Taking People With You, David Novak
Taking People With You, David Novak
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Taking People With You
The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen

Author: David Novak

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 6 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 01/31/2012


Synopsis

David Novak learned long ago that you can't lead a great organization of any size without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission. But how do you do that? There are countless leadership books, but how many will actually help a Taco Bell shift manager, a Fortune 500 CEO, a new entrepreneur, or anyone in between?

Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a trademarked program he calls Taking People with You. He spends several weeks each year personally teaching it to thousands of managers around the world. He convinces them that they'll never make big things happen until they learn how to get people on their side. No skill in business is more important. And Yum!'s extraordinary success (at least 13 percent growth for each of the last nine years) proves his point.

Novak knows that managers don't need leadership platitudes or business school theories. So he cuts right to the chase with a step-by- step guide to setting big goals, getting people to work together, blowing past your targets, and celebrating after you shock the skeptics. And then doing it again and again until consistent excellence becomes a core element of your culture.

This audiobook has specific tools at the end of each chapter that will challenge you to reflect on how you're really doing on key aspects of leadership. And if you apply it, you'll immediately start to improve.

You'll learn how to . . .
• Get inside the heads of your people. You can't convince them of anything until you see the world from their perspective.
• Think big. If your sales growth last year was 3.5 percent, don't aim for 4 percent this year, aim for 15 percent. Even if you fail, you'll probably do better than you would have with a smaller goal.
• Practice "extraordinary authenticity." Show occasional vulnerability and admit when you don't have the answers.
• Look for good ideas in unexpected places. Novak's team came up with Cool Ranch Doritos for Frito-Lay during a field trip to a grocery store's salad dressing aisle.
• Choose a can-do mind-set. There's a huge difference between a boss who says "We can try this" and one who says "We can do this!"
• Cheer for first downs, not just touchdowns. Publicly recognizing and rewarding small wins keeps everyone motivated for the long haul.
• Get rid of cynics. In many teams one person will reject your values and spread negative energy. Moving that person out will show everyone else you're serious.

About David Novak

DAVID NOVAK is a cofounder and former CEO of Yum! Brands. He has been recognized as “CEO of the Year” by Chief Executive, one of the “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. He created Lead2Feed (the largest privately funded leadership service program in middle schools and high schools) and won the Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education. He is the author of two acclaimed books, The Education of an Accidental CEO and the New York Times bestseller Taking People with You. He is currently launching a new company, OGO Enterprises.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ben

It’s rare to be given insight into the mind of a business leader (or just any leader, for that matter) who has “been there, done that” and ended up with plenty of champagne moments. Goodness knows there’s plenty of people we all point to who haven’t done things quite so well. Before reading this, I d......more

Loved everything about the book... I love the tools offered throughout the chapters that help you evaluate your own life and your own growth and progress even though I didn't come up with a "Big Goal" that I wanted to reach or create. Mr. Novak's Taking People with You program shares great leadershi......more

Goodreads review by Lucas

Great read, but I had to return before I had time to review fully. Here's the table of contents: Chapter 1: An Insight-Driven Approach to Leading People and Achieving Big Goals Part One: Get Your Mind-Set Right Chapter 2: Be Your Best Self: Be Yourself, Know Yourself, Grow Yourself Chapter 3: Be an Avid......more

Goodreads review by Kevin

An okay leadership book, written by an obviously intelligent and successful person. I appreciated the stories that were told, almost as case studies: here's something I did that failed miserably, and here's why. Here's something I did that was successful, and here's why. It was a bit forgettable to......more