We like to think of CEOs as creatures of success, but doing so misses the bigger picture.
It takes hard work, determination, and the ability to connect with others to be considered for the top slot. But, once attained, the pressure to perform intensifies. David Novak knows all about this challenge; he was the CEO of YUM Brands for ten years. He had his share of successes, but now that he is retired from that position, he focuses on something else: developing new leaders through his coaching, podcasting and his leadership consulting.
His newest book is, Take Charge of You: How Self-Coaching Can Transform Your Life and Your Career, co-authored with Jason Goldsmith, and it’s an inside look (okay, pun intended) about what it takes to know yourself so you can perform at your best. In the book and an interview with Emily Bobrow at the Wall Street Journal, he is candid about his shortcomings. “I was too in love with my own idea, and I moved too fast on it,” he says about a product he introduced at PepsiCo, Crystal Pepsi. “10 Worst Product Fails of All Time,” noted Time magazine.
That hiccup did not hinder his progress. When Pepsi spun off its restaurants, Novak became its president and, in 1999, its CEO. Before he stepped down in 2016, both Barron’s and Harvard Business Review had named him one of the best CEOs globally. Still, Novak says, “People know how you’ve gotten your success, but they don’t know how you failed along the way.”
Self-coaching process
In an interview with me, Novak said, “I have self-coached myself throughout my career. Part of that is understanding you are who you are.” Self-improvement is possible. “You should work on being a lot better, but you cannot be somebody else.”
Essential to success is finding purpose. “The key to finding your purpose is to unlock what it is that, that gives you passion, what it is that gives you joy, what it is that makes you happier as you pursue what your goals might be in your life.” For this reason, Novak and co-author Jason Goldsmith included exercises for self-discovery in their new book.
Purpose should include a term Novak calls a “joy builder.” “There’s a reason why people say you should love what you do. If you love what you do, [the saying goes], you’ll never have to work another day in your life… When you love something, you want more of it; you can’t get enough of it. And that makes you a better learner.” Joy does not preclude hard work and when you love what you do, working hard reinforces the notion that you are fulfilling your purpose.
Assisted self-coaching
“When you coach yourself, it doesn’t mean that you exclude others,” says Novak. “What it means is you understand who you are, where you want to go, what your single biggest thing is next in your life. Then you develop an action plan to get there.” Once that plan is developed, then you “go find the ‘assistant coaches’ who can help you get there.”
One person Novak sought feedback from was Warren Buffet. “He encouraged me to talk about the things that could go wrong in the business, as well as the things that were great. And he said that would engender more trust with investors.” Novak followed this advice closing his generally positive presentations with one or two things that could go wrong. Investors appreciated this straight talk and, upon occasion, would downplay the negatives themselves.
Dealing with adversity
Setbacks are part of life. Novak says it’s important to address them and shift the mindset from “not” to “not yet.” For example, if you have a goal in which you fall short, you shift from “not accomplished” to “not yetaccomplished.” Experience teaches us lessons as well as humility. “You don’t know it all because… you do make mistakes, and you learn from those mistakes.”
Gratitude is a good buttress for moving forward. “We make our best decisions when we’re grateful and our worst decisions when we’re angry and tired and resentful. It’s so important to move yourself up that mood elevator and get into that state of gratitude.”
Reinforcing the sense of gratitude is taking inventory of your accomplishments, something Novak calls “personal highlight reel.” Sometimes you can reinforce those highlights with objects – photographs, awards, plaques – that you can put in a place of honor, which Novak says, referencing a term his father used, as a “love me” corner.
“You are never as good as you think you are or as bad as you think you may be,” goes an old saying. I would add that you can get better if you are willing to take a hard look at yourself, admit your shortcomings, and focus on what you do well to become even better.