Jack Ma Steps Down From Alibaba: Leadership and Life Lessons We Can Learn From His Career

On September 10, 2019, at the age of 55, Jack Ma stepped down from Alibaba. Today, the e-commerce platform is valued at $460 billion. Ma has a net worth of $38.4 billion. The story of his success and journey along the way, though, is possibly even more valuable for those that aspire to take a startup from nothing to one of the biggest companies in the world. Even if your goals are smaller, there are many important takeaways from Jack Ma’s life.

“Don’t Give Up” Is More Than A Cliché

In many cases, “don’t give up” is a cliché without any actionable value. For Ma, however, it played a significant role in shaping his life’s path. As Ma recalls,

“There’s an examination for young people to go to university. I failed it three times. I failed a lot. So I applied to 30 different jobs and got rejected. I went for a job with the police; they said, ‘You’re no good.’ I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted.”

He was also rejected from Harvard 10 times. With all of these failures, there are a few lessons that can be learned. First, not getting into a certain school or not getting a certain job isn’t the end of the world. It can actually help…