Jack Ma, Alibaba founder and the richest man in China, knows how to make his businesses grow. For that, he says, you need to hire the right people.
So, what’s his secret to finding just the precise fit for a company? Hire people who are smarter than you.
At a global economic forum, Ma said that when you hire people who are smarter than you, the company will grow and you will be happy. “Quality number one is that he [the candidate] should be smart. If he is stupid, well, when you’re stupid it cannot be cured. He should be smarter than I am. When I hire people, I hire someone smarter than me and I think ‘In 4-5 years he can be my boss. I would like to work for him’.”
Jack Ma, Bezos, Travis Kalanick: Top Bosses Who Promoted Hostile Work Culture
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Being an industry leader is not child's play. Apart from taking one's business ahead and dealing with the complications that come along with it, inculcating a healthy work culture is also extremely important.
Recently, Alibaba Group boss Jack Ma received flak on social media for promoting a 12-hour-a-day and six-days-a-week work routine for success. However, he isn't the only one who, in an effort to be on the top, ended up promoting a hostile work culture.
Here's a look at some top bosses who haven't been appreciated for their leadership qualities.
(In pic from left: Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Travis Kalanick)
Being an industry leader is not child's play. Apart from taking one's business ahead and dealing with the complications that come along with it, inculcating a healthy work culture is also extremely i..
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Jack Ma recently faced flak for his blog post endorsing the tech industry's overtime culture.
The 54-year-old encouraged employees to embrace the overtime culture if they wished to flourish in the tech world. He was also known to dismiss people expecting a typical, eight-hours-a-day work routine.
Earlier, China's richest man said that people who can stick to a hectic schedule are the ones that have found their passion beyond monetary gains.
Jack Ma recently faced flak for his blog post endorsing the tech industry's overtime culture. The 54-year-old encouraged employees to embrace the overtime culture if they wished to flourish in the te..
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is known for his temper outbursts, and his 'rage firings' have often made headlines. The 47-year-old, whose employees have reported incidents of extreme yelling, allegedly fires any employee who comes his way on a bad-temper day.
Earlier this month, Musk reportedly pushed a former employee who was saying goodbye to colleagues after having resigned from the company.
In another example, it was reported last December that the auto giant's employees were asked not to walk past Musk's desk in case it ruined their career.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is known for his temper outbursts, and his 'rage firings' have often made headlines. The 47-year-old, whose employees have reported incidents of extreme yelling, allegedly fires a..
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is known for his cut-throat management style as much as he is known for being the world's richest man. The top boss doesn't mince his words, and the e-commerce giant has gained a reputation for having a ruthless work culture.
As a leader, the 55-year-old is reported to be a difficult-to-please boss - who is easy to agitate. Stories of his comments including, "I'm sorry, did I take my stupid pills today?" and "Why are you ruining my life?" have often made it out of Amazon's office.
Bezos has reportedly been this way from the start. In 1997, three years after launching the company, in a letter to the shareholders, he had revealed that while interviewing prospective employees he always tells them, “You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can't choose two out of three.”
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is known for his cut-throat management style as much as he is known for being the world's richest man. The top boss doesn't mince his words, and the e-commerce giant has gained ..
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In 2017, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick was forced to exit from the company. The decision was made after he was accused of sexual harassment by an ex-employee, Susan Fowler. But Fowler's account of her time at the company was just a trigger that led to a chain of reactions including complaints of a ‘toxic bro culture’ at Uber.
Soon stories highlighting the unhealthy, sexist work culture that had flourished for years under Kalanick made headlines.
In 2017, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick was forced to exit from the company. The decision was made after he was accused of sexual harassment by an ex-employee, Susan Fowler. But Fowler's account of ..
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Uber's former Chief People Office Liane Hornsey was forced to leave the company in July last year on grounds of poor management of discrimination complaints filed within the company.
Ironically, Hornsey was Uber's spokesperson on diversity and discrimination. She was also accused of making derogatory comments against the global head of diversity and inclusion.
Uber's former Chief People Office Liane Hornsey was forced to leave the company in July last year on grounds of poor management of discrimination complaints filed within the company. Ironically, Horn..
The second most important quality is a good personality. “You should like their personality. [Look for] someone who is positive and who doesn’t give up easily. I look for simple characteristics. I don’t ask for a diploma to see which university they graduated from. That is not that important,” he said.
Degree of separation In fact, Ma said that none of his core team members hold degrees from wellestablished universities. “People look at the founders of Alibaba and think we are legendary. They say, ‘Wow – you are Alibaba founders, you must be super good’. Honestly, most of us could not find jobs in our early days. We are not that smart. None of us graduated from some great university. But the thing is, we are ready to learn. We believed in the future and if we learned and worked together, and improve, we would get there [sic].”
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And finally, past companies or positions don’t impress Ma as much as a good dose of hard work. “The best thing to do is find the right people, work together, train and develop each other. Then you can build a good team. Don’t think ‘Wow that guy used to work in Google or Alibaba or Facebook – he must be good’. Not necessarily,” he concluded.
Birthday Boy Jack Ma Once Applied For 30 Jobs, Was Rejected By All
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"You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die."
Plagiarism disguised as inspiration may have become the order of the day, but if you want to go far, Jack Ma advises never to compete on prices 'instead compete on services and innovation'.
"You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die."Plagiarism disguised as inspiration may have become the order of the day, but if you want to go far, Jack Ma advises never to..
