Indra Nooyi

It's a pyramid.

So as you go from the bottom layer of managerial positions to the top, think of it, in PepsiCo, in the bottom layer, probably 14,000, 15,000 people.

By the time you get to CEO minus two, you're at about 60 or 70.

CEO minus one, you're down to 15.

So you've gone from 15,000 to 60 to 15 to one.

Just think of the climb.

And then this is all happening at a time when the world around you is changing so much.

So you've got to keep up with all the changes in the world.

And you've got to make sure that you earn your place in the next row.

And remember, if you don't earn your place, the people below you are waiting to push you out.

So people don't realize that as you get more senior in an organization, it's up or out.

So to keep those jobs is very difficult.

I kept many of them because I told them, look, I may become CEO, but I don't see why we can't work together.

Most of them stayed.

After two or three years, they got CEO jobs and they left, but many of them stayed.

But you're right.

If there are five people competing to be CEO and only one is made CEO, typically what happens is other companies grab them.

Especially for a company like PepsiCo, which has a great leadership development, people came and grabbed them.

And so they go off to be CEOs, which is good because you've got PepsiCo alumni now running so many companies.

But, you know, you've got to think about this math, which is pretty tough.