Kumar Mangalam Birla on work-life balance, delegating his role

Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chief of the Aditya Birla Group, has led his family business since 1995. He now wishes to switch from the role of a builder to that of an architect and delegate more work.

In an interview to CNBC TV18 on May 25 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kumar Mangalam Birla said an architect’s job was envisioning and “making sure all right levers are in place”, while a builder went down into the trenches.

“I have been a builder for 25 years and I need to rethink my own role,” he told CNBC TV18 at the World Economic Forum in Davos on May 25. “The idea is to decentralise and delegate even more,” he added. “I would like to create more bandwidth for myself and make a bigger impact. “

Birla said he had already begun the process of delegating his own role. “(I) have a great talent pipeline that is very competent to take on part of the role that I was doing,” he added. “I think a CEO has to keep re-inventing his or her own role."

The Aditya Birla Group head added that he was not distancing himself from the organisation but getting involved in a different way.

He also spoke about the importance of dividing time between work and family.

"COVID-19 showed us the importance of work life balance,” Birla said. “Spending time with family is always something I have focused on.”