Struggling to maintain work-life balance? Take cue from these corporate luminaries

Venkatesh Kini
President, Coca-Cola India

The secret is to have work-life integration and not balance. What that means is that if your work is not what you love to do, then you’re wasting your life. Work has to be fun, fulfilling and something that involves the whole family. Employees can be a part of your family and your family can be involved in your work life too. We have pot lucks, children’s day events etc, in the office to engage the family.

Amit Agarwal
Senior Vice-president, Amazon India


Striking a balance comes naturally to Amit. (Image: BCCL)

I love what I do, so the balance strikes automatically. I enjoy my work as well as the time with my family. I believe in work-life harmony. Whenever you talk about balance, you are trading one thing for the other. When you talk about harmony, you have both. You acquire that harmony by loving what you do.

Suresh Narayanan
Chairman, Nestle India Ltd


Working towards a 'larger purpose' keeps Suresh going. (Image: BCCL)

When I work, I only focus on work, but I also have my ‘switch off’ days. It’s not like I’m obsessed with my work, but it does consume most of my time. But, there is nothing called as work-life balance for me. Work and life are part of the same continuum so it all depends on what keeps you happy. I’m happy because I get a sense of satisfaction that I’m contributing to a larger purpose — of leadership and purpose, especially to young people who would, in turn, contribute more to society. That’s what keeps me going.

Sanjiv Mehta
CEO, Hindustan Unilever


Sanjiv believes in prioritising right. (Image: BCCL)

I’m very clear that you have to earn a work-life balance. Life is about trade-offs. There are different priorities at different stages of your life. There comes a stage when you have truly earned that balance, it’s not something that can be shoved down the throat of an organisation.