Behind Ma Yun's legendary life
These 4 points are worth pondering
As the largest behemoth among Chinese Internet companies, Ali has many more things to write:
Alibaba Cloud’s ten-year sword, Ant Forest’s public welfare initiative, the acquisition of Ele.me, the creation of big entertainment, the establishment of the Cainiao Alliance, the establishment of Hema Xiansheng, the launch of Hellobike...
Each story is enough to write a long story alone, and the length of this article is limited, so I won't go into details.
The temperament of a company is, in the final analysis, the temperament of its leaders. The brilliance created by Ali and the controversies that exist are undoubtedly the reflection of Jack Ma's own will and ability.
It is a great miracle that Jack Ma created such a successful Ali empire with no relevant technology, prominent family background, or impressive academic qualifications as a commoner.
In my opinion, this miracle mainly comes from Jack Ma's four characteristics, which are also worth learning from:
1. Strong goal drive
The most notable feature of Ma Yun is that after identifying a goal, he will do his best to advance in this direction with perseverance.
Alibaba's basic vision, mission and values have not changed since the day of the "18 Arhats Conference".
Unlike many corporate culture constructions that are just show-offs, Ma Yun is serious.
He really believed in it, and really spared no effort to promote it in the enterprise. I have talked with many Ali people, and everyone mentioned the supremacy of values in Ali.
In my opinion, this feature of Ma Yun is closely related to the precepts and deeds of his parents.
Do you still remember that I wrote at the beginning of the article that Ma Yun’s mother Cui Wencai is a worker, and his father Ma Laifa is a photographer, and both of them like opera. Later, Cui Wencai became a Pingtan actor, and Ma Laifa became the chairman of the Zhejiang Quyi Artists Association.
Many articles and books say that growing up in an opera family atmosphere gave Jack Ma a strong expressive ability. In my opinion, what is more important is the influence of parents' passion and actions in pursuit of dreams on Jack Ma.
2. Deep insights into future trends
Among Chinese Internet companies, Ali is recognized as having the strongest strategic positioning ability, and this is actually because Jack Ma has a strong insight into future development trends.
As early as the mid-1990s, Jack Ma was firmly optimistic about e-commerce. From the China Yellow Pages to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and then to Alibaba, he did not deviate from this main line.
At the beginning of the new century, Ma Yun decided to do Taobao, vigorously supported Alipay, and later did Alibaba Cloud, Cainiao Logistics, and Hema Xiansheng, all of which were very far-sighted.
3. Ability to influence and persuade others
It is said that Ma Yun is particularly good at fooling. Ma Yun has an explanation for this:
If you don't believe it yourself but tell others, that's called fooling; if you believe it deeply, then tell others, that's not called fooling.
Ma Yun has brought this ability into full play.
When I had nothing, I was able to persuade Peng Lei and others to give up their promising careers, willingly followed Ma Yun through all kinds of hardships, and never gave up.
For a top talent like Cai Chongxin, he will fall in love with him just by meeting him. Investors like Sun Zhengyi, who have seen countless people, are completely convinced in just 6 minutes.
I have never seen such an ability to influence and persuade others in a second person.
4. Correct when you know a mistake
Ma Yun has made countless mistakes in his life, but as long as he recognizes the mistakes, he can rein in the precipice with great courage.
When he found that China Yellow Pages and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation could not realize his dream, he left decisively and led the team to do it himself.
When he discovered in 2000 that the company could not survive because of the overspread, he decided to shrink the battle line. When he found that Ali could not succeed in socializing, he gave up decisively and returned to his career.
Ma Yun said that other people always write books about how companies succeed, but if he wants to write, he will definitely write a book called "A Thousand and One Mistakes of Alibaba".
However, Ma Yun also has many shortcomings. He has made friends with liars like Li Daodaochang and Master Wang Lin, and has made extremely boring movies like "Offensive and Defending Dao".
However, in general, Ma Yun's image in public opinion is still very high, even a bit too much. On Zhihu, all the posts related to Ali and Ma Yun are almost controlled commentary-style praises, and negative comments are rarely seen.
But is this really the reaction of the people? I can't believe it. I am more inclined to think that Ali's public relations are too good at controlling public opinion.
13
Ma Yun, who is about to retire, and 20-year-old Alibaba
Jack Ma is 55 years old.
On September 10, 2018, he announced that he would step down as chairman of Alibaba's board of directors in one year.
This day is coming soon.
Ma Yun said that after retirement, he will be a teacher again.
He once said that he regretted founding Ali, and it is better to be a teacher.
Now, he can finally get his wish.
But I don't believe that a person like Ma Yun who is unwilling to be lonely can really be a good teacher.
The future Jack Ma will definitely "retire without rest", and the future of Alibaba will still be under his control.
Before you know it, Alibaba is 20 years old.
For companies in the Internet age, 20 years is long enough, and countless prominent companies have died.
The goal Jack Ma set for Ali was to live 102 years, and now 1/5 has passed.
Will Ali in the future collapse like Nokia, Kodak, and Yahoo in the past, or will it be built to last? The future is worth looking forward to.
For some reason, I always think of a poem by Bai Juyi:
The Duke of Zhou was afraid of rumors, but Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp him.
Xiang Shi died at the time of birth, so who knows the authenticity of his life?