Indra Nooyi on Crisis Management: Leading Through Crisis Tips

Born in India, Indra Nooyi made her way to the United States in 1978 to study at the Yale School of Management. Shortly after receiving her master’s degree in public and private management, she joined up with the Boston Consulting Group before making a pivot to Motorola as a VP and director of corporate strategy and planning.

In 1994, she joined PepsiCo as the senior VP of corporate strategy and development. She moved up the ranks to serve as CEO beginning in 2006. During her time helming the company, she oversaw numerous important mergers and acquisitions and strategic shifts, as well as a drive toward increased sustainability.

Crisis management is the process of overseeing a group of people during a time of crisis. A health crisis, financial crisis, supply chain issues, natural disasters, cyber attacks, and other unexpected events or vulnerabilities can significantly disrupt business operations. During times of uncertainty, business leaders, crisis management teams, emergency management, or other key stakeholders must make real-time decisions and communicate with team members effectively. Before a major crisis strikes, senior management may increase their company’s preparedness through simulations, a crisis management plan, or a business continuity plan.

However, despite what blueprint you develop pre-crisis, a strong crisis response requires quick decision-making. “In crisis management, you don't have time to think about the strategy,” Indra says. “You don't have time to sell it to many people.” A crisis leader needs to develop, Indra adds, “the direction with the best information you have, give it to the people who then can do something with it—but it's gotta be done fast.”

Different types of crises can arise when you’re in a leadership role. For Indra, one crisis situation she faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. Indra co-led ReOpen Connecticut during the health emergency. Consider the following case study and learn Indra’s tips for proper crisis leadership and how to lead through future potential crises:

1. 1. Be confident. When you are ready to make recommendations for solutions and initiatives, demonstrate courage and confidence, Indra says. For ReOpen Connecticut, “We developed simple frameworks to think about what should reopen when, and then we went about executing the plan [and] communicated with everybody in simple terms. We demonstrated courage and confidence in every recommendation we suggested,” she says. “We stood by our data. We stood by our conclusions.”
2. 2. Collaborate with your leadership team. Indra co-led ReOpen Connecticut with Albert Ko, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health. They took time to learn about each other's disciplines and ensured they were on the same page before beginning their work in managing the COVID-19 crisis in Connecticut. “I committed my time to learn the science. Albert committed the time to learning business,” Indra says. “So we learned whatever we need to do in great detail, then stepped back and said, ‘How do we communicate what we need to do in a simple way?’”
3. 3. Get feedback from constituents. In the event of a crisis, ask your constituents or employees what they need to solve the problem and consider opposing sides. This strategy goes a long way to build trust so people know you care about their well-being. “You've got to listen to the critics. You've gotta see they've got a point of view,” Indra says. “Sometimes, you know, coax them and cajole them, sometimes just tell them, ‘This is how it's going to be. We studied this carefully.’ And then do what you need to do.”
4. 4. Lead with honest communication. When a crisis hits, you must have a robust communication plan. Prioritize being honest throughout the process about the unknowns. According to Indra, the Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, was a prime example. When speaking to the public, Ned was honest about uncertainties and sought expert guidance throughout the process of working on ReOpen Connecticut. “He got a lot of kudos for that: for being so open, being so honest, for not being slick, for willing to listen to people, for telling people exactly what's going right and not going right,” Indra says.
5. 5. Outline the problem. As part of ReOpen Connecticut, Indra was given a very specific problem to address: how to reopen businesses in the state in a safe way for everyone. When leading through a crisis, “If you articulate the problem that you're trying to solve very clearly. . .you can start organizing yourself to address the problem,” Indra says. Then you can send the problem to different expert groups and stakeholders to get recommendations on what to do, put a possible plan together, and then reevaluate it with everyone.
6. 6. Seek help from experts. During a crisis, it is imperative to “bring the experts to the table,” she adds. “Resource them adequately. Make sure they practice competence, curiosity. [Make sure] they have courage and confidence to stand by their decisions, incredible communication skills and [that] they have a great sense of citizenship.”
7. 7. Sacrifice perfection. In times of uncertainty, it is best to go for the most pragmatic solution over the perfect solution. “You've got to be willing to trade off pragmatic for the perfect,” Indra says. “We were not going to get to a perfect solution—we needed to get to a good enough solution.”

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