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Executive Times |
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2008 Book Reviews |
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The
Education of an Accidental CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the
Corner Office by David Novak |
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Rating: |
*** |
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(Recommended) |
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Click
on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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Likeable It
doesn’t take many pages of David Novak’s book, The
Education of an Accidental CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the
Corner Office, to conclude that this is a real likeable guy with whom it
would be easy to spend a lot of time. There’s a chasm between the David Novak
who doesn’t take himself too seriously and the image of an imperious CEO.
Novak comes across on these pages as being very comfortable with who he is,
and while he is proud to share his wisdom with readers, he’s never very far
from understanding how much he doesn’t know. Here’s an excerpt, pp. 114-7: Reward and Recognize, Part 2 While I was COO of Pepsi East,
I was holding a roundtable sales meeting early one morning at our St. Louis
plant. There were ten or so route salesmen there, and when I asked a question
about merchandising someone said, "Ask Bob about that. He really knows
how to paint the store Pepsi." Someone else said, "Yeah, Bob showed
me more in one afternoon than I learned my first year." And so on around
the room: "Bob showed me this," "Bob showed me that,"
"Bob knows all about that." I looked over at Bob, who was a route
salesman like everyone else in the room, and saw tears streaming down his
face. "You :j know," Bob said, "I've been at this company for
forty-two years, and I never knew anybody felt that way about me." Forty-two years and completely
unappreciated and overlooked. At Pizza Hut I had seen the positive effect of
the Traveling Pan and the Million-Dollar Manager coats, but it wasn't until
that morning in St. Louis that I fully realized the essential, even lifetime
significance of constantly recognizing the efforts of the people around you. Pete Harman, whose mantra was
"Always be giving back," was not only
Colonel Sanders's very first franchisee,
he was also the one who provided the business acumen that
allowed the company to evolve and grow. I would later learn that all
these smart things I thought I was figuring out about leadership were the
mirror image of 'what Pete had been practicing fifty years earlier. Pete was a great student of
human behavior. He'd sit around just watching his customers and pick up all
sorts of '`things. Pete noticed that people would probably buy a lot more chicken,
particularly for Sunday family dinners, if they had an easier way to carry it
out. So he came up with the KFC bucket, which, with the possible
exception of the Chinese-food container, is surely the most famous takeout
container ever invented. In my third week at KFC, I
toured Pete's stores with him. He knew all the people who worked there and
recognized every one of them by bragging to me about them. When we went back to his office
afterward, he disappeared for a minute and then came back with a pin. This
was back when I was still wearing ties to work, and he said to me, "It's
good to have you here, David. I know you're going to be great. Here, you need
one of these. I've got to
ruin your tie." With that Pete took one of his
little Harman Pins, which he would give to his employees to recognize their good work, and stuck it in my
tie. You know what? It made me feel
great. It was just this dumb little pin, okay? But that was the whole point.
Since most of us go about our days rarely feeling appreciated, it doesn't
take much to make an impression. (I have a Yum! I give out today when I tour
our restaurants.) I
was also a little taken by surprise, which is another thing about recognition
that I learned from Pete. When recognition is spontaneous, it has even more
of an impact. There's a real power in spontaneity. You don't have to wait for
a special event. Find an event every day. I'd much rather catch people by
surprise. I love to see the look on their faces. I
hadn't been at KFC that long when I learned that our head of information
technology was recognizing people in his department by handing out those
floppy rubber chickens you see in old comedy sketches. I liked the idea so
much that, in true presidential fashion, I stole it from him! I'd carry some
around in my briefcase, and then I'd go up to someone in one of our
restaurants, let's say, a cook, and introduce myself. Then I'd say, "The
restaurant general manager tells me you're doing a great job, that you're a
great team member. I've got to give you one of my floppy chickens." I'd
then pull a floppy chicken out of my briefcase, write a personalized message
on it, sign it, and number it (I gave away about a hundred a year) . Then I'd
have someone take a picture of the two of us, and I'd say, "We'll send
you a copy, but the next time you're in Louisville, I want you to stop by so
we can show you where your picture is hanging in my office." Finally,
be- cause you can't eat a rubber chicken, I'd hand the recipient a crisp
hundred-dollar bill. The looks on their faces are Priceless. But they can't
enjoy it any more than I do. As Pete Harman taught me, the getting is in the
giving. When
Chuck Grant, a great engineer of ours, passed
away, I went to the funeral home and saw his floppy chicken at
his side in his coffin. His wife told me that before her husband died, he had said that the one
item he wanted placed in his coffin to take with him to eternity was his
prized floppy chicken. Of course, she had complied. If that doesn't drive
home the power of recognition, nothing will. The
Education of an Accidental CEO is a fell good book, packed with lessons
that may or may not be useful or usable for every reader. Nonetheless, it’s a
delight to read, and Novak seems like an authentic and sincere guy, well
worth reading. Steve
Hopkins, April 21, 2008 |
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Go to Executive Times Archives |
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The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the May 2008 issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The Education of an Accidental
CEO.htm For Reprint Permission, Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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