Gautam Adani shares five key success mantras for young entrepreneurs

Mumbai: As more and more young Indians aim to become entrepreneurs, Adani Group Founder and Chairman, Gautam Adani, has laid out five mantras for them to succeed in life, hoping that “these will mean something for all of you”.

Speaking at a YPO (Young Presidents’ Organisation) Bombay chapter event this week, Gautam Adani said that all the success will come with its challenges and challengers.

"The greater your success, the bigger will you be as a target, and the true measure of your success will not be in your achievements, but in your ability to rise through the adversities that will come your way along with your achievements,” the Adani Group Founder told the gathering.

Gautam Adani then elaborated with the recent example of the shorting that the Adani Group had to go through.

“As most of you will be aware, last year on January 24, we were subjected to a massive attack by a US short-seller. The objective was not just to destabilise us, but also to politically defame India’s governance practices. But despite the efforts to shake our foundations, we stood firm, not just safeguarding our reputation, but also ensuring that we remained focused on our operations,” emphasised Gautam Adani.

“While there were several learnings, this episode also gave us confidence in our resilience. Our recovery highlights the essence of bouncing back stronger, symbolising the spirit of rising after every fall,” he added.

The second mantra is that “we live in a complex world and it’s easy to be sold on the theory of simplicity”.

“While simplicity may be the goal, it is the ability to manage complexity that will differentiate you and make you the ones that can navigate the deep waters as against those that remain on the shallow shores,” said the Adani Group Founder.

“Every business that I have built has been far more difficult than I had anticipated, and over the years, I have become wiser in my belief that only if I can embrace complexity better than others will I be able to differentiate."

The third principle is that “the dynamic model of a fast-growing nation like ours requires a flexible approach that is rooted in local models as against models that often emphasise specialisation and core competencies".

“The crux of strategic differentiation often lies in recognising the limitations of bookish knowledge and Western-centric models. While it is important to source ideas from books and literature, keep in mind that these are after all opinions of brilliant storytellers with a great ability to influence,” Gautam Adani noted.

He further said that resilience often requires the ability to withstand criticism.

“The higher you rise, the more you will need to prepare yourself to handle criticism. But instead of allowing it to deter progress, you must be willing to be misunderstood, and yet stay resilient. Therefore, it is about cultivating an inner strength that allows you to remain strong in your convictions, even in the face of severe opposition,” Gautam Adani elaborated.

Number five and the most difficult of all -- stay humble.

“Your success will push back on your humility. But humility is the biggest differentiator you can build. Humility is not thinking less of yourself – it is thinking of yourself a little less. True leadership lies in acknowledging your achievements without letting them overshadow the value of self-awareness,” Gautam Adani told the audience.