3 Things All Iranian Tech Start-ups Can Learn from Team Melli
It was so exciting to watch Iran’s national football team, Team Melli, romp over Yemen in the opening game of 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Iran’s young, talented, globally influenced team led by their amazing manager, Carlos Queiroz, a man who knows football and how to build a team, dominated the entire game from the very beginning, showing signs of growth, maturity, and readiness for greater accomplishments on their to a 5-0 victory!
Watching Team Melli play, one thing is very obvious and that is, for the first time in my living memory, I am seeing an Iranian national football team that is cohesive, strategic, and tactical, as one unit! Everyone on the team knows their role, and there is never a sign of lack of effort from any of the players or the coaching staff. Everyone on the team fights under one flag, and when they play, they have the heartbeat of 80 million people in Iran rooting them on, all as one heartbeat!
It’s the feeling of success that makes football more than just a sport, and Team Melli more than just a football team for Iran. Team Melli is a national pride but also symbol for what can be possible, even in Iran, if you have the right approach.
Here are 3 things that every ambitious tech startups in Iran can learn from Team Melli, in their quest to also be the best version of themselves, winning over the people of Iran and across the world.
1. Qualified Leadership - If there is no Carlos Queiroz, Team Melli would not be a globally praised team, with a group of young talented great players getting recruited to play at the highest level of football in Europe. Serious startups need to also invest into qualified leadership for the company that will be able to strategize, but more importantly, coach and develop talent around a winning culture!
2. Teamwork Is Everything - Team Melli would not be recognized as one of the best defensive teams in the world if it wasn’t for 11 men on the field protecting one another, communicating to each other, and playing as a team! It’s completely normal and healthy (to a limit) to have competition, disagreements, and frustration within a team, but when it comes down to it, the most important thing is helping the team get better! Individually, all members of the start-up need to sacrifice, support your colleagues, and lead by example as a professional, trusting that you will also have colleagues that will do the same thing for you.
3. Patiently Ambitious - When it comes to team results, success doesn’t come easy, and it sure doesn’t come overnight! This is the 7th year that Team Melli is led by Queiroz, with many of its young talent having played together now for more than 3 years. In the process, there hasn’t been a lack of organizational, financial, and political challenges. To be successful, you need to keep your team together through the bad times, and to stay committed to the ultimate goal. Be patient in the process, but stay hungry! Committed together, you will be able to overcome any challenges possible!
Iran’s Team Melli will be looking to end a 43-year title drought since last winning Asian football's most coveted prize. In their quest, they are also a great source of inspiration for all the young talented professionals that make up the Iran’s tech startup scene.
One Team, One Dream.