Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi. Though there is no standard definition of leadership style, it can be briefly described as the leaders approach in providing the different management skills that are vital in leadership. Different scholars and leaders have come up with different leadership styles, and the styles are not specific and differ from one leader to another and from a researcher to another. These styles have been defined by people like Kurt Lewis who divided leadership styles into three. Firstly, autocratic where the leader makes the decisions without consulting the team, and it is effective when in making quick decisions, but it can be demoralizing.
Secondly, democratic where the leader makes the final decision but accepts contributions from the team and involves them in the final process of decision making. This style encourages creativity and increases job satisfaction, but it can be very ineffective in making quick decisions and laissez-faire leadership styles. According to Lewin, the leader who uses this leadership style gives the team independence and but puts deadlines on what needs to be done (Reddy, 2015). The work of the leader here is just to provide resources and advice whenever it is required. It is a dangerous style of leadership, especially where the employees or team members are not committed to their work. Others include the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid and Path-Goal theory among others. Those are just but a few highlights of different leadership style analysis. In this paper, we are going to look into a different type of leadership style according to Indra Nooyi (Center for Life, 2014).

Indra Nooyi is CEO at PepsiCo, one of the leading food and Beverages Company in North America (Schaefer, 2016). The company has more than 300 employees, and her exploring leadership style has seen her rise into among the most powerful business women in the world today (Center for life, 2014). According to Indra Nooyi, she believes in a different kind of leadership which she describes them as 5C’s leadership styles and that she abides by them every day in her work. This has made her be a very good leader (Glad2baWoman, 2016). These 5C’s are: The first ‘C’ refers to competence. In Nooyi’s theory, she believes that learning never stops and for a leader to enhance his or her skills they have to believe that they are students and that learning is a life-long process for keeping a leader up to date (Schaefer, 2016).
According to her, this principal helps the leaders to master their skills as they acquire new ones without shying away from learning more (Center for Life, 2014). Leaders around the globe have also acknowledged that competence in leadership is very important in ensuring that an organization operates effectively and efficiently. Among others, a competent leader should provide a sense of safety and demonstrate strong ethics by ensuring they are consistent with their behaviors and values. Competence leadership style in an organization also empowers the employees or the team by encouraging job satisfaction thus increasing the employee’s production which in turn increases the overall production of the whole organization. This style of leadership where leader shows interest in continuing to learn encourages openness to new ideas and thus nurturing growth of the business
Consequently, the second ‘C’ is courage or confidence. According to Indra Nooyi, this is a paramount quality in leadership. This is a style of leadership where the leaders show that he or she is not afraid to let his/ her decisions known. Leaders with this quality always let their colleagues or employees know their opinions (Reddy, 2015). Indra condemns procrastination and silence since business world is very competitive and the leaders show strong facilitation skills without fear (Glad2baWoman, 2016). This style is important in business as the leader is able to take risks as they are confident about their decisions. They also make colleagues around them feel significant as they don’t feel threatened by their team’s experience. A leader with this style also helps in setting goals and objectives in their businesses and help in successfully achieving them. When a leader is confident, he or she is also strong enough to do things in a transparent manner that will ensure that there is trustworthiness in the organization between him/ her and the other employees. There is also the belief that a confident leader is able to sort out any issue that is not going as planned and this ensures that there is calmness among the employees and the business. This is as opposed to a leader who is not confident as they tend to anxious and frustrated by small mistakes, thus, getting disoriented and unable to solve problems effectively and this may lead to the business being exposed and failure of meeting their objectives (Reddy, 2015).
Contrarily, the third ‘C’ in Nooyi’s recommendation of leadership styles is communication skills. This is a very important quality in leadership as the leaders are expected to communicate effectively with their teams, colleagues or employees in order to ensure that the employees or the team read on the same page with the leaders. Communication is very important in business, and it is believed to be the most important in every business (Holtclaw, 2012). This is because even a courageous and competent leader also requires good communication skills in order to be able to sell their products as well as ensure that the employees get to know what they it is expected of them. It is important to know that communications are two ways and good leaders should also be ready to listen to their colleagues and offer assistance or advice when it is required. Effective communication, in Nooyi’s view, motivates the team and facilitates teamwork as well as creates a strong leader. Communication skills are believed to draw a thin line that makes the difference between a leader and a good leader (Center for Life, 2014)
The fourth ‘C’ leadership quality that Indra insists on is consistency. A good leader should be able to maintain consistency. When there is inconsistency in the leadership, the team or the employees are left to second guess and expose the organization to errors. A consistent leader is sure of the cause of action that he or she is going to take in order to direct the organization in the right direction. Consistency is very important in every leadership as it makes the leader relevant since both the employees and the customers are able to predict the leader’s flow information. A consistent leader serves as a role model since the employees will always look up to the leadership and most of the times replicate what the leader is doing. For instance, if the leader treats some activities as not important, the employees will as well do the same and neglect the activity. In addition to that, consistency is very important as it allows the business to measure the performance of certain processes or activities. It is not possible to assess the performance of a new process. Therefore, consistency ensures that when you repeat a process, again and again, you will be able to know what to expect in future (Holtclaw, 2012).
The fifth and last ‘C’ in Indra Nooyi’s style is the compass. Nooyi recommends that it is crucial for a leader to have a personal compass that guides him or her both in his or her personal life as well as in professional life. She insists it is important for a leader to have guidelines and ensure integrity regardless of the temptations in the leadership. Staying on the right path by a leader strengthens the personal respect of the leader as well as the professional credibility. Honesty ensures that their credibility among the employees and teammates thus enhancing their relationships (Glad2baWoman, 2016).
In conclusion, just as many other leaders have defined their leadership styles and earned them a good reputation in the leadership, Indra’s 5C’s style of leadership has seen move up the ladder and be admired by many in the world. She is well known to follow these C’s and it has yielded fruits since she has been regarded as a friend by her employees other than a boss (Schaefer, 2016). Her integrity and respect have earned her respect since she is considered to be among the most credible leaders in the business world.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Center for Life. (2014). Leadership Qualities of Indra Nooyi. Retrieved from centreforworklife.com website: http://www.centerforworklife.com/leadership-qualities-indra-nooyi/
Glad2baWoman. (2016). Exploring Indra Nooyi’s 5C’s of Suuccess. Retrieved from glad2bawoman.com website: http://www.glad2bawoman.com/articles/category/achievers/exploring-indra-nooyis-5-cs-success
Holtclaw, E. (2012, June 21). Power of Consistency: 5 Rules. Retrievedfrom Inc.com Website: http://www.inc.com/eric-v-holtzclaw/consistency-power-success-rules.html
Reddy, K. (2015, July 9). Why Confidence is Important for a Leader? 18 Best Reasons. Retrieved from comtent.wisestep.com: http://content.wisestep.com/why-confidence-is-important-for-a-leader-best-reasons/
Schaefer Steve.(2016). The World`s 100 Most Powerful Women.
Retrieved from the Forbes Website. http://www.forbes.com/profile/indra-nooyi/