How Leaders Lead with David Novak

Updated: 31 Jul 2025 • 407 episodes
howleaderslead.com

How Leaders Lead gives you a front-row seat to exclusive conversations with the world’s most iconic leaders across business, sports, and entertainment. Hosted by David Novak, Co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, this podcast pulls back the curtain on how top CEOs, founders, and game-changers make things happen. When you tune in, you’ll learn from legends like Tom Brady, Condoleezza Rice, Jamie Dimon, Coach Prime (Deion Sanders), Indra Nooyi, Stanley Druckenmiller, and more. Other guests include: CEO of Starbucks CEO of Target Co-founder of Home Depot and many others... David’s unique perspective and thought-provoking questions distill the wisdom of these leaders into actionable insights you can use to elevate your own leadership game. Whether you’re just starting your leadership journey or already leading teams, this show helps you build the confidence you need to lead well.

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Most people think confidence and resilience are just part of your personality. But high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais knows better: they’re skills you can train. In this inspiring and practical conversation, Dr. Gervais shares the same mental strategies he uses to help Super Bowl champions, Olympic gold

60 min
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On this episode of 3 More Questions, you'll hear David Novak's answers to: What’s the most interesting thing you learned about F1 racing from your interview with Zak? What do you think about clarity beating the consensus in high pressure moments? How does a leader ensure that every person on the team is tied to the ove

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You can hire great people and set bold goals … yet still fall short. Why? Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, knows the answer. And it has less to do with talent, and more to do with something most leaders overlook. This episode pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build a high-performance team—and why clari

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On this episode of 3 More Questions, you'll hear David Novak's answers to: What do you think about edginess in branding and reframing edginess as entertainment? What advice do you have for leaders trying to build momentum for a brand just starting out? What can leaders of larger companies do to stay agile and move fast

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They sold a $300 coffin. They made a candle with Ozzy Osbourne’s DNA. And built a $1.4B beverage brand doing it. Mike Cessario, founder and CEO of Liquid Death, has turned irreverent ideas into a marketing juggernaut. But behind the stunts is a seriously disciplined approach to brand, strategy, and execution. If you're

61 min
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On this episode of 3 More Questions, you'll hear David Novak's answers to: How can leaders define the concept of "emotional brand equity" in their own brand? How simple is the turnaround strategy SDSS x2 (“stop doing stupid stuff” … and then “start doing smart stuff”)? How do you know when to listen to data and when to

10 min
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