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A man of many talents

Bala Chandran, Managing Director, ADC Krone, is a truly versatile individual. Renuka Vembu profiles the successful technocrat who is also a vocalist, and can play the mridangam and saxophone with equal mastery

Bala Chandran was born and brought up in Chennai in a Palakkad Brahmin family settled in Tamil Nadu. In spite of being the only child, he never felt lonely as his family was the proverbial Indian joint family system surrounded by grandparents, uncles and aunts. Chandran’s father was a man of very few words but his actions signaled a high value system and integrity. Just like the traditional undivided family, Chandran’s grandparents initiated family values in their own subtle ways.

Schooled in a Christian missionary institution, he imbibed principles like discipline and a concern for society from his teachers. He vividly remembers an Irish priest Father McFaren, who like many others, still continues to inspire him. A physicist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Loyola College, Madras University, Chandran decided to blend pure-science with business knowledge and opted for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business and Industrial Administration. He stated, “At different periods of my career, I augmented my business qualifications with courses in Finance Management, Advanced Sales Management at ASCI and Quality Management, including a bit of German language. Shankar Swamy, one of my earliest bosses and his uncomplicated but firm management style had a strong influence on my professional career. His commitment, team-building and clarity were some business fundamentals that rubbed off on me. I recollect winning his car (my first Fiat) for being the best employee of the company as a high-point.”

Career milestones

Chandran’s first job was as a sales engineer of High Vacuum Systems in the Instruments division of Lawrence and Mayo of UK. His love for Physics made him adore the interactions with various R&D establishments and atomic energy institutions. This job profile facilitated close interactions with scientists and research professionals and provided for a hands-on experience. He realized how Applied Physics was different from the theory learnt in the college classroom. Subsequently, the concept of business development and the challenges of selling presented him with more options on the professional field. He said, “I had a significant role to play in configuring and selling systems to the High Altitude Test Facility as ISRO, Sriharikota, Vacuum Coating system to the Materials Science Lab at the Atomic Entergy establishment in Kalpakkam and one of the earliest Freeze Drying units in India at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute near Chennai. The journey was as much by chance as it was by design. Frankly, I believe that what you do with what you have is more important than what you have.”

In search of better professional opportunities, Chandran landed up in his second job also on the sales front, for the Industrial Clean Systems Division of the S&J Group. Automating industrial cleaning was unique in the mid 80’s and the job gave him exposure to several verticals, from manufacturing to utilities to hospitality. He duly accepts that he had a significant contribution for developing and promoting a portfolio for hospitals and tea industries which turned into key verticals over the period of years. He was also involved in developing an aftermarket channel and structuring AMC’s.

With the advent of technology and IT, he started off his association with Krone Communications, now ADC Krone, in 1991. He admits, “It was truly a metamorphosis as it was my first association with an MNC and the field of communications. As the company was a start-up, I was a part of a team that had to make a mark. Learning was collaborative with some great colleagues and bosses. Three milestones stand out more for the company in terms of my role rather than my personal contributions. The first was introduction of a localized portfolio through the C-DoT. The second was establishing strong partnerships with OEM majors like Ericsson, Alcatel (now Alcatel-Lucent) and Siemens (now Nokia-Siemens), and last but not the least was the building of our enterprise business.”

Over a decade-and-half of work experience with ADC Krone has meant handling challenges involving structuring the India business for the future with a broader product portfolio. He added, “The challenge of leading the company in India is very exciting, given the unique market demography and a very precipitous price vs earnings deliverables, and yet making it profitable for the company.” He has been dedicatedly involved in ‘building businesses bottoms-up and strategizing top-down.’ Chandran wants to build the firm as one with no dearth of leadership skills. Personally, he wants to remain an individual with strong professional will and high personal humility. The fear of failure fuels his passion to succeed day in and day out.

People’s person

Chandran is a people’s person and encourages ideas across all employees and team members, irrespective of its relevance as he believes that every thought has some basis and logic attached to it. He enjoys communicating with different people and building relationships. He feels that the best way to build teams and increase productivity was to develop clear channels of communication among the employees and help them adapt to change, and evolve in a way that offers growth for the business and the person.

He encourages cross-functional stakeholdership so that his team is accustomed to knowing all the aspects of business and the effect of camaraderie on the business from a top level and individual capabilities standpoint.

Chandran is a busy person with his hand on many things. He revealed, “I fancy myself as a saxophone player who can also drum out a few rhythms on the mridangam, which I was trained in for eight years. I occasionally wear the hat of a vocalist too. I also have a keen interest in reading and drawing. On the philosophical side, I am amused by the blend of corporate culture and spirituality and have learnt to meditate. Both me and my wife are involved with the Art of Living Foundation and are greatly drawn towards the spiritual teachings of H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar which has helped us a lot in balancing our yin and yang.”

renuka.vembu@expressindia.com