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A woman first!
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Sitting pretty in an enviable position, Indira Nooyi spells out her priorities and says being a mother matters most to her
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Going places She is obsessed with success in whatever she does
Now we know. The CEO of a billion-dollar global firm she may be, but Indira Nooyi rocks the cradle before she rules the Pepsi world. Asked about her priorities in life, Nooyi, mother of two daughters, said, “The order is mother, CEO and wife.&#
8221; She was participating in a discussion on “Women and Global Leadership” organised at the Yale Club of New York as part of the ongoing ‘Incredible India at 60’ celebrations.
Nooyi admitted to being confused at times by the roles she chooses to play. But her reply, putting momdom first on her list must have warmed a lot of hearts and brought her more admirers.
What if she’s been voted the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine? The crack at that power came only after she’d taken regular care of her daughters.
Wisdom at stake
There are other women doing their bit in small/not-so-small and significant ways. They fend off armed robbers, storm down streets in activism, zoom up onto space and learn to shoot in the Army. Women have broken into exclusive male clubs; have no qualms about being bosses (and bossy) in the workplace.
They have fought for laws that are more equitable, have bought and sold businesses for enormous profits. All this has given rise to talk of blurring gender roles, vanishing sexual stereotypes.
Are they, really? Credit women with more intelligence. Women may have found a new assertive voice, but not at the cost of their wisdom.
They know that donning aggressive male qualities to be part of the pack will only make the workplace more difficult to compete in. Why would a lioness behave like a wolf when she joins the hunt? Empowerment is not a product of wanting to be like men, do what men do. Trying to be like “them” simply shows lack of ambition.
Women know they gain acceptance and admiration from men, and support from women when they remain themselves, be what they are wired to be, do what they are expected to do.
Be yourself
They know that the qualities that make them super-women at the dining table - multi-tasking, managing disparate personalities, balancing different roles – are the exact same qualities that will make them super workers and super bosses at the corporate desk.
Women know how to play their cards well. They don’t have to be “cut and dried”, they don’t have to be “macho”. They just have to be themselves. Don’t a lot of jobs go to them simply because of these “feminine” qualities? It will be sad if women opt for “everyoneness” and “personhood”. Smart women won’t.
Indira Nooyi talked at length about spending time with her daughter, about packing her suitcase for a trip. She said her mother was her mentor.
See? Nooyi simply endorsed the fact: I am a good mom, so I’m a great CEO.
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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