5 Tips Learned from PepsiCo's CEO Indra Nooyi to Become an Outstanding Leader in Finance

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and the current Chief of Executive of PepsiCo - the second largest food and beverage business in the world by net revenue. The company’s products are sold in approximately 200 countries, and it employs some 198,000 people worldwide. Its principal businesses include Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. 

She left India at the age of 23 to earn her M.B.A. at Yale School of Management. She joined PepsiCo in 1994 after working for the Boston Consulting Group and Motorola. In 2001, she was named President and CFO of PepsiCo. 5 years later, she succeeded CEO Reinemund to become the first female CEO of PepsiCo and is still being a powerful leader until now.

Participation

PepsiCo's annual revenue is still high during the Great Recession (2008-2009).

A leader has to be the one who is always willing to accept challenges and attempting to create another direction for the company. Since she started as a CEO in 2006, PepsiCo's revenue has continuously increased. Even during the financial crisis in 2008-2009, there is not a big gap of annual revenue of PepsiCo shows how talented Nooyi is in planning good strategy for the company to get out of the struggles with less loss. 
Additionally, even though PepsiCo is a snack-food company, Nooyi has been pursuing an unusual ambition of turning it into a health food company with healthy products such as low-calories Gatorade or high-fiber oatmeal. She wanted to hold a campaign against obesity to improve human lives. As a result, she has replaced high fructose corn syrup with beet sugar to produce sweetness for PepsiCo's beverage since 2011, for example, the Pepsi Throwback.

Outstanding Communication Skills  

One's communication skills will be the forefront of his/her leadership qualities. She is surrounding with mentors and always takes suggestions from them, listens and incorporates the good points that she does. She is not the one to veer away even a little from her moral compass. You must have strength to hold onto what is morally right, no matter what, especially when you are a leader of a large company. She also encourages business people to over invest in oral communication because leaders have to constantly motivate the troops.

Good Employee Management

While many leaders use their time to focus on managing upward primarily out of fear, Nooyi spends her time relating to all levels of her employees. She has instilled a a sense of purpose in her employees and when they get out of bed in the morning, they know that they are making a difference and working for a great boss. The way she cares about her employees helps gain loyalty in them for PepsiCo. 

Expectation of excellence

 If you want to be known in your finance field, you have to be an expert. In anything, take a decision weighing everything for and against it. Once you have decided, never waive from it. You should send out the message that you are courageous and confident enough to say what is believed to be right by you. Nooyi never takes "I don't know" for an answer and always urges her employees until they come up with a good solution. She wants people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be her in the future. 

Capitalism with a Purpose 

PepsiCo's stock price is above others in the stock exchange in January 2013.

Purpose in finance is something that cannot be shut down. Nooyi encourages the capitalist to weave purpose into the way we think about our performance - a part of the business model. With this philosophy, she is increasing not only PepsiCo's revenue but also its stock price. She notes anyone who is a part of the capitalist society that if we do not all practice capitalism with a conscience, we are doing the world a disservice, making it more even and unsustainable.