This daring 2500-year-old sport, Jallikattu has some lessons to teach and inspire every entrepreneur, what some premium business schools can’t.
What is Jallikattu?
Jallikattu or Bull embracing is a traditional sport played in India in the region of Tamil Nadu mainly on the festive day of “Mattu Pongal” worshiping and thanking the cows, bulls and also other integral animals to the farming community. During Jallikattu, indigenous species of bull is made to run amongst one or more challengers, who tame them by embracing the bull by their hump and running with them for a short distance and then let loose.
This historical sport has now gained a lot of attention around the world after support came for the sport from millions of people against the ban. Various animal rights groups claimed it was animal cruelty by cherry picking evidence of stray violations in a largely harmless sport for the animals. People from all walks of life protested peacefully for revoking the ban by alleging various conspiracy behind banning the sport by exposing the huge economic interest some large business had.
What Can Entrepreneurs Learn from Jallikattu?
Simply speaking, Jallikattu might not have anything to do with entrepreneurs. But it incorporates the essence of entrepreneurship. Here are some of the reasons why Jallikattu will inspire you to be a better entrepreneur.
1) It Is for The Brave
Tough the sport is safe for animals, the same can’t be said for the human counterparts. There have been casualties when they try to tame the bull by challenging it willfully. Only the bravest of the brave can stand against when a large bull with sharp horns run towards you.
Likewise, most entrepreneurs fight against numerous challenges that keep coming their way to run the business successfully. Also, the adrenaline rush and the satisfaction is what makes most entrepreneurs do what they do than the financial rewards it can offer.
2) You Have to Be a Leader
Like most of us even bulls need a leader to follow. During the olden days, these bulls and cows were taken to gazing in large numbers. Hence, here it was necessary for the humans to be the alpha of the pack to maintain the crowd. Sometimes a bull would run away from the crowd. The alpha would then tame the bull by embracing them, to maintain the herd. In time this transformed into Jallikattu to remember this tradition.
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Entrepreneurs are the most important leaders of the company. Most team members look up to the entrepreneur for the inspiration, as they lead the business and team. It is very important for them to manage the business by solving problems and helping the team work at their maximum potential and lead the company to success.
3) Learn to Manage Opportunities and Risks
As I said earlier, the bull charges towards you with its sharp horns. If you decide to stand in its way, you better be ready to tame them. The bull has a strong neck; it can throw you in the air with little effort. Players of the sport can be seen thrown often in the air by the bulls. They always look for the opportunity to grab the bull which they believe they can tame instead of every opportunity that comes their way. Therefore entrepreneurs should also learn to choose what opportunities he has to purse and what he has to let go to manage the risks.
4) Quick On Your Feet
The speed of the charging bull is faster than a sport car for the first few meters. There is only a short window of opportunity to embrace the bull. Some bulls will speed away to evade the player when they are let loose and some others will stand where they are and challenge the player to dare touch them which is more dangerous.
The players have to be quick in grabbing their opportunity. They will have to quickly on their feet to decide if they should hang on to it or let loose and save themselves. Entrepreneurs should also have to be quick in adapting to the situation. So, if they waste time by not adapting to the market conditions, soon they will lose business. If they are quick in spotting opportunities, they will have greater chance of success.
5) Gamification Helps in Achieving Goals
Gamification of Jallikattu as a Sport has a deeper meaning of preserving the biodiversity. As bulls are of no explicit use other than breeding in today’s modern world. To save them from reaching slaughter houses and to be preserved for sustainability in the age of artificial insemination gamification is necessary. The bulls that win this game are used to breed the cows for better offspring’s and biodiversity.
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A token of reward is tied to the bull horns which is hard to untie. The player has to embrace and hold his position on the bull long enough to untie this reward. If the bull runs unchallenged then the reward is given to its master who raises and trains the bull from its young age.
Entrepreneurs also have to use gamification to get better results on tasks that inspires less motivation. Cold calling can be a good example where gamification has been successfully implemented by many businesses. Gamification will simply make the tasks more interesting and rewarding for those in it.
6) The World Is Unfair
Here is one of the interesting memes that caught my eye. Tough nothing is proved or denied. There are lot of controversies behind this sport. The people supporting this sport claim that people and corporations have been trying to make the indigenous bills go extinct by banning this sport for financial gains. The milk and breeding market of cows in India has a huge potential for making profits which currently goes to small farmers and entrepreneurs.
There will always be completion in whatever you do. Entrepreneurs should also learn from Jallikattu, that all people don’t play by the rules. Your competitors can be unfair and one should be ready to face that challenge as well.
7) Your customers will speak for you
During the ban on Jallikattu, a large mass of people men, women, children from all walks of life stood in support of the sport gathered throughout the world supporting the sport. They protested in peace against all the challenges. Tough the sport is largely played by a few people, the love for the sport by its spectators had helped in spreading awareness and saving it.
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If you keep your customers happy. They will be your brand ambassadors, they share the information with other people that your product is good and they should try it out too. An entrepreneur should work towards providing value, love and strive to have this viral reach to have success in whatever they do.
Now Go! and Dare to grab the bulls by their Horns.
If you would like to read more about the Jallikattu sport, visit Jallikattu.in
If you have know another sports like Jallikattu that should be every entrepreneurs inspiration? Share them with Trdinoo for others to learn in the comments.
