Never Give Up: Jack Ma In His Own Words

a blind man riding on the back of a blind tiger.”​​​​​​

If you only regret the fact you failed but not the reasons for it, you’ll always be in a state of regret.

day you become a leader, you will be very lonely. Even the second- and third-in-command will find it difficult to understand you well.
When the captain sets sail, sometimes he personally climbs up the ship’s pole to see which way the wind is blowing. For myself, I need to think of things a year ahead of time, to consider the right systems and deployment of human resources to come. Success may be another year off, so decisions now may not be clear until then. But I can’t enjoy success unless I’m willing to shoulder the responsibility of failure.

things inside each person. They should be able to find strengths in each that the person may be unaware of. Seeing and nurturing this potential is critical to your power as a leader. What made me think of this? Watching NBA games.
These basketball players get better because all 12 players on each team want to be on the court. All of them think they are good enough to play, and this produces a lot of peer pressure. If you have such a system in your company, where there are no guarantees but judgment is based on performance, you will field a good team.

A good leader grooms subordinates who can surpass them. It is all right to have them struggle in the process. If you can’t find a suitable replacement within six months, then you have problems in recruiting good talent.
A leader should look for the best

In our company, the organization chart is reversed. The client is on top, employees are right below them, then the managers, the vice presidents, and me, the CEO, at the bottom. My bosses are the vice presidents above me. The vice presidents’ bosses are the managers above them—and so on up with employees having clients as their bosses. As CEO, I am the “goalkeeper” on this soccer team. If the goalkeeper sees the most action on the team, that means big trouble, no matter the skill level.

Alibaba employees need to consider how they can keep that ¥5 in your pocket and change it into ¥50. Thinking this way makes us different.