Welcome to How Leaders Lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.

I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.

That's what this podcast is all about.

My guest today is Mark King, the CEO of Taco Bell.

Now, of course, Taco Bell was already an iconic brand when Mark took over in 2019, but he

has helped them achieve even more success and innovation. He is passionate. He is energetic.

And I kid you not, he even had the Taco Bell logo shaved into the side of his head at one point. If that tells you anything about the kind of leader

you're going to learn about. But that's the thing about Mark. He's not afraid to go big. In fact, he

believes leaders have to set big aspirational goals. That's what he's doing at

Taco Bell, and it's also how he has had incredible turnarounds at both Taylor Made and Adidas North

America. You know, it's not enough to just aim for incremental growth. If you really want to disrupt

the status quo, you've got to chase something

extraordinary. This is one of those conversations that I got to tell you is going to leave you

buzzing with practical ideas and big time inspiration. So here's my conversation with my good

friend and soon to be yours, Mark King.

When you first joined Taco Bell, I remember hearing this in the grapevine because I'd already left as the CEO of Young Brands, but you went to the annual Taco Bell convention, as I understand it, and you had the logo,

the Taco Bell logo shaved into the side of your head. You know, what on earth made you do that?

Well, David, that's funny you would start with that. But the first week that I started in August of 2019, if you remember, and those people

listening, we had the launching of the Taco Bell Hotel. It was a four-day party out in Palm

Springs. We took over this little boutique hotel, invited a lot of our cult followers. Anyway, I got caught up in the

moment and they had this barber that was putting tattoos into your hairdo. So I just said,

I'm all in on Taco Bell, so carve it in the side of my head. So I had that showing for months,

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