BIRD
Build•Innovate•Reimagine•Delegate
BIRD
The next generation may inherit the shares — but they must earn the right to lead.
How some of India’s foremost business families groomed their children — or chose to respect a different path.
During summer vacations he worked as an assistant mechanic on the shop floor — literally under the buses, in the Madurai heat.
Start at the bottom. Respect the work. Understand the business.
After his CA and MBA, his father put him in charge of smaller group units — not at the top. A demanding “pressure-cooker” apprenticeship.
Start smaller. Run a piece of the business before you run the empire.
Started as an Assistant Sales Manager at Taj Hotels and worked her way through the hospitality business.
Start as an employee. Learn the ropes before you lead.
Started as an analyst at Tata Capital, building her foundation in the numbers.
Learn professionally. Build your foundation with humility.
Started in Trent’s operating businesses, given responsibility for a genuinely challenging part of the retail operation.
Earn operating responsibility. Deliver results that matter.
Worked outside Wipro first (Bain, GE Capital), then joined as a manager in the business — not as the boss’s son.
Work outside. Bring an external perspective before stepping in.
Joined Serum in 2001 after university, focused on international markets and licensing. Became CEO only in 2011 — ten years later.
Spend years learning the business before you lead it.
Worked across the group’s businesses, especially real estate (Godrej Properties), building credibility and creating value before taking on more.
Build something meaningful first. Then expand your role.
Worked in various Marico roles for about three years, then chose entrepreneurship and the family investment office. Today, a non-executive director.
Ownership ≠ management. Professionals can run the business better.
Chose a different calling and did not join Marico’s management. Her choice was respected.
Respect their choice. A family is bigger than the business.
Integrity is the foundation.
Capability is earned, not inherited.
Value to the business comes before titles.
Systems protect the business and the family.
Build institutions, not personalities.
Illustrative examples drawn from publicly reported accounts of well-known business families; specific details may vary. Shared to illustrate a principle of succession — not as an official record of any individual or company.
Ownership is for all; management is for the prepared. See what handing over a platform — not just a practice — really takes.