As CEO of AARP, Bill Novelli is the sixth-most powerful person in Washington, according to GQ magazine’s top 50 list — not bad for a man whose early ambitions were decidedly modest.
His goal in college was to write for National Geographic, and his parents just hoped hewould get a “good job at a big company that offered health benefits and the chance to climb the rungs of the corporate ladder.”
Novelli, 66, went to work as a salesman for Unilever, a multinational conglomerate that sells scores of brand-name food and personal-care products. It was not a glamour job. Novelli sold laundry detergent, and the time he spent in warehouses left laundry powder in his cuffs and pockets — no small matter because he owned only two suits. When it rained, Novelli recalled, he “sudsed.”
“I learned the nuts and bolts of marketing in my first job, and I would say the nuts and bolts of management,” Novelli said. “Once you get the basics down, I don’t think you forget them. I think they show up in all your management styles and skills for the rest of your life.”
Novelli moved on to a big New York ad agency. One day, he left a meeting with a client carrying two plastic bags of test products, one of dog food and one of a new children’s cereal. He jokingly tossed the sample dog food, a “soft moist item that looked like you know …” to a young copywriter.
“He said, ‘Yeah, we can sell that.’ ” Novelli recalled. “And I said, ‘I gotta get out of this business.’ ”
At about the same time, Novelli said, the Public Broadcasting Service signed on as a client with his firm, the first time PBS had used an ad agency to build viewership for public television. “The light bulb went off that marketing tools and practices can be applied to issues and causes just like they are used to promote the dog food and cereal I’d been promoting.”
Novelli left the ad firm in 1970 and came to Washington to work for the Peace Corps, eager to use his marketing skills to advance social issues. His Peace Corps boss, Jack Porter, was of like mind. Like Novelli, he had left a commercial marketing career to promote ideas and causes.
After less than two years at the Peace Corps, Novelli spent nine months working for President Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, then teamed with Porter to create an ad firm that would mix commercial and social marketing. Along with a third partner, they founded the public relations powerhouse Porter Novelli, which now boasts clients in 60 countries and employees in 100 cities.
Novelli left Porter Novelli in 1990, at age 49 and at the midpoint of his children’s college educations, to pursue a full-time career in public service. He worked as executive vice president for CARE, an international relief and development organization, and also served as president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
In 2000, fascinated with the profound demographic shift under way in the United States, Novelli signed on with AARP as associate director of public affairs. A year later, he was named CEO.
Novelli has kept his 38 million-member organization on an independent course, as befits a man who has worked for both the Peace Corps and Richard Nixon.
“Unlike many people, particularly in this city, Bill analyzes problems and solutions without regard to any ideology forcing one answer or another,” said Matt Myers, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “He’s neither right nor left, neither committed to Democrats nor Republicans. He’s a genuinely independent person.”
Under Novelli’s leadership, AARP threw its hefty endorsement power behind legislation that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare in 2003. When the bill passed, AARP’s own magazine, the AARP Bulletin, acknowledged that the legislation “enraged both left and right wings.”
Novelli conceded the bill wasn’t perfect but said the next chance to get prescription drug coverage in Medicare could be years away and that seniors could not afford to wait.
“He does not let the perfect become the enemy of the good,” said John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society. “It’s a talent offinding that sweet spot, pushing the envelope but not turning people off.”
Novelli walks a tightrope in many aspects of his job. He has managed to bring together organizations as diametrically dissimilar as the Business Roundtable and the Service Employees International Union, persuading them to join with AARP in an alliance called Divided We Fail that pushes for affordable health care and long-term financial security.
“Bill is a sort of a strong, silent type,” SEIU President Andy Stern said. “He is an extremely strategic thinker … and likes to listen before he leads. It makes it very easy for people to be partners with him. At the same time, there is no question that he speaks authoritatively for his members.”
Not an easy job, given AARP’s bifurcated membership.
“When I first came here, there was a fundamental question: Can AARP appeal to the boomers and at the same time stay relevant to its older members?” Novelli said. “Now we’ve answered that question emphatically yes. … When you get down to needs, the needs are quite similar: People need health care, they need financial security. When you get down below that, to what I’ll call values, then all people, all generations are the same.”
Even youngsters stand to benefit from Novelli’s goals at AARP.
“One of our biggest advocacy efforts right now is the state children’s health insurance programs,” Novelli said. “People say, well, why are you advocating for that at AARP? Well, because children need insurance, and they are the grandchildren and children of our members, and because they are the future.”
He says his own children and grandchildren, and visiting the gym three times a week, keep his life on an even keel.
“I’m one of the luckiest guys you ever saw because I have a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren who live next door,” Novelli said.
In most respects, he’s come a long way from his Unilever days, but when asked about his recent entry into GQ’s Most Powerful People in D.C. list, Novelli graciously chuckles.
“My wife saw it and she said: ‘Maybe now you’ll get a new suit.’ ”
Bill Novelli’s tips for success
1 Build a high-performance team. Nobody ever built a membership, nobody ever got a bill passed, nobody ever did anything all by himself.
2 Weed out underachievers, and do so with courage. Mediocrity is like a chronic disease: you can live with it but it’s going to kill you eventually.
3 Balance short-term and long-term goals. You need to focus on the coming quarter and also have a vision for the future.
4 Be hands on and work really hard every day.
5 Always be aggressive.
Bill Novelli
Born: May 21, 1941 Hometown: Bridgeville, Pa.
Education: University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in English/Journalism, 1964.
University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication, M.A. in Communications, 1964. New York University, doctoral studies in Communications, 1967-1969
Family: Wife: Fran Novelli, volunteer. Children: Peter Novelli, 41; Alex Novelli, 40; Sarah Novelli, 37.
Key jobs: AARP, executive director of public affairs, 2000; CEO, 2001-present; Porter Novelli, co-founder and president, 1972-1990; CARE, executive vice president, 1991-1995; Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, president, 1995-1999.
Biggest influences: Family and university.
Favorite book: Moby Dick. (“I rooted for the whale.”)
Quote to live by: “Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by attacking back.” (Anonymous)
