22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Just A Book On Leadership and Team-Building...An Actual How-To Course, January 12, 2012
This review is from: Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen (Hardcover)
I've had the privilege and pleasure to read, study and learn from many excellent books on leadership.
Building a team of inspired and productive people is not necessarily an easy thing to do. Every so often though, a great leader comes along who knows how to do it...and does it! Such a man is the author, David Novak.
How to do it is what this book is all about. And, as Mr. Novak teaches, it's understanding what drives and motivates others that truly makes a difference. It's also a matter of truly desiring for those on your team to enjoy their work and feel a sense of self-satisfaction.
Yes, there is a dearth of leadership in corporate America today. This is inexcusable because - in the private sector - a company must please consumers in order to earn their business and make a profit. And, the best companies earn the buy-in of their team members in order to ensure that happens.
Fortunately, there are those who come along who have not only proved themselves as top leaders but are willing to share that information with others. They know that doing this does not create more competition but rather increases the pie and brings prosperity and abundance to more and more people.
As he worked has way up through the ranks of PepsiCo, David Novak had a realization: you can't lead a great organization of any size without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission.
Fortunately, as he was growing in position, he was also a constant and ongoing student of leadership. He'd eventually not only lead his own organizations (becoming president of both KFC and Pizza Hut while they were still under the PepsiCo umbrella) but would go on to be Chairman & CEO of the parent company of three of the largest restaurant chains in the world after they were spun off into their own separate company, YUM! Brands, Inc. (1.4 million employees in more than 117 countries.)
The trademarked program he developed, which is also the title of his book, he now teaches all over the world. It centers around setting big goals, getting people to work together, blowing past your targets, and celebrating both the touchdowns, as well as the first downs -- the smaller victories -- along the way.
Perhaps that sounds familiar. But, lots of things are familiar. How they are taught and actually implemented is key. What the author did in this book is provide a step-by-step course in leadership. And, like all great leaders, his entire philosophy and methodology revolves around focusing on making others successful.
What he does, works. YUM Brand's stock has increased over six times and they've had 13 percent growth or more for the past nine years. He's been featured as one of the world's "30 Best CEOs" by Barron's, one of Fortune's "Top People in Business," and one of the "100 Best-Performing CEO's in the World" by Harvard Business Review.
Personally, I loved the book. Practically every page is highlighted, underlined and with copious notes. I highly recommend it. From Mr. Novak's teachings, great and useful information can be extracted, whether you are a one-person show, a medium-sized firm, or a major international conglomerate. And, I believe this would be an excellent gift to give any college student who might one day be in a position to lead and grow a team in the real-world and can use these tools to do so.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leadership styles should be adapted to the demands of the challenges, with the participation of the people involved, January 23, 2012
This review is from: Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen (Hardcover)
*****
"Not many business leaders have produced long-term performance that merits our attention; of those few, not many write books; and of those who do, hardly any write good books. Novak is in that tiny subset. You can safely declutter much of your business leadership books..., and install this one in the vast empty space." -- Geoff Colvin, Fortune
*
Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill strived for victory together, but there was a vast difference between their leadership styles in managing WWII. In fact, there are as many management styles as there are leaders. Business leaders and psychologists have developed useful and simple ways to describe the main leadership styles, that can help aspiring leaders understand which styles they should use. In leadership of big corporations a critical mix of delegation and participation is applied in proportion with responsibility and geographical integration strategy. Leadership styles should be adapted to the demands of the situation, participation of the people involved and the challenges facing the organization.
Effective leaders can maneuver among situation leadership styles, adopting one that meets the needs of followers by directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. Daniel Goleman, in his recent book "Primal Leadership," describes six different styles of leadership; affiliative, visionary, democratic, coaching, pace-setting, and commanding. All or most could become part of the leader's repertoire. Understanding David Novak's strategies and optimizing their impact can help you develop your own, personal leadership style, could help you become a more effective leader, being your true self, genuinely human. Novak, a gifted trainer, challenges his readers with self revealing insightful checks, helpful tests and reflective evaluations.
For over fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a program, called, "Taking People with You. Novak delivers his vision in book's three sections, starting with setting your brains and talent right, creating a viable plan to follow through and get good results. The first task needs having the right attitude in place for your team. A leader has to contend to learn and exert tenacious effort to believe in people as much as your own capacity to achieve goals. Understanding the core and specifics of the business in hand, as a requirement to develop a compelling plan to reach and surpass goals, entails the second part. Set a strategy, mobilize the best resources in place, enhancing a win-win culture where results are reached together and success celebrated for the team.
Novak's book is calling for real attention, he perceives leadership differently, to be about the leader's own nature, rather than management techniques. Eisenhower was proven successful because he was true to his character. A leader's prime qualities, his personal nature, and how can he connect with others, as a human being are crucial for his success. Most management books call for business analysis; Novak asks you to conduct self analysis, the harder psycho task. He demands you to examine your traits, rather than a new business discounted cash flow analysis. The global corporate guru coaches you so you would stop to imagine being the leader you are not.
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