Diego Armando Maradona is a personality that mesmerized all of us. How he alone tore teams apart, his ability with the ball, and his amazing moves especially with the kind of different body structure that he had. Maradona makes us believe that nothing is impossible. Regardless of the shape or looks anything is possible and anyone could make it. He was born on Oct 30, 1960.

During his professional career, he played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell’s Old Boys. At the club level, he was most famous for his career in Napoli where he won several awards. In his international career, while playing for Argentina, he won 91 caps and scored 34 goals.

He played in four FIFA World Cups. In the 1986 World Cup, he led Argentina to win over West Germany in the final and he won the Golden Ball award for the best player.

Maradona was the best football player ever and we can learn the following leadership lessons from him:

• Believe in yourself

Maradona started playing at a young age. His determination and passion got him to play professional soccer at the early age of 16. He went on to get the world cup in the year 1986 which was one of his biggest achievements. His dedication, passion, and determination to excel combined with courageous games proved that if you believe in yourself then nothing can stop you to make your dreams come true. Maradona taught us that self-belief, confidence, and the right attitude can help you to take on the world.

• Keep trying

He was not selected in the squad in 1978 when Argentina won the world cup. He was a star in the junior world cup team. He was very disappointed, but he never gave up and kept working harder. In the 1982 world cup, he was officially the best player in the world. However, he failed badly in Barcelona, because of a broken ankle and other health issues. He still did not give up. He was determined to be successful and in 1986 single-handedly won the world cup for Argentina making his place among the stars of football. Looking at his struggle during his early days, it feels it was easy to give up. But he always believed in – if at first, you cannot succeed, try again. He kept trying till he was successful.

• Be focused, be quick, and stay hungry

In a sport like football, Maradona proved that the size or shape of the body does not matter. The same can be applied to organizations if the objective and the aspiration to make a substantial difference supported by persistent efforts will one day give phenomenal results. The learning here is to stay focussed, be quick to adapt, and always stay hungry to learn new things.

• Keep improving your skills

Maradona was the best example of big things come in small packets. He was always in the process of learning new things. He always did impossible things on the football field. He kept working on his skills and improving them further. He was not a natural goal scorer, but he revived himself to score more goals than a natural goal scorer.  This small packet always made us believe that nothing is impossible.

Maradona loved his work. He never played for money. His love for the game and for football helped him conquer several tough times. He was offered more than 100 Million USD to promote soccer in the USA in 1988, but he rejected it as it was not about football. He loved what he did. He played football because he loved it and not because e was getting paid for it or because it was his job.

Maradona always set the world on fire with his love for the game, determination, passion, persistence, and innovation. Are you ready to set the world on fire like Maradona? Are you up for excellence?

Image Source – Wikimedia Commons

Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri