Extract from an Interview with Indra K. Nooyi about her time as CEO of PepsiCo
Please describe your background: I’ve been at PepsiCo for 15 years and became chairman and CEO. I am married, with two children
You talk about performance with purpose. Could you describe this idea? :Performance with purpose is what I want PepsiCo to stand for — how we do business. We have a profound role to play in society, and we have to make sure that we are constructive members of society.
You talk about thinking globally and acting locally. How do you make that a reality at PepsiCo?: We have to tell our people, “Develop a model in your country that’s right there”. We need to think about the needs of a country and the way people live and behave there
You wrote to the parents of your 29 senior executives. Why did you do that and what did you learn?: When I was visiting India two years ago, I went to see my mum. She wanted me to dress up and sit with her while she entertained friends, neighbours, and relatives. When they arrived, they barely acknowledged me. Instead, they went straight to my mum and said, “You brought up such a good child.” They praised her, not me. That moment made me realise I had never thanked the parents of the executives at PepsiCo for raising such remarkable people. When I returned, I wrote to those parents, telling them how their sons and daughters had contributed to PepsiCo’s success. The response was overwhelming. It created a deep emotional bond between the executives, their parents, and me.
As you reflect on the last couple of years, what have you learned that surprised you?: This is more than a job—it’s a calling. It’s 24/7. You are dealing with governments, with NGOs, and with any interested party that decides to take on the company. So this is a whole new environment
Sometimes prospective parents sit back in the chair in my office and ask how, and why, Bromsgrove pupils achieve what they do. What they are really asking, quite reasonably, is this: Will my son or daughter do the best they can here?
The answer I usually give comes down to three factors. First, the quality of teaching and support that staff provide. Second, the effort pupils themselves put in combined with their willingness to ask for help when they need it. But there is a third factor, and it’s the one I want to focus on today: the way everyone across the School community pulls together and the purposeful tone that exists
This will come as no surprise. If we are surrounded by hardworking, ambitious people, we are far more likely to work hard ourselves. If others in our classes are focused, we tend to concentrate too; and if, each day, we are with people who are kind, polite, and considerate, we are more likely to act in the same way.
Some of you may have heard of McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy that advises organisations around the world on how to improve their performance. Someone said about McKinsey that they hire the very brightest people - and then teach them how to think.
One of the key aspects McKinsey looks at when helping organisations improve is culture: how people treat one another; how decisions are really made, what behaviour is rewarded or ignored; and whether people feel they belong.
According to McKinsey, behaviour matters more than words. An organisation’s real culture isn’t created by policies or slogans; instead, what matters is what people do day by day. That’s why you may have heard the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Even the best plans will fail if every day behaviours don’t support them.
Earlier, Edie and Sammy shared an interview with Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, the global food and drink company that will doubtless have provided many of us with their products. Nooyi introduced an idea she called “Performance with Purpose.” Of course, she wanted PepsiCo to succeed financially, but she also believed it had a responsibility to society, particularly in relation to health, sustainability, and the wider world.
Indra Nooyi worked deliberately to change PepsiCo’s culture. She encouraged employees, hundreds of thousands of them across the world, to think not just about what they achieved, but how they achieved it. She wanted people to feel part of something meaningful, not just a company driven by profit.
One day, many of us sitting here will lead teams, departments, or even whole organisations. Some of you will set up your own businesses and all of those will have goals — often financial ones. But a key question will remain: how will the people you lead work together to achieve those goals?
And of course culture matters here in School too. We, the staff seated on this side of the Arena, seek to build a school culture rooted in our values:
Humility and Confidence,
Compassion and Ambition,
Respect and Curiosity,
Tolerance and Vision.
But those values, those words, only mean something if we all buy into them. So do we contribute positively to the life of the community, while also having the humility to admit when we need help? Do we pursue our own ambitions with dedication, while still supporting those around us?
Do we treat everyone with courtesy and kindness and take a genuine interest in perspectives different from our own? Do we stand up for others even when it might be easier to stay silent and have we yet begun to reflect on how we can use the benefits of the education we have had here in the wider world beyond School?
Ultimately, whether it is PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose or the principles expressed in our School values, shaping a positive culture depends on how we all behave every day — and on what we praise or choose to tolerate in others. If we get that right, we help shape a community that brings out the very best in all of us — now and in the future.