Leader Speak- In conversation with Kuldip Singh Dhingra (Berger Paints)

Time : 4 PM, Mumbai | 11:30 AM, London | 6:30 AM, New York | 6:30 PM, Hong Kong

To be moderated by Sonu Bhasin, Founder, FAB, this session will have Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Chairman, Berger Paints India share his entrepreneurial journey- what worked, what didn’t, dealing with crisis, succession planning, way forward, and personal learnings too. Kuldip is the 4th gen member of the Dhingra family and has over 50 years of experience in paints and related industries. Berger Paints is amongst the leading Paint producers globally and in the top 5 in Asia. The Group is present in 8 countries and has over 40 Manufacturing Units in 5 countries.

Key Takeaways:

• Change is the only constant and one has to always adapt to the new norms.
• Despite the negative ramifications, lock-down did prove to be a blessing in disguise for family bonding, personal time and self-introspection.
• Professionalising a family business helps the business grow exponentially. While Mr.Dhingra set the objectives, he empowered his management to set annual growth targets and the required budgets. This practice made his professional team accountable and achieve a steady growth rate.
• He and his family members being in Non-Executive roles in the company also helped.
• Mr. Dhingra built Berger Paints on the value - ‘Never let your stakeholders down’. It was his fair and sincere dealings that helped him earn trust in domestic and international markets.
• Giving ESOPs to top management based on their achievements and not interfering in the recruitment process beyond the CEO of the company helps to build accountability amongst the top management.
• Having witnessed various crises, Mr. Dhingra advises families to NOT panic and take this pandemic too in stride as this too shall pass soon.