After becoming the CEO of PepsiCo in 2006, Indra Nooyi became the first woman and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company. From Chennai, India, to Yale's School of Management, Nooyi worked her way up from The Boston Consulting Group, Motorola, and ASEA Brown Boveri before eventually landing at PepsiCo, overseeing the global operation of its countless drinks, snacks, and restaurants. Nooyi's memoir, My Life in Full, details her legendary career, exploring her extraordinary personal journey and the demands of being one of the most powerful women on the planet.

Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz

PepsiCo: Indra Nooyi

In 2012, to say there was a crisis at Best Buy — is an understatement. In January, Forbes published an article with the headline: WHY BEST BUY IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS. And then, in March, the company reported a loss of $1.7 billion. In April, the CEO resigned because of an "inappropriate relationship" with an employee. Hubert Joly stepped in, determined to fix Best Buy, and he started by valuing the people who work there.

Best Buy: Hubert Joly

Black Entertainment Television helped make the first Black billionaire in the US and was the first Black-owned business traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Debra Lee, a young lawyer drawn to the company's mission, was pivotal in turning the small, revolutionary cable station into an industry staple. Growing BET and finding confidence as a CEO amid cultural controversy.

BET: Debra Lee

Gordon Bethune took an unlikely path to becoming a leader in the airline industry. A self-described "hoodlum," Bethune dropped out of high school, joined the Navy, and became an airplane mechanic. With that experience, he gave Continental Airlines a tune-up, pulling it out of bankruptcy and guiding it through the deep uncertainty that followed the September 11th attacks.

Continental Airlines: Gordon Bethune

How Ajay Banga ran one of the world's largest companies with an unusual leadership philosophy... something he calls "the decency quotient." And how he turned Mastercard from a credit card company into a company that's known for technology, innovation, data, analytics, and A.I.

Mastercard: Ajay Banga

Cheryl Bachelder decided to go into business after an early setback derailed her potential career in music education. She became President of KFC years later, but a job that started as a major opportunity wound up being a massive failure. How Bachelder learned from her failures and went on to turn Popeyes into one of the biggest success stories of the past decade.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen: Cheryl Bachelder

General David Petraeus took on a uniquely complex leadership challenge in Iraq in the aftermath of the U.S.-led war there. He oversaw the training of a new and entirely Iraqi army. He says that the key to leadership is first getting the big ideas right, then constantly refining them, and communicating them across the whole organization.

General David Petraeus

As a child growing up in Ibadan, Nigeria, Dara Treseder was often told to get her head out of the clouds. But her mother encouraged her to dream big and to follow her ambition if it would lead her to contentment. For Treseder, that meant moving across the world to attend both Harvard and Stanford, and chasing a deeply-held desire to make a positive impact on the world. Her career in marketing began with stints at Apple and Goldman Sachs. Then, in 2020, she became SVP, Head of Global Marketing and Communications at Peloton. Today, she is one of the most influential marketing leaders of her generation.

Peloton: Dara Treseder

Today, Marvel is one of the most substantial forces in American media, but when Peter Cuneo joined the company as CEO in 1999, it was a struggling publishing house teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Ten years later, Disney bought Marvel for $4.5 billion. Cuneo tells his unlikely origin story and how he became the "turnaround superhero."

Marvel: Peter Cuneo

Marvin Ellison took the tough jobs nobody wanted, and it got him from retail security guard all the way to CEO of two Fortune 500s. Now, when things are precarious, companies like JCPenney and Lowe's call him in. Marvin Ellison says that limiting failure limits success. Find out exactly what he means in this episode.

Lowe's: Marvin Ellison

When Gap was failing, Mickey Drexler didn't just increase sales. He made it into a pop culture staple of the 80s and 90s. But that wasn't enough to keep him from getting fired. At his next job, he was not just the CEO. He bought stock with his own personal money to bolster J.Crew.

Gap: Mickey Drexler

Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, CEO, executive leadership coach, and author of six books. Her often counter-intuitive insights on collaboration, consensus-building, and decision-making have earned her a reputation as a smart thinker who challenges conventional business wisdom. In her latest book, Uncharted: How to Map the Future, Margaret explains why attempts to predict the future, even in today's world of AI and Big Data technologies, are often doomed to failure. She offers alternative strategies for organizations facing an uncertain future — strategies based on human creativity and resilience.

Uncharted: Margaret Heffernan

Strauss Zelnick has a real knack for saving companies in crisis. A Hollywood wunderkind, he's led major film studios, record labels, and gaming companies since his early 30s. How he turned a small, self-financed Zelnick Media Capital into an industry powerhouse and why he thinks developing relationships and humility are critical to success.

Zelnick Media Capital: Strauss Zelnick

How do you get from the cubicle to the C-Suite? George Scangos started out doing scientific research, but he says his people skills got him all the way to the CEO's office at one of the biggest biotech companies in the world.

Biogen: George Scangos

When Keith Krach first heard of Docusign, he knew it could be huge. He was convinced it would capture one of the biggest markets ever seen. He also knew exactly the play he needed to run to get it there, based on his decades of experience in the C-suite. He shares the secrets he collected over the years so Docusign could, as he says, "go mach 3 with our hair on fire."

Docusign: Keith Krach

From the creator of How I Built This, host Guy Raz invites you to listen in as he talks to leadership experts and the visionary leaders of some of the world's biggest brands. Along the way, you'll hear accounts of crisis, failure, turnaround, and triumph, as the leaders reveal their secrets on their way to the top. These are stories that didn't make it into their company bios, and valuable lessons for anyone trying to make it in business.

hubhopper

Wisdom From The Top with Guy Raz

hubhopper