Never give up your passion for learning. And zoom out of your field before you zoom in. Some of my very best business insights have come from reading around subjects. They have come from approaching questions at a strange angle, from thinking about them from a different point of view. A lot of the knowledge that has really given me an edge in business has come from history, psychology, even chemistry. Connecting seemingly unconnected dots is what has served me well.
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Indra Nooyi
Chief executive of PepsiCo, 2006–2018
United States · b. 1955
Business and finance
About
Led PepsiCo as chief executive from 2006 to 2018, having joined the company in 1994 as head of corporate strategy. Born in Madras and educated at IIM Calcutta and the Yale School of Management.
3 answers
In order to grasp every opportunity, you cannot — you must not — decide your "career path" in advance. Don't have a job fixed in your sights and work backwards — it can be the road to disappointment because you risk passing up opportunities that might take you "off-course."
So I decided I was going to invest my time. I spent Monday through Thursday at Frito-Lay, commuting from New York to Texas. Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I did my regular job in New York. It was an incredible commitment of time but it was an amazing developmental experience. It was challenging, broadening, and helped me reach the position I have today.
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