Nooyi was prepared so early in life by her influential mother in Chennai, India. Although her mother could remind Nooyi that she would get married at the age of 18 years, she was also encouraged to dream big in life. Nooyi could compete with her sister after meals in answering questions like “How would you change the world? or “What will you do if you were to become a prime minister?” This prepared Nooyi to become a leader in the future because she could reflect on her early upbringing by her mother and see that she was confident of ruling the world as an effective leader.
Another person that played a role in shaping Nooyi as a leader was her grandfather, who made sure that she was ahead of her lessons in school. Nooyi had the freedom to attend classical music training and rock band training while she was young. She was taught to multitask early in life. Multitasking is a common feature of many leaders in the world. Nooyi was also prepared for leadership by her undergraduate training at Madras Christian College and her MBA at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in India.
Corporate sustainability is an essential component in companies that determines how they could run smoothly without interference in their operations. The poor performance of PepsiCo in international markets compared to Coca-Cola encouraged Nooya to think in a strategic way and change her mind towards corporate sustainability. Her education also made her have diverse thoughts and reflections on corporate sustainability. Her vision and emphasis on social responsibility were also instrumental in her change in corporate sustainability at PepsiCo.
Nooyi had a life outside PepsiCo. She admits that she has been married to her husband for 28 years; she has two daughters, and her family is very close. She asserts that being a mother comes first, then being a CEO follows. She could take calls from her daughters, even during working hours.
Nooyi is an exemplary leader who uses different leadership styles at PepsiCo. She displays servant leadership by showing her juniors how to implement changes at the firm. She is also a socialized charismatic leader because he socializes with her juniors and customers, and she is charismatic to them. He exhibits an ethical leadership style at PepsiCo by encouraging personnel to engage in ethical business and social responsibility.