Andy Pearson Finds Love

"We need to make an enormous effort so that people feel that their individual contribution is vital to our success, starting with the store manager," Pearson says. Doing that requires a relentless sacrifice of shoe leather. "I was out in stores twice in the past two weeks," Pearson says. "I had a chicken burrito and a chicken taco the last time I was out. They didn't have any taste! Couldn't we put something in there? Salsa or something? You need a product that sends people into orbit. Retail is detail. Little ideas and details parlayed over the course of the year make a huge difference. Set the example. That's leadership."

Pearson has become a mentor to a group of leaders inside Tricon. "I spend a day with them, like a playing lesson with a golf pro," he says. "They talk to me about how they're doing. It's friendly. I get one or two letters a week from people saying, 'I can't believe that the founding chairman of the company would come and spend an hour just to talk with me.' I get letters that would just bring tears to your eyes."

How do you spell "yum"?

In Dallas, at the headquarters of Pizza Hut and Tricon International (a division of Tricon that handles the company's overseas business), 1,000 people have assembled in the long, high-ceilinged atrium for Tricon Founders' Day 2000. For Pearson and Novak, this is what the business is all about: a celebration of numbers hit and cultural commitments kept. Today, the leadership duo will honor four outstanding general managers in front of thousands of people who will watch both here and in other cities via satellite.

Overhead, a banner reads, "The Customer Is Why." Novak is already into his speech: "Our same-store sales will go up, not down. You never go down when you're satisfying customers. We're a company of customer maniacs."

People shake noisemakers built from two paper plates pasted around popcorn kernels. Up front sit the general managers, the four with the company's highest CHAMPS scores. Novak launches into a cheer: "Gimme a Y! Gimme a U! Gimme an M! What's that spell?"

"YUM!"

"What's that spell?"

"YUM!"

"What's that spell?"

"YUM!"

The audience screams and does a wave, like spectators at a football game. "This is the loudest Founders' Day welcome in history," Novak says. He shouts out the glowing numbers: Earnings per share are in the double digits and growing, and debt has been reduced by more than half. "You can count on one hand the number of companies that generate that kind of cash," Pearson adds.

It's quite a show. As the two of them play off of each other, it becomes clear how warmly the corporation has embraced Pearson, who has assumed an almost iconic persona: the Big Bad Guy. He's the gatekeeper, the guy who throws ice water on the coach before the game. But with Novak by his side, with the endorsement of the feel-good CEO, Pearson becomes loveable. His employees trust him. The new Andy can make fun of his own toughness -- and be tough at the same time. He is tough love.

"Our same-store sales were down a percentage point," Novak says. "We need to bring that up."

It's the only bad number, but it's a big one, a key measure. You can keep increasing overall revenue by opening new stores around the world, but if you aren't increasing productivity and sales per store, at some point you run out of places to expand.

"We've got to get maniacal," Novak tells the crowd. "I'm talking about satisfying our customers every day. In 30,000 stores, we have to make that happen every day. It's all about motivating through recognition and celebration. We will be the biggest restaurant developer in the world."

It's time to call up the four winning managers. Awaiting them is the YUM award: a huge set of false teeth that walks when wound up. The managers are humble and moved as they accept their award. They are being singled out for recognition in front of the entire company. It means a lot.

Novak does what all great leaders do: He pays homage to these four managers as leaders. "They have created a work environment where they can come to work and be excited about what they do," he says. "The work environment that these leaders have created is the best I've ever seen."

As the event winds down, Novak asks Pearson to reflect on his career so far at Tricon. And it's Pearson who gets the loudest cheer of the day when he tells the crowd, "My experience at Tricon represents the capstone of my career."

In person, without the cheering crowd around him, Pearson is even more appreciative of the change that he's gone through. In his Connecticut office, on the table near his couch, is KFC rubber chicken number 227 -- the one that Novak gave him in 1997 when he joined the company. On the side of the chicken, Novak had written a note: "Congratulations on being the first chairman and CEO of what is sure to be the best restaurant company in the world. You are clearly our Big Chicken around the world."