David C. Novak

Last updated

David C. Novak
David Novak 2019.jpg
Novak in 2019
Born (1952-10-30) October 30, 1952 (age 70)
Beeville, Texas, United States
Alma mater University of Missouri
OccupationFounder and CEO of David Novak Leadership; co-founder, retired chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands, Inc.
Known forDavid Novak Leadership, Yum! Brand's, Inc., PepsiCo, Lift-A-Life Foundation

David Charles Novak (born October 30, 1952) is an American businessman, author and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of David Novak Leadership, and co-founder and former CEO of YUM! Brands Inc. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Novak was born in Beeville, Texas in 1952. His father was a government surveyor, marking latitudes and longitudes for the nation's mapmakers and would move the family to the next location about every three months. By the time Novak was 12, he had lived in 32 trailer parks in 23 states. Novak says the "nomadic" childhood experiences taught him how to be a better leader and helped him succeed.

Novak received a bachelor's degree majoring in journalism with an advertising minor from the University of Missouri and was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. [4]

Career

Novak is Founder and CEO of David Novak Leadership, a leadership development method that teaches leadership skills through an online training platform, digital leadership training platform, podcasts, blogs, and videos.

In 2016, Novak launched David Novak Leadership, [5] the "world's first recognition brand" on a mission to convince people of the usefulness of recognizing what others have done and close what he has dubbed the "global recognition deficit." He believes recognition creates an energized work force and inspires people to do great things. [6] He also wrote O Great One! A Little Story About the Awesome Power of Recognition.

Novak is the co-founder, retired chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands, Inc. (CEO from 1999 to January 1, 2016). [7] [8] During Novak's tenure at Yum! Brands, the company doubled the number of restaurants to 41,000, market capitalization grew to almost $32 billion from just under $4 billion and it was an industry leader in return on invested capital.

Novak was president at KFC and Pizza Hut, and held senior management positions at Pepsi-Cola Company, including chief operating officer and executive vice president of marketing and sales.

Novak in 2012 David Novak.jpg
Novak in 2012

His first job was as an advertising copywriter at Ketchum advertising agency. He was executive vice president/director account services Tracy-Lock/BBDO in Dallas, Texas, serving as account supervisor on Frito-Lay products, Pepsi-Cola accounts and others, before becoming the executive vice president of all Frito-Lay products at the agency.

Novak is credited with the invention of Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola introduced in 1992. While it did not succeed in the marketplace, Novak stated that he learned a valuable lesson from that failure; even though every project had naysayers that would tell him something could not be done, "sometimes the naysayers have a point." [9]

Novak's passion is to make the world a better place by developing leaders at all ages through David Novak Leadership, his family's Lift-a-Life Foundation, Lead4Change, Global Game Changers and The Novak Leadership Institute at the University of Missouri. Lead4Change is the largest privately funded leadership service program in middle and high schools. Novak and his wife, Wendy, also donated $21.6 million to the University of Missouri, School of Journalism to create the Novak Leadership Institute.

He was named 2012 Chief Executive of the Year by Chief Executive magazine. [10]

Novak is the author of three leadership books, including the New York Times bestseller Taking People With You, The Only Way to Achieve Big Things, O Great One!, A little Story About the Awesome Power of Recognition and The Education of an Accidental CEO, Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the Corner Office.

In June 2022, Novak was announced as a member of a group that purchased Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club from the PGA of America. [11]

Awards and honors

Novak has been very active in impacting the business world. As a senior management member, he has received several prestigious awards. He was recognized by Chief Executive Magazine as "2012 CEO of the Year," 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. [2] He received the 2015 Horatio Alger Award for his commitment to philanthropy and higher education and became a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pepsi</span> Soft drink by PepsiCo

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFC</span> American fast food restaurant chain

KFC is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain after McDonald's, with 22,621 locations globally in 150 countries as of December 2019. The chain is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yum! Brands</span> American multinational fast food holding corporation

Yum! Brands, Inc., formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American fast food corporation listed on the Fortune 1000. Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, except in China, where the brands are operated by a separate company, Yum China. Yum! previously also owned Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sculley</span> American businessman

John Sculley III is an American businessman, entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups. Sculley was vice-president (1970–1977) and president of PepsiCo (1977–1983), until he became chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc. on April 8, 1983, a position he held until leaving in 1993. In May 1987, Sculley was named Silicon Valley's top-paid executive, with an annual salary of US$10.2 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystal Pepsi</span> Clear cola by PepsiCo

Crystal Pepsi is a clear cola soft drink made by PepsiCo. It was initially released in the United States and Canada from 1992 to 1994. Online grassroots revival efforts prompted brief re-releases throughout the mid-2010s. It was briefly sold in the United Kingdom and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PepsiCo</span> American multinational food and beverage corporation

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc. PepsiCo has since expanded from its namesake product Pepsi Cola to an immensely diversified range of food and beverage brands. The largest and most recent acquisition was Pioneer Foods in 2020 for US$1.7 billion and prior to it was buying the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to the Pepsi portfolio and Tropicana Products in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valhalla Golf Club</span> Golf Club

Valhalla Golf Club, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is a private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Lay</span> American businessman

Herman Warden Lay was an American businessman who was involved in potato chip manufacturing with his eponymous brand of Lay's potato chips. He started H.W. Lay Co., Inc., now part of the Frito-Lay corporation, a subsidiary of PepsiCo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indra Nooyi</span> Indian business executive

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and former chief executive officer and chairperson of PepsiCo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Roberts (businessman)</span> British businessman (born 1949)

Kevin John Roberts is a British businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi from 1997 to 2014. In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, which was invented and promoted by Roberts. Roberts became executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi in 2015, then non-executive chairman in 2016. He resigned in August 2016 to focus on the marketing and leadership consultancy he founded in 1995, Red Rose Consulting.

Brenda Czajka Barnes was an American businesswoman who served as president, chairman and chief executive of Sara Lee, and was the first female CEO at PepsiCo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerardo I. Lopez</span>

Gerardo I. Lopez, also known as Gerry Lopez, is the former CEO and President of Extended Stay America, Inc. He was previously CEO and President of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.; Marquee Holdings Inc.; and AMC Entertainment Inc..

Transcom Group Limited is a Bangladeshi business conglomerate. The businesses under this group include beverage, pharmaceuticals, newspaper, radio channel, electronics, foods, etc. Transcom is the local agent or comprador of international brands. This group employs more than 10,000 people. Transcom Group is one of the oldest and biggest companies in Bangladesh. Their operation in Bangladesh initially started in 1985 as a tea plantation company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Enrico</span> American businessman

Roger Anthony Enrico was an American businessman who is best known for his lengthy service as chief executive officer of PepsiCo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frito-Lay</span> American company producing snack foods

Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips, Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Rold Gold pretzels, and Walkers potato crisps. Each brand generated annual worldwide sales over $1 billion in 2009.

Alan B. Miller is an American businessman who is the founder of Universal Health Services, and currently serves as the company's executive chairman. Miller founded the company in 1979 and it has grown to become a large provider of hospital and healthcare services in the United states. His company had revenues of $12.6 billion for 2021. In September 2020, UHS announced that, consistent with the company's long-standing succession plan, Alan B. Miller would step down as CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Cooper III</span>

Frank Cooper III is a business executive, branded entertainment leader and current Chief Marketing Officer for Visa. Cooper was earlier CMO of BlackRock, CMO/Chief Creative Officer of BuzzFeed and served as CMO of Global Consumer Engagement for PepsiCo, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of KFC</span> Overview of the history of KFC

KFC was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Sanders identified the potential of restaurant franchising, and the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952. KFC popularized chicken in the fast-food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger. Branding himself "Colonel Sanders", the founder became a prominent figure of American cultural history, and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising. The company's rapid expansion made it too large for Sanders to manage, so in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown, Jr. and Jack C. Massey.

Brian C. Cornell is an American businessman. Cornell is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Target Corporation. He is also non-executive chairman of Yum! Brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Lane (executive)</span>

Tim Lane is a US corporate executive, entrepreneur, and investor.

References

  1. ↑ "David C. Novak: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Taking People With You". takingpeoplewithyou.com. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Former CEO of a $33 billion fast-food company shares the greatest leadership insight he's ever had". Business Insider. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ Licata, Elizabeth. "Yum! Brands' former CEO donates $21 million to journalism school". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  5. ↑ "OGO (O Great One!)". whosyourogo.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  6. ↑ "The One Truth You Should Know That Most Leaders Keep Quiet".
  7. ↑ "David C. Novak to step down as Yum chairman/CEO". Lane Communications Group. May 1, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ Jargon, Julie (May 1, 2014). "Yum Says Novak to Leave CEO Role, Become Executive Chairman" . The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Jones, Del (November 7, 2007). "Even good CEOs can pick the wrong direction". ABC News. USA Today. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ Donlon, J. P. (July–August 2012). "The Recognition Leader". Chief Executive (259): 24–32. ISSN   0160-4724.
  11. ↑ "PGA of America Sells Valhalla Golf Club to a Local Group of Club Members" (PDF) (Press release). PGA of America. June 1, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.