Indra Noyi Admits to Neglecting Her Family
July 2, 2014
SHEFALI writes:
This must be a first. Indra K. Noyi, the CEO of PepsiCo, an Indian trailblazer to boot, confesses she did not have it all. Neither can any woman who aspires to her kind of success.
Happy Fourth of July weekend to you and your family!
Laura writes:
Thank you.
Interesting interview. Noyi’s mother is fantastic.
Whether a woman can “have it all” or not — the main question here and in a zillion other books and articles — is a selfish way of framing the issue. No one can have it all. The question is one of right and wrong. Noyi is a married woman with a family. She had duties to them — and still does — that could not be fulfilled while pursuing that type of career. PepsiCo could have done fine without her; no one could replace her at home, as she admits. I also note the jarring weirdness of seeing an Indian woman as head of an American corporation.
— Comments —
A reader writes:
What a sad tale for her success. All I could notice in the interview was her coping mechanisms to assuage her guilt for not being there for her family. The comments section in the article is taking no prisoners and I was appalled to read about her company under her helm had sold milk laced with detergent in Brazil to Brazilian children. One of the comments also mentioned that her performance has been anything but stellar at Pepsico as well. She is a big Hillary supporter and it seems has ambitions to be the next secretary of state if Clinton becomes president 2016. Her daughters also have worked for Hillary campaigns. At least she has been honest about her situation and for women in general but it is too little too late. She even pokes fun at her husband and calls him one of the teenagers that also need to be cared for. I wonder how she treats her husband because it seems she has not much respect for him since he has told her many times that her priorities are Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi, children, your mother and me!! In summation, she is a mergers and acquisition specialist but has no vision to be a CEO and is not even fit to be a good wife and mother.
Laura writes:
She does indeed make fun of her husband. She obviously does not respect him. But then he may enjoy the material benefits of her success. Many men have sold their wives to the world because they want the money. Their passivity is a form of pimping.
Sheila writes:
Paulurai writes:
I would like to point out that Indra Noyi graduated from Madras Christian College (MCC). This college is located in my home state (Tamilnadu). You may assume by the name that MCC stands for Christian values and Biblical worldview. But actually, it does not. It is a very liberal college. You will be surprised to find that some of the distinguished alumni of this college are atheists, humanists and Communists who have tremendous influence in Indian media and politics. It is not a surprise that MCC had produced a career-minded feminist like Indra Noyi who does not respect her husband, puts her career over her family and trades her children for a fat pay check!
It is very sad that these type of liberal Christian institutions are doing more damage to society by producing anti-Christian intellectuals.
Jill Farris writes:
I’ve met women like Indra Noyi and I’ve met them in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. They have horrible regrets. Mrs. Noyi could easily live 25 or more years after retirement and…do what? Rejoice in the grandchildren of children she doesn’t know? Spend time loving and listening to a husband she treated like the family dog? Walk through her palatial home and tell herself how she earned it?
Old age after such a life is empty and full of remorse. And then, she dies.
Shefali writes:
I read another of her interviews.
There is no discounting that her path was that of hard work and sacrifices rather than hand-outs. The statement that most hits us is – “To be a CEO is a calling. You should not do it because it is a job. It is a calling and you have got to be involved in it with your head, heart and hands. Your heart has got to be in the job, you got to love what you do, it consumes you. And if you are not willing to get into the CEO job that way, there is no point getting into it. And I love the job, I love the company, I love the people. I loved it when I was president and love it as much as CEO. “
Why is it okay to feel like this about a job and not your country or your family and husband?
She is obviously is telling the truth because according to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company’s annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion by 2006.
Laura writes:
I am not prepared to evaluate her performance. I don’t doubt she has worked hard and is very talented, but I suspect that her arriving at such prominence had much to do with the fact that she is a woman and an Indian.
I am sure Mrs. Noyi would say it’s good to love one’s family and devote oneself to it, but that a wife is not obligated to serve her husband and raise her children.
A reader writes:
Comments at the Business Insider link:
Felix R on Jul 1, 8:04 PM said:
She has been a disaster as a CEO. Lost more top executives. Lost the Thai market. Made no new ground in India. Flat earnings. etc. etc.
Apart from wearing a Sari and supporting Obama she ain’t good for much!
Shelby Forthright on Jul 1, 9:10 PM said:
@Felix R:
The most overrated person in business. Talk to some of the poor saps who have to work for her. She’s a fraud and she knows it.
Indra’s Dream on Jul 2, 8:17 PM said:
@Felix R:
Indra supported Hillary big time in 2008. Paid to have her speak at Pepsi, her daughter volunteered for Hillary. Indra wants to be Secretary of State under Clinton. Mark my words. Yes, she’s been a bust for Pepsi. She secretly hates soda. She will possibly sell off the beverage unit soon, before she retires from business.
That’s why I say that she came into prominence as a CFO for smartly engineering M&A deals and as a CEO she has no vision and is a bust.
