Be like Messi-Argentina: Mukesh Ambani’s success mantra for employees

Winning in business takes both leadership and teamwork, believes Mukesh Ambani, who on Wednesday cited the example of Argentina winning the football World Cup to make his point.

Ambani was speaking to his company employees on his father and Reliance founder Dhirubhai’s birth anniversary, which is celebrated as Reliance Family Day. The business tycoon has a pan-India 5G mobile network rollout plan by 2023-end and has set the ambitious goal of making Reliance India’s greenest corporate for his three children.

The importance of leadership, teamwork

While setting ambitious goals for his company, the chairman and managing director of the $104 billion conglomerate exhorted his employees to emulate Messi and Argentina when it comes to leadership and teamwork.

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He reminded the audience that Argentina lost the first match in the FIFA World Cup. But Lionel Messi’s team did not lose hope and continued to believe in teamwork and pursue its goal.

“How did Argentina win the Cup? It is because of the combination of leadership and teamwork. Messi could not have won the Cup on his own. Similarly, the Argentinian team could not have won without Messi’s inspiring leadership.

“They faltered in the first game, but they did not give up. Ultimately, they won because they were breathing victory, dreaming of victory, and doing everything needed to achieve victory… until the last penalty shot,” said the multi-billionaire business tycoon.

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The banyan tree

Ambani also compared Argentina and Messi to Mahabharat’s Arjun at that point. “They were like warrior Arjun, who could see nothing but the eye of the bird at which he had pointed his arrow,” said the Reliance Industries chief. And that is how Dhirubhai Ambani also built Reliance, he added.

Ambani has identified three verticals for his three children — telecom and digital business for elder son Akash, retail for twin sister Isha, and new energy business for youngest son Anant.

“Years will roll. Decades will pass. Reliance will continue to grow bigger and bigger, like the proverbial banyan tree… its branches will spread wider, its roots will go deeper, and it will touch the lives of an ever-increasing number of Indians, enriching them, empowering them, nourishing them, and caring for them,” he said.

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Besides his father, Ambani was also inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts, he said. “Swamiji said, ‘Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.’ Let’s follow this mantra,” he added.

(With agency inputs)