
Today’s guest is Indra Nooyi, the former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
Indra is an incredibly accomplished leader. In her twelve years in charge at PepsiCo, she navigated all kinds of challenges – a global recession, major restructuring, sweeping changes in consumer habits. And yet, in those same twelve years, PepsiCo sales had risen by 80%.
That kind of leadership is impressive. But what’s even more impressive is how Indra does it – by looking for ways to elevate others and build them up.
She intentionally carves out opportunities for the people she serves.
And this isn’t just pie in the sky stuff. It’s practical. In this episode, Indra goes into detail about PepsiCo’s leadership development and retention strategies.
She talks about increasing diversity and calling out bias. And she shares her own story as a woman of color and immigrant from India.
Great leaders intentionally elevate the people they serve. And that’s the big leadership lesson waiting for you in this episode today.
You’ll also learn:
Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources:
The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go
Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day
Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.
How do leaders navigate conversations about the challenges parents, and especially women, face in the workplace? The first step is to simply have the conversation and get the shared perspectives of men and women. In this special episode from the How Leaders Lead Insight Series, Ashley Novak Butler, the Executive Director of the Lift-a-Life Foundation, interviews her dad, David, and Indra Nooyi about Indra’s new New York Times best-selling book, My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future. Indra shares her story about growing up in India and the support she had to pursue her career while being a devoted mom, and the challenges she faced that she wants to remove for women coming up behind her in business, including problems with HR, childcare, and even cobblestone paths.
Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources:
The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go
Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day
Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.
Thinking about a bigger leadership role someday? Create resilient habits now. That way, you’ll be ready for the stress and pressure of the job on day one.
Don’t assume your mentor needs to be just like you. The more diverse your mentors are, the more perspectives you can learn from.
Workplace bias won’t change unless you address it. Speak up in the moment to hold people accountable, and you’ll create a culture of awareness and respect.
Every crisis teaches you something new. The more you face, the faster you’ll recover from that initial panic and start leading confidently through it.
| Clip | Leader | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Handling one crisis makes the next one easier | Indra Nooyi | 1:29 |
| Call out bias when you see it | Indra Nooyi | 1:13 |
| The power of having diverse mentors | Indra Nooyi | 0:56 |
| Good, hard work is the foundation of success | Indra Nooyi | 1:20 |
| Improve your consulting (and your leadership) by offering a framework | Indra Nooyi | 0:57 |
| Let deep analysis inform strategic decisions | Indra Nooyi | 2:16 |
| How to talk to your team in a downturn | Indra Nooyi | 1:12 |
| Performance and purpose go hand in hand | Indra Nooyi | 1:37 |
| Brag on your team to their parents | Indra Nooyi | 0:48 |
| Three qualities to look for when you're hiring | Indra Nooyi | 1:30 |
| Make a mental shift between your role at work and your role at home | Indra Nooyi | 1:22 |
| A healthy work-life balance takes planning and intention | Indra Nooyi | 0:59 |
| The antidote for “mom guilt” | Indra Nooyi | 1:30 |
| One mindset that can help create a more equitable workplace for women | Indra Nooyi | 0:47 |
| Strategies to combat gender discrimination at work | Indra Nooyi | 2:03 |
| Cultivate resilience before you take that stressful job | Indra Nooyi | 1:26 |
| Build your mentorship relationships around mutual respect | Indra Nooyi | 1:27 |
| How to combat the gender pay gap | Indra Nooyi | 1:25 |