My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future

by Indra Nooyi

“We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

“If you take on something, you must give it your all” and “If you make a promise, keep it.” He insisted on reliability.

“Even though I am in my eighties, I am a student like you all,” he said. “The day I stop, my mind will atrophy. And then the body will follow.”

“Listen to me,” my mother replied. “You may be the president or whatever of PepsiCo, but when you come home, you are a wife and a mother and a daughter. Nobody can take your place. “So you leave that crown in the garage.”

I think that leaders need to understand the details behind what they are approving before they affix their signature to anything. This is not about trusting the people that work for you. It’s about basic responsibility. Don’t be a “pass-through.” I think the people who worked for me came to appreciate that I read everything they sent me, both as a mark of respect to them and their work and because it was my responsibility. I know I drove people crazy with questions, but this was my job. I intended to do it well.