After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire was on the decline. The Marathas had captured most of the territories in the south. Slowly, they captured most of central and north India too.

They occupied Delhi and captured Lahore by defeating the son of Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler.

Abdali built his army and left Afghanistan to stop the expansion of the Maratha empire. He sought an alliance with Najib Khan, the chief of the Rohilla soldiers. Even the Nawab of Awadh had extended his support.

The confident Marathas were led by Sadashivrao Bhau. They had a large army, but very few allies.

Most of the kings from the Jat, Sikh and Rajput kingdoms did not support the Marathas as they resented the heavy tax imposed on them during the Maratha capture of north India. A few of them even struck favourable agreements with Abdali.

Lesson: One needs allies; the need is even stronger when one is operating in a new territory/segment.

Whether the company is doing an acquisition or is entering into a partnership, the agreement should try to be a 'win-win' one where the minority stakeholder should feel respected and heard.

This will help the partnership flourish. Similarly, if a manager takes care of his team, his team rally for him in his hour of need.