My Life In Full is written by Indra Nooyi, one of the first women of colour to lead a Fortune 500 company. She is one of the most powerful women in the world. She was the CEO of Pepsico, former chairperson, and now the board of directors of some great companies and organisations like Amazon, Philips and ICC.
When Indra Nooyi became the CEO, the headlines were all over the news. I remember watching her interviews with great awe and admiration as a kid.
Indra Nooyi talks about her journey from Madras to Connecticut in this book. She talks about her personal and professional life, the constant tug of war of time between home and office, and the continual juggling between home and office. At one point, she is ready to soar high to chase her dreams, but the regret of not spending quality time with her children is something that I have experienced with my working mother.
In one of the incidents with her mother when Indra Nooyi becomes the President of Pepsico, she is enthralled to share the news with her family. When she comes home, her mother asks her to get some milk. Her obvious response is you could have told Raj(her husband, who had already arrived before her), but she responds that her husband was tired when Indra Nooyi finally gets the milk; she tells her mother, I became the President of Pepsico, and all you care is about the milk. Her mother replied, "You may be the President /Board of Director of the Company, but at home, you are a mother, you are a wife, a daughter-in-law, and a daughter leave the damn crown in the garage. This same behaviour I have seen of my maternal grandmother with my working mother. As rightly phrased by Indra Nooyi, Indian mother's attitude towards their daughters is like "One foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake" at one point, they want their daughters to do well in life make a name for themselves, but at the same point, they want them to be good wife, daughter and mother.
I am sure all Indian women can relate. Our mother's want us to cook well, do all the household chores and at the same time get good grades, which I realise is quite a time-management lesson.
Indra Nooyi's sincerity in her work is commendable. Indra Nooyi has a bird's eye view of all the business strategies and decisions, her consumer-centric approach and her efforts towards making Pepsico's business operations environment friendly and focusing on nutritional food through PwP(Performance with Purpose), which was applauded by some criticised by some, when one of the board members responded by passing a shrewd comment like "What do you think you are, Mother Teresa !" but she was firm to her point. Later, she set up a child-care centre in the Pepsico office; the personalised letter's to employees' families acknowledge that the companies are not just hiring a single employee but indirectly the employee's family.
With a good work environment and support schemes, employees can bring their best to work. But, of course, all of this entails Indra Nooyi's outstanding leadership.
This book will not only give you life lessons but, as an aspiring entrepreneur, has made me realise that businesses are not about short term profit or cash-making models; indeed, they are about values that you offer to society if you want to go for a long run. Without a doubt, this book is a must-read.
