Why CEOs maximise leisure

Corporate CEOs zealously guard their leisure hours, but it is not a practice politicians should follow, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told officials by way of apology for calling them on a Sunday for a pre-Budget meeting. To make his point, he related an incident between Karpoori Thakur, chief minister of Bihar in the seventies, and Russi Modi, then head of Tata Steel. During one of his two brief tenures as chief minister, Thakur called Mody in the evening. Being after office hours, Mody was not available, so Thakur left a message and Mody only returned the call the next morning. Thakur took a dig at Mody, saying corporate chiefs were lucky, they had time to rest and go to clubs and enjoy life, unlike politicians. Mody, who was rarely lost for words, responded promptly. That was only to be expected, he pointed out, because politicians are around for three, four, maybe five years whereas he, Mody, would be around for 40 years. So, if he wanted to work 40 years, he needed his leisure whereas Thakur didn’t need that kind of luxury for a three- or four-year job.