak is the co-founder and retired chairman of Yum! Brands and the co-founder and CEO of David Novak Leadership, a digital leadership platform.

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Go public with your plans — it can get you to success

Repost from CNBC Make It!

By: David Novak, Co-Founder & CEO of David Novak Leadership

Think about the motivational books you’ve read, the inspiring Ted Talks you’ve watched or even the articles you’ve found on Make It. Have you found yourself inspired to make a change? We all have.

But be honest: how many of those inspirational tips have you actually implemented? Three? One? None?

I believe one reason for the lack of success is not closing the Intention-Action Gap.

Failing to turn your intentions, or plans, into actions means you are living in what experts call the Intention-Action Gap. This gap occurs when you have great intentions about making a change in your life, yet you fail to do what it takes to make that change.

As CEO of Yum! Brands, I became passionate about our customers and shared my plans about becoming Customer Maniacs with others. Guess what? Not everyone was on board. In fact, some were shocked that I wanted our team members to become obsessed with customers. I had a choice to make… live in the Intention-Action Gap because not everyone was on board or turn my intentions into action.

I decided to go public with my plan and took action. We trained all our restaurants around the world on Customer Mania. We taught our team members to exceed customer expectations. We gave our front-line team members permission to solve any customer issue that was under $10 without talking to a manager. Our team members learned how to listen to the voice of the customer. They learned how to recover from mistakes.

And guess what? Turning my Customer Mania plans into action paid off – because when you get people capability right, then you are going to satisfy more customers, and that’s how you make more money. That’s the formula for success.

I went public with my plans because it’s a great way to give yourself that extra motivation to see it through. Why? Because if you don’t do what you say, you sacrifice your integrity, you lose credibility, and people will not believe you when you say things. To be a good leader, you have to put pressure on yourself, so if it’s important for you to get something done, take a public stand on it. That’s why I’m a firm believer in “going public so you can’t go back!”

Another thing to keep in mind is our intentions and words without actions and follow-through are meaningless. In fact, this quote from Walk the Talk by Eric Harvey and Alexander Lucia can be quite enlightening. “We judge ourselves mostly by our intentions, but others judge us mostly by our actions. People hear what we say but they see what we do, and seeing is believing.” That’s a powerful insight. In fact, it’s a cornerstone behavior that we teach you in my Essential Leadership Traits Program.

You can choose to stop living in the Intention-Action Gap today. Ask yourself: What’s one intention you have that you want to turn into action? Who can you “go public with” so you can’t go back? Answering these two questions can help you cross the bridge from intentions to action.

Are you willing to take the first step?

David Novak created David Novak Leadership to help people become stronger leaders. He is co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands and a New York Times bestselling leadership author. He has been recognized as “2012 CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive magazine, one of the world’s “30 Best CEOs” by Barron’s, one of the “Top People in Business” by Fortune and one of the “100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review.

Don’t miss: The one skill that helps you get ahead regardless of your degree

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Why Delegation Makes You a Better Leader

Here’s a secret every leader should know: success isn’t a one-person show. Behind most big successes is a team of great people. A leader’s job is to empower their team to achieve great results, and a strong leader knows the importance of delegation in reaching their business’ goals.

When used correctly, delegation is a powerful tool that helps employees feel more engaged. Plus, goals are much more attainable when one person isn’t accountable for all the work.

It can be difficult to let go of work when it seems easier to do it yourself. But there’s great benefits to giving your team a chance to grow and take on new responsibilities. It’s important to know when to delegate though.

If you’re unsure about how you can best implement delegation, follow these guidelines:

  • The art of leadership is knowing when to give people total accountability, and knowing when they need a little coaching and help. Autonomy is an earned right. Don’t turn someone loose on something until they demonstrate they have the capability to do it right.
  • You want your people to feel empowered. Once you take the joy of the decision away, you take the joy of the job away. As soon as your new team members demonstrate that they have the capabilities to make the right decisions, empower them by giving them more responsibility and influence.
  • Delegation involves knowing when to let go. You don’t want to hover over them and micromanage to the point that they can’t take flight. Let people fly a little bit earlier than you think they might be ready for. By doing so, you show trust and are giving them the opportunity to rise to the occasion. In Jonathan Blum’s podcast, he shares how his boss gave him a huge responsibility early in his career. Find out how that paid off for Jonathan by listening here.

When you delegate, not only do you allow yourself to focus on other things, but you also make your team feel needed and useful. When employees feel like their work matters, they are more productive and work hard for better results. It’s a win, win! How can you start delegating today?

Becoming a better leader isn’t easy, and David Novak Leadership is here to help! Check out our website for leadership advice, blogs and podcasts, all designed to help you become the best leader you can be.

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Blog Conflict Lead Others Lead Yourself Training

Break Through Team Deadlock

One of the toughest spots a leader can find herself in is a deadlock with her team members. Have you ever found yourself in this situation?
Your cross functional team is supposed to make a recommendation to the leadership team on Friday, yet no one seems to be on the same page. Marketing is ready to plow ahead. Finance wants more information before making a decision. The operations and supply chain representatives want to go in completely opposite directions. How do you break through this impasse and get to a unified recommendation?

Why This Tool Will Help You Break Through Team Deadlock

David Novak Leadership co-founder, Gregg Dedrick, commonly uses a tool he calls “beat that.” After listening to the perspectives and rationale from each of the team members, he commonly puts out a straw man recommendation and says “beat that.”
The “beat that” recommendation moves the team’s focus and discussion from defending individual positions to reacting to the recommendation on the table. It challenges people to make the recommendation better, not simply poke holes at it.
By creating a “beat that” recommendation, the team can move past impasse and align on a plan to take to the leadership team. It doesn’t mean the plan can’t evolve over time, but by definition, it is the best recommendation that they have at that time.
The “beat that” tool releases your team from deadlock and often creates the best final solution that everyone can agree on. Try using this tool the next time your team comes to an impasse.
For more leadership insight and techniques to help you become a better leader, check out the leadership resource section at DavidNovakLeadership.com.

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Blog Intentional Job Hopping Lead Others Lead Yourself

Leadership, Horse Racing and the Triple Crown

By: David Novak, Co-Founder & CEO of David Novak Leadership

Donna is an expert in the horse racing field. She rode for 11 ½ years and retired in 1998 as the second leading female jockey in the country by money earned after having won 1,171 races. After retirement, Donna transitioned into reporting on horse racing and currently works as an on-track reporter for NBC. She is also COO of Starlight Racing and co-owner of Triple Crown Winner, Justify.
According to Donna Barton Brothers, winning in the horse racing industry requires leadership, persistence, and finding your niche. And these are lessons that can help any leader.
When I interviewed Donna, I was intrigued by the leadership lessons she shared and how they were relevant to everyone.

Know your people (or horse) so you can lead them well.

Horse racing requires communication, just like your job requires it. Donna learned the importance of communication when leading her horses. Horses communicate by flicking their ears, and this information helped Donna understand what her horses liked and didn’t like. She made adjustments to the way she rode by watching how her horses responded, and that made the difference in her winning races.
It’s important to recognize that people respond to you as a leader too. So, you have to pay attention so you can lead them effectively.
Do you listen and respond to your team and make adjustments? As the late Sam Walton used to say, the most powerful way to motivate people is to listen. Get to know your team. Understand what they like and don’t like. And make adjustments based on what they tell you. This will help you lead a winning team too.

Confidence and persistence can open doors for you.

Donna was passionate about riding for Wayne Lucas, yet she never met him before. So, she took the initiative to meet him. After winning three races at Keenland on opening day, she was the leading jockey. The next day, Donna introduced herself to Wayne and made her intentions known by saying, “Hello Mr. Lucas. My name is Donna Barton. I won three races here yesterday and I know that you are in the habit of riding the hot hand, and right now, that’s me. I was pretty sure you were gonna want to meet me.”
This single introduction wasn’t enough to get her riding in his barn. Donna started hanging out in his barn, sharing her insights on his horses and asking if he needed her to ride in the morning. The answer was typically no, until one day, a jockey didn’t show up and she got the opportunity to ride. Her confidence and persistence paid off and Donna became one of Wayne’s favorite jockeys.
Are you confident and persistent? Decide on what you want and then make your intentions known. Don’t give up after the first few nos. Instead, keep connecting and learning until your intentions become reality.

Instead of comparing yourself to others, find your niche.

Donna’s mother set the bar high for her children. She expected them to be the best at whatever they chose to do. When Donna became a broadcaster, she realized she wasn’t the best at it when she compared herself to other well-known broadcasters like Diane Sawyer. This knowledge really discouraged her.
Her sister helped her work through this by reminding Donna that she was the best broadcaster on horseback – no one did it better than her. Donna used this insight to reframe her perspective and celebrate the unique things she brings to the news, like capturing the emotion of jockeys after finishing a race before the emotion has time to go away and providing real time updates on delays because she’s where the action is. This allowed Donna to focus on being the best in her unique niche.
Do you get discouraged by comparing yourself to others? How can you change your perspective by discovering your niche and being the best in your own unique way?
Knowing your people, being confident and persistent, and finding your niche are powerful leadership lessons for anyone. You have the power to become the best leader you can be if you’re willing to take action on what you learn. It’s time for you to Go Lead!
If you enjoyed these leadership lessons, you don’t want to miss my podcast with Donna where she shares more insight on horseracing, winning, and leading. Listen to it here.

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Blog Lead Others Lead Yourself

How to Handle Unexpected Surprises in Your Career

Have you ever started a job with high hopes only to be surprised by the reality of your responsibilities? Maybe your current job is taking you in a direction you hadn’t planned for yourself, or perhaps you feel stuck and aren’t sure if the organization you work for is a good fit.

How you navigate these unexpected surprises matters. And getting advice from others who walked this road before you can help.

Free Leadership Assessment from David Novak LeadershipFirst, keep in mind that the path to success isn’t always straight forward, and more than likely you’ll end up taking a few pit-stops before you reach your destination.

In the early days of his career, David Novak never imagined he would become the CEO of a multinational company. Like many, he started at the bottom and worked his way up. Whenever he was presented with a new opportunity, he jumped at it.

If you’re like David and want to reach the next level, it’s important to keep getting better at what you do. Read up on the latest trends. Discover better methods. Know what works well and hone in on that. This is called being an avid learner. Choosing to be an avid learner will not only help you grow in your knowledge and skills, but it will also help you grow as a person and a leader.

Everyone worries about their future at some point; however, it’s important to stay focused. Throughout your career, you will probably deal with obstacles and anxieties, but trust that time and experience will take care of everything.

When faced with unexpected twists and turns on your career path, keep pressing on because you never know what you’ll be capable of. Always aim to be the best you can be, and maybe one day you’ll find yourself in a position beyond anything you’ve dreamed of. Then it will be your turn to share your wisdom and advice with others so they can learn navigate the unexpected surprises too.

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Blog Inspiring Others Job Hopping Lead Others

Leading with Risky Ideas

Imagine you are given an opportunity that could be the chance of a lifetime…but there’s a catch. You can’t pull it off on your own and there is risk involved. You know without a doubt this is a risk worth taking. What do you do?

Successful leaders will tell you that taking risks is part of their job. But the other part of the job that rarely gets talked about is how to lead a team when you are ready to take the jump.

Taking risks doesn’t have to be a daunting endeavor. Make the process less stressful by applying this 2-step method

1. Get all the facts

Do research and explore your options. Find stats to support your decision and list the reasons why this risk is worth taking.

Free Leadership Assessment from David Novak Leadership2. Get your team give input

Give your team a chance to voice their thoughts and concerns. They might bring up a point you haven’t considered.

Following these steps will solidify your reasons for taking the risk, and will ensure you don’t leave your team behind.

Now, imagine you are presented with the same incredible opportunity. There are still two catches, only this time you’re unsure if this decision is the right next step.

You are bound to have points in your career when you’re not 100% certain about a decision. As a leader, how do you instill confidence in your team about a risky idea or concept when you might not feel so confident about it yourself?

Don’t worry, we have steps for that, too:

1. Be honest

Admit that you don’t know. Your team will appreciate you being upfront. By being honest, you give your team a chance to get involved in the decision. Then, after considering the options, if you still think that it is right to take the risk, you make the call. If you decide to take the risk, follow the next step.

2. Ask for a team together/team apart execution

Team together happens when your team aligns as a whole to make the decision. Then, once the decision is made, everyone must be a team apart. They choose to follow the decision, even if they don’t entirely agree. They know it’s time to move forward and they set out to execute the decision to the best of their abilities.

Once your team is on board, put your sights ahead and give it your best shot. Stay on course, and only change if the data shows you’re headed in the wrong direction.

Hopefully, you will have the success that comes with taking risks, but even if you don’t, at least you’ll know that you were smart about it.

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How Do You Manage When "X" Hits The Fan ?

The biggest “X” to hit the fan in 2017 had to be the Equifax data breach. After all, when you let 145 million people down, that is a pretty big deal. The embarrassment reached new heights when the CEO admitted he wasn’t sure if the company was encrypting its customers’ data. Out of the millions who were affected, many didn’t feel Equifax was doing enough to handle the crisis.

Free Leadership Assessment from David Novak LeadershipWe all face adversity in life, but the way we handle it can have a huge impact on our future success. Here are 5 things you can do when dealing with a crisis:

  1. Don’t panic. We all know that person who doesn’t deal well under pressure. When “X” hits the fan, you don’t want to be that person. Instead, be calm, cool, and collected. If you trust that you’ll get to the right place, those who follow you will too.
  2. Get the facts. Understand what caused the problem to happen. Don’t leave any area untouched. When leaders know exactly what they’re dealing with, they are more prepared to fix it.
  3. Make a good decision based on those facts. Once you determine what caused the issue, the next step is to assess the “X” and make a plan to resolve the problem.
  4. Tell everybody what you are going to do and why. Once you know how to tackle the problem, you need to alert anyone who has been affected by the crisis. Let them know the steps you’ve taken to understand the issue, and then tell them what you plan to do about it.
  5. Layout what you’ll do to make sure it will never happen again. This is most important. As a leader, you need to show people that you care when things go wrong. When an organization proves it has learned from its mistakes, and promises to keep them from happening again, that earns trust.

Another way to earn trust is to make sure your communication is bullet proof and weasel proof. Be 100% clear about what you know. Don’t leave out information or only address certain issues. If you’re being inconsistent, or hiding certain facts, someone will point it out. Be forthcoming and don’t give anyone a reason to question you. You’ll be the leader everyone wants around when the next crisis hits.

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Why Great Leaders Need Truth Tellers

Why Great Leaders Need Truth Tellers in their lives

Were your antennae clipped at birth? This is not your typical leadership question, but let’s consider how helpful this question can be. Antennae provide sensory information to insects which helps them better understand their environment. While humans don’t have actual antennae, we use environmental clues to discover how we are perceived by others. Yet not everyone’s antennae work perfectly, and some seem to have had their antennae clipped at birth. Research refers to this as lacking emotional intelligence, but I’ve found that asking if your antennae were clipped gets people’s attention a lot better!

When serving as the Head of Human Resources at Yum! Brands, I frequently got to help people who were stuck in their growth and performance. Have you ever worked with someone who seemed completely unaware of how their attitude and actions impacted others? Me too – and those are the people I describe as having their antennae clipped at birth. For example, consider the person who talks too much in meetings and constantly interrupts others, yet her behavior doesn’t change. Others dread going to meetings and don’t feel heard because she talks all the time. Because her antennae are clipped, she doesn’t realize how her behavior negatively impacts the team. The truth is, some people don’t have antennae to help them navigate their relationships.

We all have blind spots in our lives, even if our antennae work properly. The key to uncovering our blind spots is giving people permission to give us feedback. When we invite people to serve as truth tellers in our lives, we learn and grow. If we don’t have a few truth tellers, we run the risk of staying stuck with behaviors that are ineffective, and possibly destructive, to our success.
 
I know from personal experience that asking for feedback can be hard because you might be surprised by what you hear. When I was Head of Human Resources at KFC, I was introduced to a feedback exercise and decided to try it out with the Executive Team. We had one minute to complete two statements about each Executive Team Member in a round robin format:
 
  • What I appreciate about you
  • How you can be more effective
I got more feedback from these two questions than I received in an entire year! Some of it was encouraging, some of it was helpful, and one particular piece of feedback was shocking. During this exercise, I found out that one of my peers thought I was going over his head to send him messages. This information shocked me because that was not my intent. Because my relationship with this peer was important to me, I took action to repair our relationship. We started having regular lunch meetings where I shared what was going on and what I was thinking. And over time, we developed a productive relationship because he shared feedback with me and I took action to make changes.
 
The Executive Team Round Robin opened my eyes to how powerful this feedback tool can be. And once I understood the power of receiving feedback, I recruited a few people to become my truth tellers. I regularly asked them to give me straight feedback, and they agreed to be honest. Seeking out feedback has helped me become a better leader in both my personal and professional life.
 
Ken Blanchard coined the phrase, – Feedback is the breakfast of champions. I’m a firm believer in the
truth of this phrase. It’s a simple way to remind you that you need to invite people to give you feedback daily, just like you eat breakfast each day. Both breakfast and regular feedback helps you become more
productive.
 
Were your antennae clipped at birth? Maybe not, but we can all use a few truth tellers in our lives. Who can you invite to be your truth tellers? Once you identify them, use this feedback tool to start the conversation. And remember to seek out that feedback regularly! Building discipline around asking for feedback can help you become a better leader. Who will you ask for feedback today? Download the Truth Tellers Feedback Exercise to help you get started.
 
David Novak Leadership is all about investing in you and helping you become the best leader you can be. And we invite you to pay it forward by sharing this blog and the feedback tool with others. Who can you share this with today?
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From Trailer Park to Corner Office: How My Past Impacts My Present

back view of programmer sitting with hands behind head at workplace

By: David Novak, Co-Founder & CEO of David Novak Leadership

What do you want to be when you grow up? People are asked this question all the time, especially when they are young. Did you know that only 30% of global workers work in the field of their childhood dream job?1

I have to confess that I did not end up working in the field of my childhood dream job. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a Major League Baseball player before the reality set in that I couldn’t hit a curve ball. At one time, I saw myself as a sports writer.

Because my dad worked for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, marking latitudes and longitudes for the nation’s mapmakers, we moved every three months from small town to small town. I actually lived in 23 states by the time I was in seventh grade! My dad would hook up our trailer to his government truck and we would move to the next town. We literally took our neighborhood with us as the rest of the surveyors and their families moved together. The largest house I lived in until junior high was 8-foot-wide by 40-foot long. I always tell people I succeeded because of my upbringing, not in spite of it. (This is important to me.) The biggest break I got was having loving parents who wanted me to achieve the American dream.

Who would think that a kid from the trailer parks, whose childhood can best be described as nomadic, would ever have a chance at becoming the CEO of Yum! Brands at the age of 46? Certainly I wouldn’t have. Yet the lessons I learned from my trailer park days actually helped me become a successful CEO. Let me share one particular example about how my past impacts my present.

download the lifeline exercise and discover how your past shapes your futureMy dad has always been tremendously supportive, and he worked his tail off to give us a better life. But in many ways my mother was my first mentor. Every time we got to a new place, she would take me to the local school to get me registered and then say to me, “Look, David, you’ve got to take the initiative to make friends. Don’t hang back and wait for the other kids to come to you. We’re only going to be here for a few months, so make them count.”

That’s how I learned how to size people up in a hurry and how to figure out quickly who the good ones were and who I should avoid. As a result, when it comes to assessing people I’ve got a good gut instinct that I still listen to whenever I meet someone new (which, when you’re CEO, is practically all the time) or have to decide whether to hire or promote someone.

Fast forward… Soon after becoming CEO of Yum! Brands, I went to my first meeting of the Business Council. Its members are one hundred twenty-five of the top CEOs in the country, and I was meeting these captains of the industry for the first time. They are the people who run General Electric, Boeing, and General Motors, and they had no idea who I was. It wasn’t all that different from the first day at a new school. I quickly sized everyone up and, remembering that they all put their pants on the same way every morning, worked my way around the room. If it hadn’t been for those early school experiences, I’m not sure this would have come so naturally to me in my later life.

But I’m not the only one with a humble beginning who ended up in a corner office. Brian Cornell, the Chairman and CEO of Target Brands, also had a humble upbringing with many challenges. But he learned from these challenges and now uses what he learned from his early years to lead many as the CEO of Target. I recently interviewed Brian as part of our biweekly Podcasts. Here’s what he shared.

I grew up in a really humble environment. I lost my dad when I was young and my mom had a series of illnesses, so I had to grow up the hard way. I worked for many years as a little kid – mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and washing trucks. So if you look back in time, when I was a kid, you would say there’s no chance that this person, growing up in this kind of environment, ends up doing what he’s doing.

I learned early in life that there’s only three ways that I could put my economic circumstances aside and just move forward:

  1. In school, because when the test is handed out, nobody cared who my dad was or how much money I had.
  2. In sports on the playing field because there, the playing field was level.
  3. At work, because once you showed up, it was all about performance and execution and doing the things that were put in front of you.

I embraced the level playing field idea early. I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I said I’m gonna perform, excel, and take advantage of opportunities. And somehow it all worked out. It wasn’t some magical path. I didn’t grow up in a CEO’s household. I had to work for literally everything I had by finding part-time jobs so I had money baseball cleats and football equipment. But it all worked out because I found what worked for me.

And I was really fortunate to have great mentors and leaders and people who just cared, like my grandparents who raised me. My grandfather was an engineer and he taught me about hard work, great values and the importance of a great attitude. My grandmother was really focused on education, and she talked about working hard in school, learning, and what that was going to bring to me. But most importantly, my grandparents were two individuals who really cared. They showed me how important it was to have people who cared for you – to give you advice and sometimes to give you tough love.

Brian learned how to work hard and care about people from his humble upbringing and he uses that today in his role as Chairman and CEO of Target.

Walt Disney puts a positive spin on the ways adversity from your past can have a positive impact on your future. “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

What about you? How does your upbringing or the adversities from your past impact the way you lead today? Download this guide to find out! It provides some questions to help you evaluate your past so you can better understand why you lead the way you do today. Your past can be a powerful tool if you’re willing to revisit it and learn from it. Are you willing?

lifeline exerciseMaybe you know someone who has a challenging past. Would they be inspired by what you just read? Pay it forward today by sharing this blog and guide with them. By showing you care, you may inspire them to become a better leader. Go Lead!

1 https://qz.com/29058/workers-outside-the-us-are-more-likely-to-pursue-their-dream-jobs/

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Why You Need to Heartwire AND Hardwire Your Leadership

By: David Novak, Co-Founder & CEO of David Novak Leadership

Leadership failure is everywhere. I recently did a quick internet search on the topic and you wouldn’t believe the titles that appeared:

  • Businesses Don’t Fail, Leaders Do
  • 6 Warning Signs of a Leadership Failure
  • The Key Causes of Failure in Leadership
  • Why America’s Leadership Fails

These titles only scratch the surface! There were pages and pages of articles on leadership failure. Yet success is totally possible if you know and practice a secret I discovered while serving as Co-founder and CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, operating in over 130 countries. The secret is called Heartwiring™ AND Hardwiring™ your leadership. Lots of leaders talk about how to hardwire success through process and I’m a big supporter of that. But I know that hardwired leadership is much more effective if you combine it with Heartwired leadership™. I’m passionate about heartwiring and hardwiring leaders because I know it works. As CEO of a global company, I’ve invested significant time teaching this leadership style to thousands of leaders around the world… and it showed in the results we shared with Wall Street.

But before I explain what heartwiring and hardwiring means, let me share some of my background with you. I’ll start at the beginning…

I was anything but a born leader but I feel absolutely certain I was born to lead and teach.  My early education was far from typical when you consider I grew up in a series of trailer parks and ended up living in 23 states by the time I was in seventh grade.  Then, rather than getting an MBA or even majoring in business, I enrolled in the journalism school at the University of Missouri.  After graduation, I started my career as a $7,200 a year copywriter with the objective of one day being a creative director.  My career didn’t turn out exactly as I planned.  In fact, through a series of career “accidents,” I left the world of advertising and ended up in the restaurant industry. Over the course of my career, I’ve held many roles:

  • Copywriter
  • Account Executive
  • Head of Marketing for Pizza Hut
  • Chief Operating Officer for beverage division of PepsiCo
  • President of KFC and Pizza Hut
  • Co-Founder and CEO of Yum! Brands

Along the way, I had the privilege of learning from all kinds of leaders from all around the world, from the likes of Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon and Howard Schultz. And while I was fortunate enough to learn from Fortune 500 CEOs, I equally loved learning from the restaurant front line managers and franchisees. Through it all, I have been a passionate student of leadership, constantly seeking new techniques and major insights from the smartest and best people I could go see. The lessons I learned and put into practice from this diverse group of leaders shaped me and helped me achieve a fair bit of success. I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without the people who invested in my leadership journey.

Upon retiring from Yum! Brands, I knew there was more work to be done… that my leadership journey was far from over. I became excited about investing in leaders like you by sharing what my team and I learned about leadership over the years, so David Novak Leadership was born.

David Novak Leadership is about Heartwiring Leaders™ and Hardwiring Success™! Let me explain. Early in my career, I had an experience that changed how I thought about my own role as a leader and inspired me to accomplish what, for me, is my greatest example of taking people with me.  I was working for PepsiCo and recently became head of operations for Pepsi Bottling. Since I had held mainly marketing positions until then, one of the first things I did was travel to our various plants to meet with the people there and find out how things worked.

While at a plant in St. Louis, I asked what I thought was a pretty straightforward merchandising question to a group of route salesman. I wanted to know what was working and what wasn’t. Right away, someone piped up, “Bob is the expert in that area.  He can tell you how it’s done.” Someone else added, “Bob taught me more in one day than I’d learned in two years on the job.” Every single person in the room agreed:  Bob was the best there was. I looked over at Bob, thinking he must be thrilled by all this praise.  Instead, I saw he had tears running down his face. When I asked him what was wrong, Bob, who had been with the company for over forty years and was about to retire in just two weeks, said, “I never knew anyone felt this way about me.”

I’ve always believed in people, but that experience made me even more determined to be the kind of leader that would never let a person like Bob go through his entire career without being thanked for what he did and encouraged to find out how much more he could do. I wanted the people who worked for me to know that they mattered, and I wanted them to enjoy coming to work each day. I also understood it started with me. It was my job to cast the right leadership shadow, because no one else was going to live up to these principles unless I lived up to them first. This is what heartwiring is all about – becoming a leader who listens to those you lead, cares about them, recognizes them, and acknowledges that every person on your team has value.

Hardwiring Success is all about what you do as a leader: using processes, procedures and discipline to get consistent results.

Heartwiring AND Hardwiring are equally important, because who you are as a leader is just as important as what you do as a leader.

As you join me on my leadership journey to becoming the best leader you can be, I’ll share my personal leadership story – things I did well, as well as my mistakes. I’ll share lessons I learned along the way. I’ll be honest and real, because sometimes the best way to learn is from the success and mistakes of others. I want you to know you’re not alone as a leader. I’ll commit to being one of the most transparent and honest leaders and teachers you’ve ever had.

Let me share what you can expect from David Novak Leadership:

  • Profound truths, practically applied rather than textbook, theoretical answers to your leadership questions.  I’m committed to sharing what I’ve learned through my experiences (the good, bad and ugly). I’ll also introduce you to other leaders because I want you to have a diversity of wisdom and insights to apply throughout your own leadership journey.
  • Transformational change that sticks rather than checklists that fade quickly. I’ll help you think differently about people and leadership so the changes you make are sustainable.  One of the best ways to change your leadership style is by doing something different, and I’ll provide insight on actions you can take to change the way you lead.
  • Leading by taking people with you rather than the traditional top down, hierarchical leadership style. I am passionate about the importance of taking people with you every step of the way. Top down hierarchies just aren’t as effective, and I want you to have a better way to lead.

John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” This is my goal for David Novak Leadership – to inspire you to dream more, do more and become more. Starting this month, you can stay connected with me by signing up to receive our bi-weekly blogs and podcasts. I’ll answer your leadership questions via video each month too. If you’d like to learn more about my leadership journey today, check out my books:

  • The Education of an Accidental CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the Corner Office tells the story of how I became CEO and the lessons I learned along the way.
  • Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make BIG Things Happen teaches you how to hardwire success by getting your mindset right, having a plan, and following through to get results.
  • O Great One! A Little Story about the Awesome Power of Recognition tells the story of a heartwired leader who transformed an organization through the power of recognition.

I’m a firm believer that leadership is about who you are AND what you do. Heartwiring Leaders! Hardwiring Success!  That’s what David Novak Leadership is all about. Follow me @DavidNovak on social media, because together, as leaders, we can make a bigger difference! Click here to listen to my podcast with Gregg Dedrick discussing why we began David Novak Leadership.

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To Be Yourself, Know Yourself

By: David Novak, Co-Founder and CEO of David Novak Leadership

Number one on my list of lessons for leadership is to “be yourself.” Yes, you’ve heard this a million times, but it is the only way to gain trust and keep people on your side. Authenticity breeds trust, which will take you pretty far.

Consider the times you’ve seen someone on TV or even in person that you could just tell wasn’t being authentic. It happens all the time with politicians, business leaders, salespeople, and even teachers and parents. They try to be someone or something they aren’t and most often, they will trip up and get caught in the act. Once people see through the show, the trust is broken.

In leadership, you need to realize that everyone is scared of letting their weaknesses show, especially in the business world. By showing your vulnerable side, you can let others know that you’re just like they are. It helps you gain their trust and allows them to more easily open up instead of feeling intimidated by your role or title. It helps you help them be authentic.

As a leader, you need to know yourself in order to help others get better at being themselves. It may take some self reflection for you to realize who you are and where you’ve been. Take a long, hard look at your own past and what events shaped you. Pay special attention to the lessons that weren’t easily learned and how you gained knowledge and grew. These insights will help you further grow yourself and relate to your teams.
To help you teach others to open up and be who they are, consider these tips:

  • Believe in all your people. Celebrating their individualities while keeping them working toward the same goals can be challenging. But by having respect for their styles and values, you can still lead everyone toward success.
  • Give them individual development plans. Appreciate their strengths, and take time to find out what makes each person tick. Then, you can help them find ways to be more effective at what they do.
  • Provide a safe haven for input. Include everyone in discussions and make it easy for them to feel comfortable speaking up. When they disagree with you, listen to their points and thank them for sharing their side.

Remember, we are all works in progress. We are each individuals with unique strengths and weaknesses. Showing your team that you are always working to better yourself can help them accept their own challenges and work on them, too.
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