Lessons Learned: Indra Nooyi, Former Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo
In our ‘Lessons Learned’ series, we profile leaders to aspire to, collating and sharing their stories, experience and words of wisdom. Here at Suzie Walker Executive Search, we encourage leaders and future leaders to learn from others in order to inspire and guide their own journeys.
We hope that Indra’s story inspires you as much as it has inspired us.
About Indra
Indra joined PepsiCo in 1997 and retired in 2019. She spent almost half her time at PepsiCo in the most senior role there and, as CEO, Indra became the first woman, person of colour, and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company. She is a true pioneer in business and a renowned strategic thinker – a leader to aspire to.
Indra was raised in India and studied for her Master of Business Administration at Yale. Prior to her career at PepsiCo, Indra held strategic roles at The Boston Consulting Group, Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri (Pvt.) Ltd. Now, although retired, Indra still holds several board positions including the Board of Directors at Amazon and The Earthshot Prize Council with The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Career highlights
From preventing a bid to break up PepsiCo to almost doubling sales, introducing healthier products to implementing environmentally friendly business practices, Indra’s career highlights are numerous and extraordinary. In Indra’s words, she has been the “Chief architect of Performance with Purpose, a legacy that encourages PepsiCo to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world.” According to her bio for The Earthshot Prize Council, Performance with Purpose focused on 'delivering sustained growth by making more nutritious products, reducing its environmental footprint and protecting the planet, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves."
Her exceptional life and career have seen her awarded the Padma Bhushan – the third highest civilian honour – by the Government of India, and Outstanding American by Choice by the US State Department. Indra’s portrait has also been added to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Her inspiring memoir ‘My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future' was published in September 2021. It offers insights and a call to action, 'for how our society can really blend work and family - and advance women'.
Words of wisdom
"Good business demands tough decisions based on rigorous analysis and unwavering follow-through. Emotion can't really play a part. The challenge we all face as leaders is to let the feelings churn inside you but then to present a calm exterior, and I learned to do that."
"I was involved in hundreds of projects with tight deadlines that probably could have stretched into a few more days. Would that have made a difference to the project? Most of the time, no. Would that have made a difference to my colleagues' lives at home, as caregivers or as members of their community? I think the answer is a resounding yes."
What others say
“With candour and good humour, Nooyi has written a wonderful book that brings her story to life, from her early years in India, surrounded by love and high expectations, to her determined efforts to succeed in the corporate world, all the while questioning the trade-offs she had to make. She reveals just how our society continues to sacrifice talent instead of changing how we organize work to maximize everyone's potential to live full and productive lives. A must-read for working women and the men who work with us, love us and support us.” - Hillary Rodham Clinton
“'CEO' and 'care' do not usually go together, but for Indra Nooyi, they always have. Rather than offering us a list of policy prescriptions, she shows us what is possible when businesses care about family and families have time to care for one another.” - Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, author of Unfinished Business
If you feel inspired by Indra's story and ready to move towards the next stage in your career, please get in touch or connect with us/send a message on LinkedIn.
With warmest regards,
the Suzie Walker Executive Search team
Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/indranooyi/
https://www.indranooyi.com/
https://www.ceotodaymagazine.com/top-ceos/ceo-today-top-50-indra-nooyi/
https://www.forbes.com/profile/indra-nooyi/?sh=22a52815d6f4
https://earthshotprize.org/about-us/the-prize-council/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra_Nooyi
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