What great leaders know about not knowing it all

What great leaders know about not knowing it all

From The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

April 23, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

David Novak discusses leadership lessons learned from his experiences, emphasizing the importance of not having all the answers.

People often expect their leaders to have all the answers; David Novak built his career by challenging that assumption. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , the former CEO and cofounder of Yum! Brands and current chair of Versant speaks with Eric Kutcher , McKinsey’s chair of North America, about the experiences that shaped his leadership—from engaging with front-line franchisees to managing a very public product flop—and how other leaders can learn from them. Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

People in this episode

Host: Eric Kutcher

Guest: David Novak

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • business strategy
  • management
  • franchise operations
  • product management

Keywords

  • leadership
  • David Novak
  • Eric Kutcher
  • Yum! Brands
  • Versant
  • business insights
  • management challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Yum! Brands, Versant, McKinsey & Company

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