How to be sucessful - the Jack Ma (Alibaba) way ......

Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma is  the richest person in China.

Ma is  worth an estimated $25 billion, which includes his 7.8% stake in Alibaba and a nearly 50% stake in payment processing service Alipay.

Ma is a true rags-to-riches story. He grew up poor in communist China, failed his college entrance exam twice, rejected many times by Harvard University (10 times) and was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC, before finding success with his third internet company, Alibaba.

He had the vision that internet could be leveraged to reach out to the masses and trade over the internet and will benefit both the seller & the consumer. He weathered many a storm over his journey to success.

Here is a great interview of Jack Ma where he reflects on his past and gives his vision of how one should shape their careers & how to be sucessful and also learning from mistakes.

Its Attitude that drives Happiness

A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai - an IIT-MIT Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome:

The cockroach theory for self development

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and  sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice,she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm,  composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:  

·         I understood, I should not react in life.

·         I should always respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.

A beautiful way to understand............LIFE.

Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life..

He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right..!!

A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai - an IIT-MIT Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome:

Team Work

Team work is all about working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.

Teamwork is often a crucial part of a business, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying their best in any circumstance. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals.

In reality it could be otherwise. Individuals try to outbeat their colleagues in their zest to impress their superiors or others in the team and many a times even at the cost of others – the Result – The team (Organisation) many a times fails.

Its often said that individually we are a drop but united together we can become an Ocean. Its also said the united we stand, divided we fall.

Here are some great quotes on Team Work :

1. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." --Michael Jordan
2. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." --Andrew Carnegie
3. "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." --Helen Keller
4. "Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." --Patrick Lencioni
5. "I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition." --Jean-Francois Cope
6. "None of us is as smart as all of us." --Ken Blanchard
7. "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." --Henry Ford
8. "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself." --Henry Ford
9. "The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." --Phil Jackson
10. "Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other's fund of collective intelligence." --Mike Schmoker
11. "It takes two flints to make a fire." --Louisa May Alcott
12. "Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." --Mattie Stepanek
13. "To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless." --Mike Krzyzewski
14. "The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison." --James Cash Penney

You can do better with your team than you can alone. Here's to your--and your team's--success!

Staying ahead of Competition - the Sachin way....

Here is how Sachin Tendulkar stayed ahead of competition.  An awsome story.....

The law can be suited either way......

This actually took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, loss due to fire.

Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.'

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had  consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued and WON!

(Stay with me.)

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars that perished in the 'fires'.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART...

After the lawyer cashed the cheque, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This true story won First Place in last year's Criminal Lawyers Award contest.

With deft lawyers, law suits can be suited either way.......

Its risky to judge anyone by his habits !

Can u judge who is the better person out of these 3 ?

Mr A - He had frienship with bad politicians, consults astrologers, two wives, chain smoker, drinks eight to 10 times a day.

Mr B - He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps till noon, used opium in college & drinks whiskey every evening.

Mr C - He is a decorated war hero,a vegetarian, doesn't smoke , doesn't drink  and never cheated on his wife.

You would want Mr.C rite.

Scroll down.....................................
















But..
Mr. A was Franklin Roosevelt!

 

Mr. B was Winston Churchill!!

Mr C Was ADOLF HITLER!!!

Strange but true..
Its risky to judge anyone by his habits !

Character is a complex phenomenon.
So every person in ur life is important ,don't judge them ,accept them.

An encounter with a Singapore Taxi Driver by Shiv Khera - Professional with a human touch and Values

Shiv Khera, a renowned author and management trainer writes about his experience in Singapore with a Taxi Driver

"Six years ago in Singapore I gave a taxi driver a business card to take me to a particular address.

At the last point he circled round the building. His meter read 11$, but he took only 10.

I said Henry, your meter reads 11$ how come you are taking only 10.

He said Sir, I am a taxi driver, I am supposed to be bringing you straight to the destination. Since I did not know the last spot, I had to circle around the building. Had I brought you straight here, the meter would have read 10$.

Why should you be paying for my ignorance ?

He said Sir, legally, I can claim 11$ but Honestly and ethically I am entitled to only 10.

He further added that Singapore is a tourist destination and many people come here for three or four days. After clearing the immigrations and customs, the first experience is always with the taxi driver and if that is not good, the balance three to four days are not pleasant either.

He said Sir I am not a taxi driver, I am the Ambassador of Singapore without a diplomatic passport.

In my opinion he probably did not go to school beyond the 8th grade, but to me he was a professional. To me his behavior reflected pride in performance and character.

That day I learnt that one needs more than professional qualification to be a professional.

In one line be a "Professional with a human touch and Values " that makes all the more difference.

Knowledge, skill, money, education, all comes later. First comes Human Values, Honesty and Integrity

Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”

Hiring Smart People... dont strip them of their originality

Very well said. Most of the times,  we hire smart people and then mold them to our ways, our culture and stifle them and strip them of their originality. The same is true of mergers & acquisition. We acquire a company because we see a value in them but after acquiring them, we stifle them and strip them of their value in our quest to integrate them into our organisation.

Brain over labour

Brilliant story....

A giant ship engine failed.
The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could
figure but how to fix the engine.
Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a
young.
He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he
immediately went to work.
He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would
know what to do.
After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out
a small hammer.
He gently tapped something.
Instantly, the engine lurched into life.
He carefully put his hammer away.
The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old
man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer........ $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap........ $ 9,998.00

Moral of the story:
Effort is important, But knowing where to make an effort in your life makes
all the difference.

Business Sutra - An India Model of Management

In his landmark book, best-selling author, leadership coach and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik hows how, despite its veneer of objectivity, modern management is rooted in Western beliefs and obsessed with accomplishing rigid objectives and increasing shareholder value. By contrast, the Indian way of doing business-as apparent in Indian mythology, but no longer seen in practice- 
accommodates subjectivity and diversity, and offers an inclusive, more empathetic way of 
achieving success. Great value is placed on darshan, that is, on how we see the world and 
our relationship with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

Business Sutra uses stories, symbols and rituals drawn from Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology to understand a wide variety of business situations that range from running a successful tea stall to nurturing talent in a large multinational corporation. At the heart of the book is a compelling premise: if we believe that wealth needs to be chased, the workplace becomes a ranga-bhoomi-a playground where everyone is happy.

Brilliantly argued, original and thoroughly accessible, Business Sutra presents a radical and nuanced approach to management, business and leadership in a diverse, fast- changing, and increasingly polarized world.