My 7 Key Takeaways from Indra Nooyi’s Memoir
My first encounter with Indra Nooyi’s speech was in 2012 when I returned to work with my baby girl who was 5-months old. I have always been motivated by her wisdom in both ups and downs of my life.
It’s been a week since I finished reading Indra Nooyi’s memoir — the impact of the book and the journey has been genuinely personal. I wanted to highlight my key takeaways as my favorite quotes from the book.
- Being YOU
Then she asked me what I’d wear to an interview in India. A sari, I told her. I had many of them back in my room. “Next time, wear the sari. And if they won’t hire you for who are, it’s their loss. Just be yourself”
2. Earn Trust
“Yet again, I had the good luck of a boss who was a mentor, advocate, and friend. In return, I put in very long hours. My loyalty to him was unwavering”
3. Dive Deep
“I think that leaders need to understand the details behind what they’re approving before they affix their signature to anything. This is not about trusting the people that work for you. It’s about the basic responsibility, don’t be a “pass- through”.
4. Sponsors will help you move up
“I had a devoted network of other important people all men, who vouched for me. In this game no one cared what I looked or how much they had to pay me”.
5. Have thick skin
“Quarter after quarter, I felt hostility from a few people in these meetings, and I was increasingly irked that no one else in the room ever backed me.”
6. Bring your team along with you
“My own work responsibilities were huge, but I felt compelled to make sure everyone else’s works was up to par. I coached and mentored, and I reviewed and rewrote presentations for dozens of colleagues.”
7. Be like a duck: calm and unruffled on the surface, paddle like the devil
“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 feelings churn inside you but then to present a calm exterior, and I learn to do that”
Bonus 2 points:
8. Know Your Purpose
“No business can ever truly succeed in a society that fails”
9. Do your part to address the system issue to sustain work-life integration
“Once and for all, we must embrace the fact that both women and men work in jobs outside their homes; that children need fantastic care; that our aging parents need tender attention; and that governments, companies, communities, and individuals need a common road map to address the massive, complex social issues involved in making life a little easier.”
I want to finish this blog with HOPE — If I ever had to write my memoir, I promise I will have things to tell the story that the world was a better place for me and will be even better for my daughter and the girls of the next generation.
I feel like it’s my job to carry the torch, like many other women (and men) doing their part in their way.
THANK YOU, Indra Nooyi ma’am, for yet another inspiration. I am glad I gifted this to myself :)
