Leading Life The Indra Way

Hello Friends,

Women play various roles in life trying to strike a balance between a fulfilling career and a happy family. Be it a successful leader at the corporate level, a caring daughter or mother at home, a supportive life partner or a helpful friend, women give it their all to whatever responsibility they have to fulfill. Being a role model for many while wearing multiple hats is something to be considered as an achievement. Not many can achieve the same and those who achieve definitely deserve a mention. Our today's book review is about one such extraordinary achiever whose story is definitely worth sharing and one capable of inspiring many.

Image design: Bala Kumar

My life in full is the narration of former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi's life throwing light on the various aspects of her personality while being a daughter, wife, mother or a super successful corporate leader. I picked up this much awaited book with an expectation of finding some of the most important takeaways from the leadership journey of a global icon. But after going through the entire book I was amazed to see the narration has revolved majorly around her personal life where she is a responsible daughter, a caring wife and mother. Her sacrifices for her family should be applauded. At the same time she ensured that while doing so her career doesn't take a back seat. An ever supportive family since childhood was a major factor in fulfilling her career goals. It hasn't been easy for her to reach where she is today. But somewhere down the line the learnings during the entire success journey or mention of various challenges on the way to a global success could have been presented a bit more effectively.

The book emphasizes on one of the most important yet underrated quality of a leader. Being compassionate in an otherwise ruthless and ever competitive corporate world is a quality to be acknowledged. One of the major qualities that made Indra Nooyi one of the sought after leaders globally. She has been a leader who was present for her people all the time be it at home or office. Another remarkable quality being her gratitude towards all the people who supported her throughout her journey. Her letter to her team members' families acknowledging their contribution towards the success of the organization is an act which is so rare yet commendable.

Her point of view on creating a better work place for future and working towards a gender bias free work culture is applaudable. Another important aspect of her personality has been her way of parenting. Various instances have found a place in the book while narrating her kids' grown up days. The way she has managed the roller-coaster ride of being a working mother is commendable. Plenty to learn from her in this regard too. At the end of the book quite obviously the question arises in readers' mind about which role she has been most successful at. The answer is none. She has never tried to prioritize one aspect of her life while neglecting others. Instead she has hustled upon various ways to strike that near perfect balance between different aspects of life. Probably her leadership goes beyond just a corporate designation or a high paid job just because she has been an equally able leader in her personal life too. Isn't it? Overall My life in full: Work, family and our future is definitely a delightful read. Grab a copy to understand what it takes to be a people's person.

Image credit: amazon.in

Personal Recommendation (Autobiography)