Indra Nooyi's Career Advice For Women

'Women must prioritise financial security.'

It is a sunny winter morning in the national capital, and in a hall at the India International Centre, where young women outnumber men by quite a margin, former PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi is engaged in a fireside chat with Anuradha Das Mathur, founder and dean, Vedica Scholars Programme for Women.

"Women must prioritise financial security," Nooyi tells the audience, made up mostly of women in their late 20s.

Financial Security

Nooyi, who, among other things, worked on the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998 and the company's merger with Quaker Oats Company, urged women to let go of the pressure of perfection and decide what they want to be exceptional at, what they are comfortable being good at, and what they are willing to release.

Nooyi stressed her school of thought that to build a lasting career, it is important to have courage.

"True professional courage," she said, "must be rooted in competence and expertise," while urging women to identify their unique value proposition and use that excellence to build courage.

Career Courage

Nooyi, who moved to the United States in the late 1970s and navigated life as a person of colour, emphasised the importance of assimilating into a new culture, while retaining "your own identity and avoiding the pressure to completely remake yourself," she told the women.

As more women climb higher on the corporate ladder, Nooyi demonstrated what is a good way to rise to the top.

"Early in your career, join a good company, and when a mentor picks you, follow that individual, because a mentor who moves up and is willing to pull you along is the best thing that will happen to you.

"Later in life, when you reach the top layers of the company, settle into the company," she said.

Letting Go of Perfection

With examples from her life, the former PepsiCo executive also stressed the need to strengthen sisterhood, especially in the professional sphere, and the need for men to be partners in the journey towards gender equality.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff