Business
Make Great First Impressions
Lesson time 04:49 min
Learn how a personal stake in every interaction can drive great first impressions.
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Topics include: Learn how a personal stake in every interaction can drive great first impressions
Teaches Leading With Purpose
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, teaches you to think big, be brave, and make purpose-driven changes at work.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] - In the next two lessons, we will dive deeper into two topics that are crucial to the communications attribute-- making great first impressions and taking charge of meetings. Making a first impression is probably the most important thing in any transaction, relationship, meeting, interaction, whatever. The point of a first impression is to create trust, to create a genuine feeling that you're interested in that person's life and livelihood. And first impression is not just the first time you meet people it's about every interaction you have with the person or a group of people. Let me separate out making a first impression in a professional setting in a meeting versus making a first impression with the customer, okay? And I'm going to go back to the time I used to sell thread, when I was working for a textile company. And I was selling thread to what I call cut and sew operations. You know, rooms with five or six tailors who would buy the thread and make garments and get it ready for export. And I'd go visit all of these tailor shops in Bombay. And it was fascinating because I'd watch my salesmen. They'd walk in with their little box of thread colors and say, I have three more thread colors for you based on the next season's colors. And then they'd say how many spools would you like? So it would immediately get into transactions. And I could see the impersonal nature of the conversation between the salesman and the foreman of that tailor shop. And then, the whole interaction would last five minutes. He'd either have an order, didn't have an order-- he'd walk out. When I started to sell, I said, wait a minute. I'm not selling thread. I'm selling a great shirt to somebody who's going to buy it. I'm selling, to this tailor, a livelihood because if he makes a great shirt, he's going to make money, which is going to feed his family, send his kids to school, maybe, and put food on the table. So I looked at my responsibility as something profound. That thread meant a lot because if the color ran, the lot was rejected. If the thread shrank, the lot was rejected. And if the lot is rejected, that poor tailor who wasn't making much money in the first place, was not going to be able to make a living. And so when I went to see the tailor, I never went to sell them thread. I'd sit there and say, let me look at the garment you're making. What are the challenges you have with the garment? How does it run through the machine? How does the thread behave in the machine? And I want to be very clear. Some people think there's a checklist-- walk in and talk about the family, walk in and comment on how beautiful their shirt is. Don't do that. I've watch people do that. People know that you're faking it. If you really care, you will-- in every interaction-- have a different approach. Because one day it might be a tailor that's not looking so healthy, you might want to stop and say, are you okay? Another t...
About the Instructor
Ever wonder what it takes to be the CEO of a Fortune 50 company? Indra Nooyi didn’t set out to become the first woman of color to do so. She simply (and tenaciously) focused on big ideas. As the former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra transformed a global industry. Now she’s teaching you her transformational approach to leadership. Learn to simplify complex problems, persuade others to buy into your vision, and discover how leading with purpose can improve your life beyond the boardroom.
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Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, teaches you to think big, be brave, and make purpose-driven changes at work.
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