Sessions

Bestselling author, one of the world’s “30 Best CEOs” for the past two years by Barron’s and globally acclaimed leadership expert, David Novak delivers a battle-tested leadership guide to building great companies by developing great talent. Novak shares the secrets of his “Taking People With You” leadership program that he has taught to thousands of managers and franchisees around the world during his 15 years at Yum! Brands. His focus on corporate culture and employee empowerment includes: setting big goals but celebrating the small wins to build motivation along the way; winning loyalty by practicing “extraordinary authenticity” and occasionally admitting you don’t have the answers; and getting rid of cynics who spread negative energy to your staff. Novak shares his own experiences and pinpoints the strategies can be applied to a wide variety of business situations for a successful outcome. Change the way you think about leadership and learn how to get the best from your staff with practical strategies for developing talent, empowering people, building teams and creating a success-oriented corporate culture.

"We’ve focused primarily on getting results through people.  We’ve said from the beginning that our formula for success is build people capability first, then we will satisfy more customers and make more money." - David Novak

"My personal belief is it’s hard to make customers feel good unless employees feel good.  So, if you have an environment where your team members are feeling good and they’re working well together, they’re going to have a lot easier time making customers feel good." - David Novak

My primary responsibility is to develop leaders because I believe, “Show me a great leader and I’ll show you a great business.” I have our leaders come to this program and I ask them to bring the single biggest thing they’re working on that will have the biggest impact on our business. I ask them, “How many of you can get it done by yourself?” The answer is, “No one can.  We all have to take people with us.” - David Novak