Leadership Articles

Insights, tips and more from David & the world's top leaders.

The Good News About EPIC Fails? They’re the Most Valuable Kind.

You hear the phrase “epic fail” tossed around pretty casually these days. Especially on the internet. Someone splits their pants seam or walks into a plate glass window with a tray of drinks: it’s an EPIC fail. Most of the time, the things we call epic fails aren’t really failures at all. They’re just accidents. […]

Your Must-Have Skill for Coaching Past Doubt and Fear

What we think shapes our experience. If we change what we think, we can change our experience. With that amazing ability comes a pitfall, though. The stories our brains make up are often “threat avoidance” stories. They’re heavily focused on negative “what ifs.” The doubt-ridden, fear-based thinking these stories create gets in the way of […]

Celebrating what women bring to the table on International Women’s Day

In honor of International Women’s Day, I’m passing the microphone to my daughter, Ashley Butler, a passionate leader in her own right and a mother of three young children. As many of you know, Ashley is the Executive Director of Lift a Life, the Novak Family Foundation, which provides resources and funding to non-profit organizations […]

The Key to Repeat Success? Become a Self-Coaching Pro.

When I was in my early 40s, I faced a tough decision. I had been building a career as a leader with PepsiCo, which had 3 divisions—beverages, snack foods (Frito-Lay), and restaurants (Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell). At the time, I was serving as president of KFC and had led the company through a […]

Thinking About Changing Careers? Self-Coaching is Key, Guest Post by Larry Fitzgerald, Jr.

This month, it’s my great pleasure to share with you the words of my friend Larry Fitzgerald, Jr., a tremendous leader in the world of sports—and in the game of life. Larry is a future Hall of Famer, who spent 17 seasons in the NFL, playing wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. He’s an 11-time […]

3 Ways to Create Speed on Your Career Path

Recently, a reporter described my career as an “unconventional ascent.” Yes, somebody with a degree in journalism, who started out as a copywriter and never got an MBA, is an unusual candidate for CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations. What makes it more unusual, though, is how quickly it happened: I was 46 when I became CEO […]