Taking People with You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen - Hardcover

"Novak, chairman and CEO of YUM! Brands, offers powerful and sincere directives for creating a cohesive, success-oriented corporate culture... Much of it could have felt familiar, but it's presented with clarity, contagious enthusiasm, organization, and accessibility... Business people at all levels will find something of value." -- Publishers Weekly

"David Novak is the best at leadership, whether teaching it in this book or practicing it." -- Warren Buffett

"This is the best, most practical hands-on book on leadership I've ever read. If you apply these principles, your career and the people you work with will flourish." -- Dr. Bob Rotella, sports psychologist

"An important book about motivation from a proven motivator." -- Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO, General Electric

"David Novak is a hard-driving CEO with a great heart and soul - and that gives him unique insight into both your own personal development and how to bring out the best in others." -- Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase

"A must read for all leaders. David shares thoughts and tools on how to develop good talent into great talent." -- Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

"David Novak is an inspiring leader and a very astute student of the art of management." -- Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal

"Novak shares his deep understanding of leadership: including everyone, the importance of a compelling vision, comprehensive strategy and relentless implementation, the power of positive recognition and continuous improvement forever. What a gift he is giving all of us!" -- Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company

"David Novak is a great CEO. A lot of people claim to be good people managers, but Dave has actually made the investment to train the next generation of leaders at Yum. You will enjoy Taking People With You for its common sense approach to, well, taking people with you." -- Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General Electric

"While it appears easy to some, bringing people together and obtaining the best from each, as well as creating an aligned team, is an immense challenge. David Novak has led this effort without parallel, and those in leadership roles will find Taking People With You both an invaluable asset in their own development and their company's quest for success." -- Larry Bossidy, former Chairman and CEO, Honeywell

David Novak learned long ago that you can't lead a great organization of any size without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission. But how do you do that? There are countless leadership books, but how many will actually help a Taco Bell shift manager, a Fortune 500 CEO, a new entrepreneur, or anyone in between?

Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a trademarked program he calls Taking People with You. He spends several weeks each year personally teaching it to thousands of managers around the world. He convinces them that they'll never make big things happen until they learn how to get people on their side. No skill in business is more important. And Yum!'s extraordinary success (at least 13 percent growth for each of the last nine years) proves his point.

Novak knows that managers don't need leadership platitudes or business school theories. So he cuts right to the chase with a step-by- step guide to setting big goals, getting people to work together, blowing past your targets, and celebrating after you shock the skeptics. And then doing it again and again until consistent excellence becomes a core element of your culture.

This book has specific tools at the end of each chapter that will challenge you to reflect on how you're really doing on key aspects of leadership. And if you apply it, you'll immediately start to improve.

You'll learn how to . . .
· Get inside the heads of your people. You can't convince them of anything until you see the world from their perspective.
· Think big. If your sales growth last year was 3.5 percent, don't aim for 4 percent this year, aim for 15 percent. Even if you fail, you'll probably do better than you would have with a smaller goal.
· Practice "extraordinary authenticity." Show occasional vulnerability and admit when you don't have the answers.
· Look for good ideas in unexpected places. Novak's team came up with Cool Ranch Doritos for Frito-Lay during a field trip to a grocery store's salad dressing aisle.
· Choose a can-do mind-set. There's a huge difference between a boss who says "We can try this" and one who says "We can do this!"
· Cheer for first downs, not just touchdowns. Publicly recognizing and rewarding small wins keeps everyone motivated for the long haul.
· Get rid of cynics. In many teams one person will reject your values and spread negative energy. Moving that person out will show everyone else you're serious.

Get ready to change the way you think about leadership-and more important, the way you practice it every day.