A sense of humour and ready wit can’t be easy traits to show off when you have a high-stress job such as leading one of the biggest food and beverage brands in the world. The job not only needs you to be on your toes but also strategise for the company with $65 billion annual net revenue and its 22 different products retailed all across the world. However, Indra Nooyi pulls it off with ease. But it’s not like the chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, takes her duties lightly. After all, she can been listed among the “Most powerful women in business” by Fortune, while Forbes has listed her among the “World’s 100 most powerful women”. Back in 2008, she was also named one of America’s best leaders by “US News and World Report”. A Padma Bhushan recipient, Nooyi believes in pursuing goals with determination, while fanning the fire in her team, too.
The Indian-American woman was born in 1955 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and excelled in studies from the start. Armed with a Bachelors degree in science and a management degree from IIM, Calcutta, Nooyi started her career with Johnson & Johnson and later textile firm Mettur Beardsell. She also found time to get a Master’s degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management in 1978 and has worked with companies such as the Boston Consulting Group and Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.
Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and became the senior VP and CFO in 2001. When she was named the president and CFO in 2006, it didn’t surprise people since she had already shown her acumen in the corporate world. She proved her mettle yet again by leading the company’s global strategy, restructuring and also diversifying into other brands.
Someone who leads by example, Nooyi shows not only dogged determination but is a perfect example of how you can achieve anything if you put your heart to it. She has been quoted as saying that the only way to make it despite being a woman, an immigrant and of her colour, she had to work twice as hard as her male counterparts. And she still keeps true to her roots and sports a sari for several PepsiCo occasions. A leader with her priorities right, we say.
