‘Adversity only brings the best in you’ – 20 quotes of the week on entrepreneurship and leadership

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). Share these 35 gems and insights from the week of January 24-30 with your colleagues and network, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

With women entrepreneurship slowly but steadily on the rise, we are getting closer to bridging the gap but have a long way to go to significantly impact the overall gender gap. - Roma Priya, Burgeon Law

If you're proud of who you are, you don’t have to put up a show or posture. - Namita Thapar, Emcure Pharmaceuticals

I felt if people get inspired by this whole entrepreneurial wave, seeing small businesses getting funded, [Shark Tank India] would be a game changer. - Vineeta Singh, SUGAR Cosmetics

Intrapreneurship and corporate accelerators will start embracing entrepreneurs in more strategic and sustaining ways. - Anand Sri Ganesh, NSRCEL

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Achieving a high employee retention rate improves the morale of the workforce, while preserving core values, ethics, and vital processes within the organisation. - Sumit Sabharwal, Fujitsu

Trust arrives on the back of a tortoise and leaves on the back of a galloping horse. - Joseph Healy, Judo Bank

Your colleagues will work for you if they know that you have respect for them and the expertise they bring to their work. - Preeti Jhangiani, Pro Panja League

Once you decide to go all out to build and work on your project, find the support of the right people. Anything you do today needs multiple people coming together, and then everything will fall in place. - Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, IISc

Managers with a collaborative mindset do three important things: they leverage networks actively, discerningly, and reflectively. - Shameen Prashantham, 'Gorillas Can Dance'

We believe in the ability of purpose-driven, responsible capital to be transformative while creating attractive investment returns. - Jan Martin Witte, KfW

Even today, the question is the same for most people — which asset class should you invest in based on your risk profiling? Checking with professionals can be intimidating, especially if the investable amount is of small size. - Archana Elapavuluri, Pickright Technologies

Public markets are far more focused on sensing whether you (company) have kept your promises. - Promeet Ghosh, Temasek Holdings Advisors India

Valuations are an outcome and these are generally tough to handle. What we can control is the product. - Chaitanya Peddi, Darwinbox

Valuations can swing massively without any change in the fundamentals of the business depending on macro-economic factors like inflation, interest rates. - Deepinder Goyal, Zomato

Well-designed affordable housing projects transform society. They substantially impact the surrounding communities, particularly those residing in urban environments. - Shivam Sinha, Indiassetz

Once a bigger brand goes plastic neutral, it starts becoming industry standard. - Bhagyashree Bhansali Jain, The Disposable Company

In the world of fast fashion and fast shipping, it gets really difficult to convince customers to wait for [artisanal] products. - Arpita Sahu, Vintage Vistara

The truth is, only proper nourishment of the scalp can ensure beautiful hair. - Shaily Kataruka, The Earth Collective

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We cannot wish away how interconnected we all are on Planet Earth. - Shameen Prashantham, 'Gorillas Can Dance'

The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is. - Thich Nhat Hanh, 'No Death, No Fear'

The focus should be on recovering quickly and moving on - it's not about how far you fall, but how high you bounce back. - Anjali Joshi, Take Two

Sports teaches you a lot. But the best thing cricket has taught me is that even if you score a 100, you need to start from zero the next day. - Smriti Mandhana, Cricketer of the Year

Adversity only brings the best in you. - Niharika Verma, Bonkids

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).