As the co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with a portfolio including franchises like KFC and Pizza Hut, David Novak drove tangible results.
In the 17 years he was CEO, from 1999 to 2016, Novak helped scale the company to eight times its original size, from a market capitalization of $4 billion to $32 billion. However, Novak credits the numbers to a more qualitative than quantitative aspect of leadership — creating the right work culture.
In a conversation with Masters of Scale host Jeff Berman that aired earlier this month, Novak explained how he steered Yum! Brands from the beginning.
“I made my number one priority to really create a powerful culture where everyone counts,” Novak said. “That became job number one for me as a CEO, because if I can create that right work environment, people will innovate and people will go further.”
Novak explained that early on, he tried to learn from companies that were winning or consistently delivered good results. He went out and visited companies including Walmart, Home Depot, and General Electric.
“We met with them,” Novak said. “Then we came back and we codified what’s really driving the success of these companies that allow them to get to great results year after year.”
Novak, who oversaw 1.5 million employees globally, began emphasizing recognition and encoding it into Yum!’s culture. In previous interviews, he talked about how he would use recognition to motivate employees. In one case, at KFC, Novak gave away rubber chickens and $100 as an award for a job well done.
Today, Yum!’s culture remains one of recognition and collaboration, per its public-facing culture page.