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Lesson #5: Be determined to prove people wrong

Article Overview: Mallya never wanted to go into business. He wanted to be a doctor and follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. But when his father put his foot down and insisted he follow in his own footsteps and take over the family business, Mallya was left with little choice.

Lesson #5: Be determined to prove people wrong

Mallya never wanted to go into business. He wanted to be a doctor and follow in his grandfather's footsteps. But when his father put his foot down and insisted he follow in his own footsteps and take over the family business, Mallya was left with little choice. "Just before my father died I had worked for three-and-a-half years in the United States. And I learned a lot during my experience there," recalls Mallya. "So you know, I was termed a playboy, I was termed flamboyant, and yes, everybody thought that I'd fritter away what I had inherited. But I was determined to prove people wrong."

Part of proving people wrong for Mallya meant distancing himself from his father's money and showing people he could not only support himself, but that he could make even more than his father ever did.

"You know, I also have some low self-esteem," he says. "But more importantly, the biggest single moment of joy in my mind was when I bought the worldwide Berger Paints group in 1988, then I sold it in 1996 after successfully floating it on the London, Singapore stock markets. And when I sold it, I made, I think a profit of 66 million dollars."

The moment was pivotal in Mallya's career because for once he could say it was all of his own doing. "I went to my mother and I said, I earned this money, I did not inherit it," he says. "Now if I buy a yacht, a plane or a car, nobody's gonna question me about it."

Now that he has proven himself as a solid businessman, Mallya is enjoying running things on his own terms, instead of for others.

"I go with the flow, really. I love what I do," he says. "To me, work is not stress. I don't say, Thank God it's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend or I'm looking forward to a vacation. I come back from Europe at two o'clock in the morning and I'm looking around for my secretary at the airport to show me my mail and to tell me what's going on. Because I find what I do very exciting, so it's no stress at all. It's just non-stop excitement. Sure, you have a few problems and challenges along the way, but I have never found those to be sort of a dampener."

Being the boss also has its perks, says Mallya. "I can choose to take time off when I want, but I just enjoy what I do so much. My body tells me when to slow down. Trust me, I'm built like a tank. I've got a lot of energy, I can go many late nights in a row. But you know, when I feel that I need to get a good night's sleep or maybe just chill for a day or two I just do it, and everybody around me who works with me appreciates and realizes that."

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Article Tags: family business, footsteps, grandfathers



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