Are leaders responsible for supporting employees with families? Absolutely, says author and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi – and here’s why

The road to the C-suite is often filled with unexpected and unconventional turns. Just ask Indra Nooyi , the former CEO of PepsiCo and author of “My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future.” For my latest episode of #OnPurpose, Indra shares her journey as an immigrant, a leader of one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, and an advocate for working families.

“The only way…to not have women collapse because of the weight of the work is to provide an infrastructure that supports families having kids. The best way to do that is to have good paid leave…. The second is, thanks to COVID, we know flexible working helps. How do you allow young family builders to have some flexible hours?”

Early in her career, Indra says the company she worked for provided three months of maternity leave, which allowed her to spend time with her first-born daughter. After that, her mother moved from India to support the growing family.

“I was lucky in that in the Indian system, family comes to help. My mother, since my father had passed away, came and lived with us for the first couple of years of our daughter’s life…. Had that not happened, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Family always played a huge role along Indra’s journey. She grew up in Madras, India, where few women worked outside the home. Yet, her father and grandfather encouraged Indra and her sister to get an education and follow their dreams.

“I wanted to break all kinds of boundaries…. I found an old guitar in school, and with a bunch of girls, we started this folk-singing group…. We evolved into a rock band…and were quite a phenomenon in Madras.”

She also dreamed of getting her master’s degree at a U.S. university and applied to Yale, even though she thought it was a long shot to get in. But she did and received a scholarship and work study support that made the journey possible.

Indra says she’s still learning today, including a lesson from her two daughters.

“I am beginning to slowly understand what it is to be a digital native, and how I should stop complaining.”

Thank you, Indra, for the engaging conversation and for being a role model who demonstrates the value of hard work, perseverance – and yes, purpose.