With today's sidebar news of PepsiCo's acquisition of an Ukrainian juice company, the approving business journalist gaze is back on PepsiCo's CEO: Indra Nooyi. In 2005 Indra Nooyi gave a "commencement speech that set off a blogosphere bonfire."

The unexpected nature of her speech should have been no surprise to any one who knew this piece of trivia about her (I wish I had known it before blogging my saris and salwars post):

... she wasn’t comfortable trying out a formal western outfit and ended up buying trousers that reached down only till her ankles. Rejected at the interview, she turned to her professor at the school who asked her what she would wear if she were to be in India. To her reply that it would be a sari, the professor advised her to “be yourself”[1]

Coming out of Yale in 1980 with a master's in public and private management, Nooyi wore a sari to an interview at Boston Consulting Group and was offered the job. [2]

In her 2005 speech at Columbia University Business School's graduation ceremonies, she departed from the usual "the world is yours, make of it what you will" to a "the world is not yours, so don't be crass when you're out in it":

... This evening, graduates, I want to share a few thoughts about a topic that should be near and dear to your hearts: the world of global business. But, I'm going to present this topic in a way that you probably haven't considered before. I'm going to take a look at how the United States is often perceived in global business, what causes this perception, and what we can do about it. To help me, I'm going to make use of a model...

... As I grew up and started to study geography, I remember being told that the five fingers can be thought of as the five major continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America...

... Today, as each of you ends one chapter in your young lives and begins another, I want you to consider how you will conduct your business careers so that the other continents see you extending a hand; not the finger. ...[3]

In my earlier Slideshare blog posting I mused as to where the Aussie-Desi Vinod Khoslas were, and now its time to ask: Where are teh Aussie Desi Indra Nooyis? Maybe we need an Australian equivalent of "Outstanding Americans by Choice," an initiative for highlighting the importance of citizenship by recognising the outstanding achievements of naturalized citizens.