The story of the courageous man who gave birth to John Keells Group – Ken Balendra

Source:Inspire FB

We did not have any money at that time. so, my brother and I wore the same dress to the wedding on the same day –

When I was a child, we lived in a small, rented house on the 25th lane in Kollupitiya. Behind our houses, there were all the slums. Lots of kids. We played with those kids too. We played cricket on Duplication Road; a dirt road that has not been tarred. Bicycling. Every time I pass Liberty Plaza I am reminded of that beautiful past.

I was a ‘Creeper’ at the Hapugastenna Estate. The General Manager of the James Finlay Company, a European nationality, often came to watch the rugby matches I played. He was the one who invited me to join Finlays. I spent seven years with tea and rubber. I learned a lot, including Time Keeping, English, and developed it from my first job.

I went to Royal College. It was just fifteen minutes away from Duplication Road. We went on foot every day. Occasionally in a rickshaw. ‘John & Company’ studio was closed to our house. The owner occasionally took his son and us in his car.

I was born in Jaffna. Inuville Hospital. Grandparents were living there. Mother used to go to Jaffna every time when she was expecting younger brother and sister. Dad took us on holiday and went to Jaffna on his ‘Railway Warrant’. So, we spent the whole holiday with the children of relatives.

I was good at games. When dad was getting ready to go to work at four in the morning, he would wake us up and say, ‘Study, study, study.’ I turned the other side and slept. I took five credit passes at O Levels. But the University Entrance failed, which was written with the idea of a medical college in mind.

Mom and Dad wanted me to be a doctor. I loved playing rugby for the Sri Lankan team. But it failed. 1957, 58, 59, 60 I played rugby at school all the time. Playing with the Trinity for the Bradby Cup, Ceylon Barbarians Team

A simple man with a happy smile. A very loving person who does what he thinks is right, who works fearlessly, who works hard, and who cares about the people he works with.

Being appointed as the first Sri Lankan Chairman of John Keells was the turning point that changed my life. I became the first Chairman after the white gentlemen. The only job I applied for was John Keells. From there I went up with performances and the values that I adopted on myself. Everything else happened on the invitation to those values.

I still receive invitations from companies to serve in their board. Even from foreign companies. After I left John Keells, I was a non-executive chairman and director of several international companies. Decisions are made by the parent company abroad. But we get paid well for our stay. It did not make sense and add value. What is the point of getting paid for the name without doing any work? So, I left all those positions.

When I was the chairman of Walkers Tours Nicoman Company sent all the tourists to us. One day I got a call from the airport. ‘There’s a big uproar here. That your travel bags were forcibly taken away by a group and put on the bus to get money. I went to the airport. I loaded everyone’s bags onto the bus who came on the next flight. The next day, a large picture appeared on the front page of the newspaper, titled with ‘Walkers Tours Chairman, carrying tourist bags’. This is my way. My personality.

My first boss I met at the Hapugastenna estate was Mr. Sepala Illangakoon. Next, Mark Bostock and David Blackler of John Keells. They had excellent qualities. They are the business leaders who set an example in my life. I absorbed those qualities into my life as well as imparted them into the lives of those who followed me.

When I was the non-executive chairman of the Bank of Ceylon, the Exchange Commission and the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka, I worked without receiving a single penny as my salary. At one point, President Chandrika said to me, ‘Ken, you are really bothering me. You get paid three rupees. three vehicles. three secretaries. It is a big problem not to take any of this. I replied Ma’am! That is my policy. Also, my condition. that is it. I worked in the public service for free. Even today, I am working for free.

John Keells, Walkers Tours, Chevron Lubricants, Tobacco, American Tobacco, Brandix, everywhere I ‘ve been in the top positions. They paid me well. Took care of me. I traveled to thirty or forty countries. Travelled in first class. I love cruises. I went enough cruise trip. What else I want. So, I never thought of doing my own business.

I play golf twice a week and go to the gym three or four days a week. I do not feel I am old.My wife wants me to do yoga now.

My management style was not something out of big theories learned from universities. Although I did not go to university, I managed about 20,000 at John Keells. My method is to work closely with every employee from the bottom up. I have no class divisions. There are no ‘great nations’.

Like in John Keells, I did not admit anyone who was late for board meetings, even in state institutions such as Bank of Ceylon, where I was a non-executive chairman. I used to chase those late comers. The same applied in Brandix as well. I placed a glass box in the middle of the table and fined them Rs.1,000. The directors, who were late, had to put Rs. 1,000 in that box. They changed after one or two times. Being late for a meeting means wasting hours on others. That is not a good thing for an institution.

Source Credit: Inspire