We need to work 14 hours a day to get a life: Kamath
For Kundapur Vaman Kamath, there is no such thing as work-life balance. “Given the amount of catching up the economy has to do, we need to work 14 hours a day before we can get a life and then think about balancing work and life,” said Mr Kamath, ET’s Business Leader of the Year. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his wife Rajalakshmi and their children.
Mr Kamath saw the award as a recognition of what ICICI Bank has done and what his colleagues have achieved. “Our story is really the India story. We are a small subscript in what India is doing,” he said. Mr Kamath, an F1 racing enthusiast, was pretty happy to hear Harvard Business School professor Krishna G Palepu paraphrase his own observations of doing business in India: It’s like an F1 race.
“It’s good to get reassurance from a business teacher. Given the growth we have, it is like being in an F1 race where you have to learn all the skills. This includes driving at a fast neck, keeping in control, making sure the pit stops work and making sure your car behaves,” he said.
Mr Kamath is one of the biggest believers in the India story. According to him, if the economy were to expand at 10%, the financial sector would have to grow at 30%. He said, of the top 10 global banks in terms of market cap, three are Chinese. His conviction flows from the belief that if we get the India story right, three of the top 20 banks in the next 10 years will be from India.
