Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi: Lessons from the Top

Growing up in an environment where India had just come out of Three hundred and fifty years of British rule. You sit there going I have to pull myself up. You had a conversation once with Steve Jobs, where he told you not to be too nice. How did that candid conversation influence how you ran PepsiCo?

I think the biggest lesson I took away was he said what I was focused on was micro understanding. Because if you don't understand the business down to where the rubber meets the road. You can make decisions at the top. Which are not implementable. The business was a multi multi-billion dollar business. And remember if you don't earn your place, the people below you are waiting to push you out. So people don't realise that as you get more senior in an organization, it's up or out.

Welcome to the Knowledge Project Podcast. I'm your host, Shane Parrish. In a world where knowledge is power, this podcast is your toolkit for mastering the best of what others have already figured out. My guest this week is Indra Nuy. The former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. who led a global transformation at the company as one of the most remarkable leaders of a generation.

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