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| Jack Ma - Illustration by Tracie Ching for TIME |
1. Embrace Your Unique Fit
Google 'Ma' and you will no doubt find videos of him decked out in a shoulder length wig and sunglasses singing in front of thousands of employees. He isn't lip synching; he's singing and he's not holding back.What's the point?
The point isn't about acting silly; anyone can do that. The point is that his silliness is purposeful. Ma knows what motivates his people and he is willing to do it. He is a self-proclaimed non-technical guy running a technology company. He isn't trying to fake some sort of expertise - he's embracing who he is and what he brings to the equation.
Intelligent people need a fool to lead them. When the team's all a bunch of scientists, it is best to have a peasant lead the way. His way of thinking is different. It's easier to win if you have people seeing things from different perspectives." - Jack Ma
2. Be a Persistent Visionary
Stories from his childhood tell how Ma rode his bike for miles everyday to spend time around English speaking tourists. He would give them free tours of the city in order to practice his language skills. He had the vision to know the importance of English as a child and the persistence to learn the language. He speaks English well today, but more importantly his childhood efforts have served him greatly in growing a business. Any person who has ever started a company knows that it takes tremendous energy and effort, but hard work alone is not enough.You also need to be able to envision success and put action behind your vision. Few in the world can speak about building a company like Alibaba. The business generated $170 billion in 2012 revenue (that's more than Ebay and Amazon combined) and is forecasted to achieve $420 billion in 2014 sales. Along the way, he has motivated countless small business owners in China and around the world.
If you don't give up, you still have a chance. And, when you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength." - Jack Ma
3. Remain Unapologetically Customer-Focused
This isn't a trite comment. Many leaders are customer-focused, but there is arguably a difference between Ma's commitment to Alibaba's customers and the commitment of other executives.Consider this. When Alibaba's IPO occurred, who rang the bell that morning on Wall Street? It wasn't Jack Ma. He was on the exchange floor cheering. The people ringing the bell were Alibaba's customers. He put them front and center. Then on numerous occasions throughout the day, he told every TV interviewer that talked to him that the shareholders - the very people buying his stock for the first time - were third on his list of priorities. That's not simply saying you care about customers, that's demonstrating it in front of the world.
Customers are number one, than employees, than shareholders. I believe that if customers are happy, we will all be happy." - Jack MaAt this point, Alibaba is riding high. The initial IPO generated a ton of cash. No one knows how well they will use it or where the business goes over time. What we do know is that Jack Ma has emerged on the world stage and will likely remain there for quite some time.
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Yes, Jack Ma and Alibaba have been on high speed. I saw this coming. They are doing so much in marketing. I guess the world is beginning to see the emergence of a future world richest. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteYou are very correct Kadzem. Alibaba have been secretly doing well for quite sometime, serving as the front end for all the manufacturers in China. Now they are out with a bang!
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