What great leaders know about not knowing it all
4/23/202622 min
People often expect their leaders to have all the answers; David Novak built his career by challenging that assumption. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, the former CEO and cofounder of Yum! Brands and current chair of Versant speaks with Eric Kutcher, McKinsey’s chair of North America, about the experiences that shaped his leadership—from engaging with front-line franchisees to managing a very public product flop—and how other leaders can learn from them.
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.
See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 seconds· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hey everyone. Today we're launching a special new monthly series as part of the McKinsey Podcast.
Roberta Fusaro· Host0:09
Yeah, and in it, Eric Kutcher, who's McKinsey's chair of North America, is speaking with leaders about the experiences that have shaped them.
· Host0:18
And in this episode, David Novak joins us. Roberta, do you remember a soda called Crystal Pepsi?
Roberta Fusaro· Host0:26
The one thing that I do remember about that particular brand was that it was spoofed, right? There was a Saturday Night Live skit- [gasps] ... where they created something called Cl- [laughs] Clear Gravy.
· Host0:38
That is fantastic. I don't remember that at all, but, um, I'm sure I can excavate it. So the idea for Crystal Pepsi was David Novak's, and in this episode, you hear a really kind of humble but also profound lesson that David learned from the failure of Crystal Pepsi. But much more than that specific product, David is, like, a huge business leader known for tremendous successes as co-founder and former CEO of Yum Brands, as well as C-suite positions at KFC, Pizza Hut, PepsiCo. He's also a best-selling author, and he is a podcast host in his own right.
Roberta Fusaro· Host1:25
So let's all grab our favorite beverage and have a listen to David and