Vik Bansal, who will take over as chief executive of underperforming Boral by December after a shake-up triggered by chairman Ryan Stokes, says he prefers the “cut and thrust” of running ASX-listed companies and has become a better leader after his exit from Cleanaway 17 months ago in the wake of bullying allegations.

For the past year he has been running steel group InfraBuild, part of the global GFG Alliance owned by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, and says he misses the pressure and accountability of leading a large publicly listed company.