It’s a blazingly hot day in the middle of a UK heatwave when I sit down to talk to KFC’s Neil Piper. In the friendly preamble to our conversation, we discuss the heat and I’m amazed to hear that KFC’s sales suffer in this weather because “people don’t buy fried chicken, they barbecue”. After joining KFC at 25 as an area coach, Neil has risen through the ranks and now seeks to inspire others as an openly LGBTQ+ leader in an international corporation. Here, we discuss leadership styles, diversity and his favourite KFC dish.
Have you always been a people person?
I think so, yes. I’ve worked in operations, which, in essence, is people. I’ve worked in the people and culture function, which, of course, is people. Now I’m in a broader general management role and it’s really all about people. But even before then, I’ve always been sociable and had an intuition and emotional intelligence that has served me
