Master Stakeholder Management with 5 Simple Steps

 Project management is one of the most sought-after, yet least understood skill sets in an organization. People know that when there’s a competent project manager around, things magically go more smoothly. More work gets done, superior results are achieved, and everybody feels less stressed.

But how, exactly, is that accomplished? People seeking to become project managers may find the career transition frustrating because of all the “soft skills” involved. These “soft skills” are among the most valuable in our field, and yet they can be the most difficult to quantify. That’s because these are skills that are best learned, not from a textbook, but from the school of life.

Most project managers know what it takes to build a solid project plan, create and maintain a budget, assign and track tasks, and identify and escalate roadblocks. These are skills you can learn from a textbook, at least in theory.

However, successful project managers know that it also takes a great deal of stakeholder management to drive the project to the finish line and obtain a high stakeholder satisfaction that can be measured with a Stakeholder Satisfaction Score.

So what exactly is “stakeholder management?”

There are numerous myths around stakeholder management that I heard throughout my career as a Project Manager. The most prominent ones that I heard even from project management trainers include:

Myth: Anyone Can Be Your Stakeholder

While this is technically true, it misses the point of stakeholder management. Technically, almost anyone you run into in the office or in the institution could have some stake in your project.

However, the key to successful stakeholder management is to identify the most influential stakeholders — those with the most to gain or lose from project success.

Start out by building a tight stakeholder matrix. This is the very first step to properly kicking off any project. When project managers add All The Stakeholders without classifying them, they risk losing sight of who the main stakeholders are, and how each stakeholder can actually impact the outcomes of the project.

Sometimes, these stakeholders may not even realize what their stake in the project is. A great project manager can subtly drive the point home by discussing the potential for gain — or loss — that they see in the project.

Reminding the stakeholder of what can happen if things go right — or if they don’t — can be a powerful motivator to get even the highest-ranking stakeholder on your side, making sure milestones are achieved in a smooth and strategic manner.

Myth: Communication and Rigorous Project Updates are Key

This is another myth that can technically be true — but which isn’t the best version of this idea.

Communication with the stakeholders is certainly key insofar as they need to be updated about the work status. Are there any risks? Is the project on schedule? Is there something they can do to remove roadblocks or expedite the process?

But your stakeholders don’t necessarily want you to be communicating at them. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’re likely familiar with “email fatigue.” This is the effect that sets in when you get so many messages from one person or project that you simply stop reading them because almost none of them are relevant to you.

What your stakeholders want instead is to be engaged.

Instead of All The Communication, what you want to seek out is the most important and concise communication.

What is the bare minimum of communication and updates that will satisfy the team members and stakeholders? That’s what you want to go for. Perhaps that’s a mere weekly update to help orient everyone on Monday morning, or a monthly executive read-out to keep your high level stakeholders informed about the key updates, risks, and milestones.

If there is a delay or problem, that’s when you want to reach out to the delayed team members or stakeholders with additional communication. But spamming their inbox with daily updates will assure that your updates are simply ignored.

Here are five simple steps to fight these common myths and take your stakeholder management to the next level:

Step 1: Identify & DEFINE the Role of Each Stakeholder

Build a comprehensive stakeholder matrix and define the role, decision-making power, and level of engagement for each one of your stakeholders. This helps to ensure that the most important stakeholders are consistently engaged, without burning out either you or the stakeholders.

You will burn out quickly if you decide to give the same level of engagement to all stakeholders. You won’t get a Return on Investment for all the time and energy you’re spending, and you may waste the stakeholders’ time and energy as well if you are engaging them beyond their stake in the project or their ability to contribute.

Step 2: Know Your Audience & Adjust Your Communications

“One size fits” all communications are unfortunately a common mistake among Project Managers. Every team, industry, and project is different. The stakeholders’ personalities, schedules, and roles in the project may be different.

It is therefore important to create communication audiences “buckets” and adjust your messaging for each category. How often do you think the department manager wants to hear from you? What about the research team? The graphic designers?

Here are some easy ways to prioritize communications:

• Reserve whole-team emails for high level updates and acknowledgements, when there’s really something to celebrate. This will ensure that team members feel great about their accomplishments and prospects when they get these emails from you.
• Use engaging communication. This is a type of communication that doesn’t merely communicate “at” your team, but which also invites their response in a meaningful way.
• When you decide you must update and communicate with them, invite them to interact with the team in a way that gets their wheels turning about the project and shows that you value their contribution.
• Task-level project updates, escalations, etc.. Don’t include stakeholders on communications about a task that has nothing to do with them.
• Unless she has specifically asked to be copied, the department director probably doesn’t need to know what the graphic design team is up to. Neither do the graphic designers need to know what big-picture release strategy the department director is working on.

By following these principles to streamline your communications, you are increasing the chance that your communications resonate with your audience.

Step 3: Build Relationships

There’s not a lot that’s more annoying than a colleague who only comes to you when they need something.

While we all want to make the most efficient use of our time and energy, and few of us want to chat by the water cooler for an hour, it’s important that you get to know your team members and stakeholders as whole people instead of just bombarding them with demands for updates.

It’s easy for project managers to get swamped with their time-consuming daily tasks of documentation, project delivery, report building and task monitoring. If we’re not careful, we can get so swamped that we overlook the important-but-not-urgent task of building personal relationship building with their stakeholders.

Great managers know the value of going above and beyond to deliver stellar results — even if it means putting some urgent-but-not-important tasks on hold for a little while.

Taking a few minutes for an informal one-on-one with key stakeholders will help you improve your reputation and save time on stakeholder buy-in in the future.

Stakeholders are more engaged in the project and committed to its success when they can build a trust relationship with the project manager.

This will also give you a chance to get to know each stakeholders’ concerns, special skills, and communication style. On top of that, it will give stakeholders a chance to give you feedback in an informal setting before any concerns, delays, or miscommunications become critical.

Connecting with your stakeholders one-on-one in an informal setting may take only a few minutes per day, and it’s one of the best investments you can make in the success of current and future projects.

Step 4: Engage, Don’t Manage

When you build your team, it is very important for everyone in the team to understand the what but also the why of their work. What is the ultimate goal of the project? Who does it benefit, and how? Who is the target audience and final customer?

Engaging your team in getting invested in your end goal and owning the process and deliverable is crucial for increased accountability and team satisfaction. People are happier and more productive when they feel that their work is meaningful to others — so ensure that your team understands the big picture view of how the project will benefit the consumer, the culture, the company, and other stakeholders.

Research conducted by Gallup in 2017, showed that team engagement led to increased productivity and positive business outcomes, and decreased absenteeism and quality defects.

Project managers can use different creative ways to remind their teams of the mission and the stakes and ensure the continuous engagement of their project teams.

Step 5: Set Expectations Early & Keep Them Consistent

Stakeholders love it when they know what they expect during every step of the project lifecycle. This is accomplished by verbally setting out expectations, but also by practicing them rigorously. There is a real sense of security and reciprocity that builds among stakeholders when you are reliable, responsive, and consistently meet their expectations.

Make sure to engage your stakeholders in defining their expectations. Listen, watch, and adjust your engagement plan according to their feedback, and stick to that optimized plan. Needless to say, this includes doing what you’ve promised to do reliably and on-schedule.

Make sure your stakeholders know where they can get real-time updates from if they should want them. I like to provide a dashboard for all my stakeholders where they can see high-level updates about the projects they are part of. This saves time and limits the confusion around the project.

It also cuts down on unnecessary communications, and empowers all stakeholders to come prepared to your meetings!

Project Management for a Better Tomorrow

Project management is a skill that takes practice as well as study. But when it comes together, it can truly transform a team’s and firm’s potential.

The power of a good project manager is in maximizing the productivity and investment of each stakeholder and team member in the project throughout its lifecycle, and ensuring roadblocks are removed along the way.

The Pursuit of Happiness: A Self-Destructive Quest?

The quest for happiness has long been a central theme in human existence, but is the very act of searching for happiness self-destructive?  The question "Am I happy?" can be of the most detrimental questions one can ask oneself. Sometimes we cannot help but be too philosophical for our own good.

The problem lies in the assumption that happiness can be measured and labeled like a thermometer, when in reality, it is a fluid and ever-changing state. Our lives are full of ups and downs, and neither state should determine whether we are happy or not. The idea that happiness is something that life owes us is a fallacy. Instead, it is something that we owe ourselves through a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude.

The focus should not be on the question of happiness, but rather on our responses to the various situations that life presents us with. It is crucial to be mindful of our reactions during both the good and the bad times, and to maintain a positive attitude towards all situations. This requires a conscious effort and a determination to keep our end goal in mind with every action we take.

Furthermore, the tendency to live in the past is another common trap that can lead us away from true happiness. The nostalgic view of "the good old days" is often overly romanticized and can distract us from the beauty and potential of the present moment. More than that, the notion of “good old days” can be poisonous. It is important to focus on the present and to look forward to the future with hope and positivity. Everything black and white feels warm and poetic but was it really the good old days? 

In conclusion, the answer to the question "Am I happy?" is elusive, and the pursuit of happiness can be self-destructive. The key to a fulfilling life is not to constantly search for happiness, but to live life fully and to get busy doing what what we love, with a positive attitude and a focus on the present. By doing so, the question of happiness should take care of itself.

But FIRST let me take a selfie!

It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” 
~Henry David Thoreau

Busy is not always equivalent to productive. In the fast paced environment that we work and live in, we are constantly faced with countless daily tasks and an ever growing checklist. We tend to prioritize those based on urgency, at least I know I do. When faced with a task, even as small as answering a friend's text message, we consciously or unconsciously make the decision to prioritize that task. In this case, we will choose to drop all and answer that text message or table it to a few minutes, hours, or days later. The point is we are constantly prioritizing our every day life's chores or activities. The question I ask myself today is on what basis are we prioritizing those tasks? 

I realized that often times we let the urgent take precedence over the important. What is important to each one of us differs depending on life goals, culture, age, ambition, or environment. We rarely stop and ask ourselves, what are the most important "things" in my life today? What should I be highly prioritizing every minute, every hour and every day? What are my short and long term goals? Without answering these questions, we let the days meaninglessly pass by without getting any closer to the goals we cherish. We let the days pass by without spending time with our family, getting that certification that could help advance our careers or going to the gym and working towards a healthy lifestyle. We live a life guided by that pressing sense of urgency and let's face it: We end up living in a self created anxiety-filled bubble that controls our life and prevents us from self-progress and ultimately the sense of inner peace. Constantly prioritizing the urgent without getting any closer to the satisfaction of getting or experiencing what we truly cherish and what is truly important to us is stress inducing and can have a negative impact on our lives and the lives of those around us. 

Don't let the days pass by without figuring out what is the absolute most important priorities in your life today and plan around that. Urgent is not always important. That urgent bill that you have to pay today, the work or school deadlines, whatever that emergency task you have to check mark might result in a high opportunity cost later on if it does not fit within your life goals. That is to say that if your life goals is to be debt free or financially healthy, then paying your bill IS important. But now you are making a conscious prioritization decision and a fulfilling one. 

Do yourself a favor and determine your life priorities in writing, voice memo, in your mind...Whatever method you choose, be concise and clear, stay focused around those priorities and next time make a conscious prioritization decisions when you encounter one. Once you do so, reward yourself because you are most likely one step closer to accomplishing one of your most important life goals. 

Healthy Gravitations

We don't choose family but we choose friends, a commonly believed theory that justified our friendship and companionship selectivity in life. We all develop inner circles throughout the years. Those circles gradually and organically shrink over time as our personalities, likes, and wants develop. In fact, with time and specifically after our mid twenties, we attract a certain type of friends who would quasi-perfectly fit into our own unique life shaped mold. We no longer solely choose friends but also gravitate towards friendships that reflect who we are as individuals and what we represent.

Sometimes, I look around and realize the many ghosted friends and acquaintances. The people who are no longer as a big part of my life as they used to be. I immediately feel a sense of culpability. Is there anything I could have done to stay in touch?...perhaps I should have made time for that lunch or coffee invitation or make additional efforts to enjoy their companionship. But the reality is that as much as I turned away from certain friendships, they also naturally turned away from me. My energy is no longer focused on making as many cool friends as I can, but rather on defining a circle of close friends who are walking my path. They might be ahead or behind me but they saw or eventually will see the world as I see it today. More than that, the time It took me to assess people diminished considerably. We all have people skills, which are constantly evolving mainly thanks to our deceptions. We can better see those traits that can make a person worth the time and effort to be a lifelong friend.

Most importantly, a healthy friendship gravitation happens towards friends who have your best interest in mind, and give back. Giving back, to me, is the most important trait of a true friend. Giving back with a listening ear, a helping hand, or simply by being kind and treating your friends with respect. It solidifies any relationship, not just friendships.

Now, listening and exposing yourself to people with different views, wants, different levels of ambitions is nurturing in many ways and healthy as well. But that is certainly not a friendship we would naturally be attracted to. Life has enough challenges and opportunities to seize, spending time fitting in or pivoting from your maturely developed way of life will be a waste of energy and might create unnecessary additional stress.

To all the healthy, fulfilling, honest, and meaningful friendships out there!

A New Paradigm for Global Education in Morocco

Written exclusively for: Morocco World News  by Sara Amiri 

Education in Morocco is often described with a sense of disappointment and anger. It is believed to be the most important factor in the development of the country. After all, it is making sure that generations of bright, efficient, and civilized individuals continue to drive the country forward economically, politically and socially.

This importance of education is being used as a political tool to attract and engage voters, alluding people to truly believe that a better education system is the sole responsibility of the government.

The reality is that despite the relatively mediocre education system that many of us are enraged about, many students have managed to have a beneficial educational experience in the tiniest of villages, unidentifiable to the average Moroccan. This successful experience is, without a doubt, attributed to the ambitious and intelligent nature of the student, but also attributed to their educators, specifically, the educators who inspire and believe in the student’s abilities to succeed and see beyond the limited and not-so-engaging education system.

A great educator inspires students and motivates them. A great institution leader creates that perfect learning environment and engages in the short and long term education of the students. In Morocco, there are many examples within this new generation of hard-working, open-minded, and committed university and school leaders who are ensuring that students see and utilize a variety of learning and personal development opportunities.

Professor Yassine Zarhloule, Director at EST Oujda is a great example representing this group of optimistic leaders within Morocco’s educational institutions. In a short period of time, he was able to apply international standards in his institution. Inspiring students as a professor, he now continues inspiring both students and professors as a school director. His positive attitude and optimism can be seen during the very first few seconds of interacting with him.

When students come to him seeking help he welcomes them with a listening ear and a warm smile. He goes above and beyond his daily dictated responsibilities as a school director, by continually looking for ways to improve his school’s teaching methods and by bringing new opportunities to students and professors at EST Oujda (ESTO). His open door policy and closeness to his students allows him to directly and positively impact them on a daily basis.

“I never went to his office and he turned me down. He always motivates us and provides us a space to work on our creative projects,” says ESTO student Mohammed Ayyadi when asked about Yassine Zarhloule “Moreover, he gives us feedback on our projects and provides mentorship so we can improve our work.” Watine Latnine, also an ESTO student adds: “His passion and dedication to his job has given us a great role model to follow”.

Yassine’s closeness to his students can be seen in his frequent interactions with students seeking advice, help, or simply a listening ear. These student testimonials show how much Yassine’s work is appreciated within ESTO and that more examples like him are needed in Morocco’s educational institutions where students are in a desperate need of mentors and role models.

Holy Idea!

I am an avid dreamer by nature and ideas are constantly evolving in my mind. Some of them are genius, others are rather embarrassing or idiotic. I am the kind of person who lets her thoughts foster into perfectly achievable ideas and can spend hours entertaining a business opportunity or a grandiose social project, all while comfortably visualizing the resulting success and fame.

I came up with the perfect solution for engaging unexperienced entrepreneurs with the soon to retire small business owners, creating a sustainable model that will give young entrepreneurs the experience needed and give the small business owners the peace of mind of knowing that their business will be in good and "trained" hands. I designed an app helping drivers avoid moose and deer collisions by creating a geo-enabled notifications platform. I conceptualized a senior citizens home for people with alzheimer.

These would have been great success or even failure stories if the ideas were actually executed. The truth is, all these concepts were ideas that never left the ideation stage. These AMAZING ideas...Alright! GOOD ideas, are swinging at a stage where most ideas end up. Many people would wake up every morning with 10 ideas. These ideas can be as simple as a tool to help improve one's organization or starting a diary. Any idea can change something/someone if not the world, but only and only if it is paired with a successful execution and a tiny bit of luck or what some might call "External Factors". The point is until an idea is launched, it is worth absolutely zero, nada, nothing! To put it in terms that everyone would understand...The real value of an idea is $0. The concept of a Million Dollar Idea is completely inaccurate and delusive. Many aspiring entrepreneurs get too overprotective of their ideas and fail to see the value of a successful execution, and that can be translated in their communication to the investors or future partners. The failure to acknowledge the absolute necessity of a great team or individual ready to take the idea out of the ideation stage and launch, and the external factors that will drive the idea to success is what kills every great idea.  There is a reason most VCs would refuse to sign an NDA, simply because they know the value of an idea. They know that coming up with the idea is a trivial part of the process of creating change and impact. Taking action towards an effective execution is the most important factor leading to results. 

You know, one of the things that really hurt Apple was after I left John Sculley got a very serious disease. It’s the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90 percent of the work. And if you just tell all these other people “here’s this great idea,” then of course they can go off and make it happen. And the problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product.

-Steve Jobs

If you are the creative type and have a million ideas that never saw the light of day, share them because their value won't multiply over time and certainly not while deeply buried in your head. If you have the energy to execute but lack creativity, there are a million online resources giving ideas for free or use the many idea generation methods. 

Visualize, Write, and Conquer!

It is December already and we are all beginning to harvest what we have worked for this year, some with disappointment and others with joy and a sensation of accomplishment. I am a big believer in writing down resolutions and goals. I keep a journal, in a hopefully safe place, where I keep track of my life’s ongoing road trip with its curves, detours, and inevitable bumps.

Writing down goals tells the world that you have a plan. And, yes! It listens. We are all going on that road trip whether we want to or not. We might cross paths several times, but for the most part we are on our own. Having a plan (goals) helps the world conspire in your favor. Since, I started writing down my goals, I accomplished all of them…Okay, except for two*.   That is to say that, when you picture a goal while writing it down, you want it more and get a greater motivation to work harder for it. It is similar to the old way of memorizing things by writing it down many times.

The world can be manipulated in ways that it can be aligned with your goals, if and only if you really want it. Spoken words are visualized with more difficulty than written words. 

Legal Connections

Connections have always had such a pejorative meaning in my mind, growing up in Morocco and seeing how unfairly connections are utilized everyday. I have seen people skip day-long lines at public service institutions, get admitted to prestigious schools without screening, secure jobs they did not deserve, and even escape from jail time thanks to "connections".

In addition to bribery, illegal use of connections is very common in many developing countries. But when I came to the United States, my perception on connections has gradually changed. I discovered a legal way of exploring connections. I, for long, believed that smart and  motivated people will eventually make it without connections and solely based on merit. However, it is not always the case. It is about who you know and what you do with it. It is perfectly legal when the opportunity to make these connections, usually in less corrupt countries, is accessible to all. 

The key is networking and meeting people who see your intelligence and motivation. I was always encouraged by my mentors and professors to get out and meet new people, and to never be afraid of asking for contact information, of following up, and building my professional network. Legal Connections can be crucial in getting that dream job or getting admitted to that prestigious university on your list. In fact, it is  very common for employers and universities to ask for personal references because you are expected to have made enough connections who can speak in your favor. It is your responsibility but also the responsibility of your connection to assess the extent in which you get helped in getting ahead. But something I learned for sure is that networking and building up your professional network is a skill that can be learned by all and does not necessarily translate to breaking the generally accepted code of ethics or the law. 

Are connections still illegally or unethically used? absolutely. However, as long as you believe that you are using a connection obtained based on your networking efforts and hard work, it is not wrong to explore that in your favor.

Happiness Found & Lost in The Strangest Thing

Happiness is bizarre and often times misleading. Rather the quest for happiness is. We all try to find that one object, one activity, one person, one path, or one career which eventually will make us reach that comfort and happiness we have long been pursuing. It is being able to live the moment fully and losing yourself in the sensation of pure contentment and in the state of celebrating life. I hold on to material objects I have never used thinking the day will come where I could use them and that will make me happy. That out of fashion dress, the pen drained of ink, the empty bottle of perfume, a picture, a book....things I think I should hold on to because, hey what if the day I really need it to make my day I would not have it?

In the quietness of a long night studying and reaching deep into my dispersed thoughts, I found myself staring at a board I have almost forgotten existed. The board of ambition, I call it. I immediately brought back my lost thoughts to that moment of contemplation, browsing through the words and numbers on the board. I felt a brief moment of joy and a feeling of satisfaction...Happiness. Staring at numbers, words, pictures, all signifying an objective I wanted to reach. I did accomplish most of my goals. I really did. Everything stopped, I felt great comfort in staring at the board and realizing the beauty of accomplishment. As if everything else I accomplished in between did not matter. All what mattered are the goals posted on that board, because I wrote them up and can now visualize a to-do list full of check marks. I then felt a sense of sadness because now I have to find the next objectives to reach.

As if I am always trying to find that next big thing to do or to own to be happy. I just cannot seem to live a moment in its full sequence of little meaningless events and enjoy it. There always has to be The big thing, that next goal. Got me thinking into whether ambition creates or kills spontaneous long-term happiness and comfort.

Managers Traits

After spending some time observing each of the successful managers I met, and reading case studies, I wanted to try and capture those common traits that made their management style a success. I was trying as much as possible to absorb those qualities to hopefully one day become a successful manager. And here they are:

1. Have Passion for what you do. Really? What else could keep a person motivated at all times and lead a team of motivated individuals? Passion is seen in someone's tone, eye contact, and persistence. 
2.  Acknowledge the possibility of failure. BUT...of course there is a but, you can't just expect to fail without having a plan B. Most managers I worked with seemed to know they can fail but always had a plan B, C, and even D. They rarely share them. 
3. Keep calm. You might be just like me and can't contain your over-excitement or disappointment. But great managers control perfectly their positive and negative emotions. Being calm not only helps make rational decisions but it also helps keep your team calm.
4. Motivate your team to solve a problem before asking for help. I had a manager who had a sign on his door saying "Do not come to me with a problem without a solution" It definitely made me think twice before knocking on his door and ask for his help. 
5. Do not over promise but show optimism. This is probably the hardest thing to do. Successful managers know how to communicate their confidence on the ability to complete a project or reach a goal without promising overly optimistic results. 
6. Be consistent in the message(s) you communicate and communicate it often. Nothing is more harmful to a team than a manager changing goals and showing inconsistency in communication. You want your team to move in one direction towards the one goal or set of goals. Communicate that goal clearly and frequently. You are repeating yourself for a good reason. 
7. Delegate. One of the types of personalities in the workplace are leaders and executors. When a manager's personality falls within a mix of the two types, it becomes hard to delegate. But to be a successful manager you need to learn how to delegate, not only tasks but also the decision-making power. 
8. Get to know your team on a personal level. You cannot be surrounded by loyal team members, if you do not show that you care about them as individuals with lives outside of their cubicles. 
9. High level of integrity. Managers have to lead by example and if you want your team to work with great ethics, you need to have that trait yourself. 
10. Mentor, don't just manage. Do I need to expand on this one? 

There are more traits unique to each manager, but these are the ones I found common among most if not all successful managers I know. 

Failed...Now what?

I find great passion in horse riding, It is probably one of the very few animals that I find fascinating. Horses built a true connection with men throughout the history. But that is not the point of the post, although I could go on and on about how much I love horses.

Failure is the point. We all have failed at something whether you want to admit it or not. As long as we breath we will make mistakes, or others make mistakes and we have to pay the price and taste failure. Who to blame is not exactly important. But I have a story I want to share because I feel people can learn from stories even when they are not exactly related to the actual situation.

I was enjoying a nice horse ride in the forest with my instructor. It was a sunny April day, rode my favorite horse to go on the weekly "balade" to enjoy the beautiful weather. That particular horse was very stubborn and had a lot of character, probably the reason why I keep choosing to ride him. Most days he behaved well with me. Horses can be pretty sneaky and pull up their "crazy horse" card with certain people when they choose to. The ride was going really well, when my horse saw a few dogs barking at us, he got agitated and managed to make me fall from his back. It was the first time I had fallen from a horse, and besides from the embarrassment, it was painful. The horse got so scared from our reaction to his behavior, that he hid behind a tree waiting. My reaction was very simple: I am not riding that horse again and was convinced to stay in the middle of the forest rather than ride that horse back. My instructor came to me and "ordered" me to ride back right away. I refused, he insisted....I was right back on the horse. I was very angry at the instructor for making me ride the horse while being terrified and in pain. He then explained to me, that he saved me from fearing horses in the future. He said most people who fall from horses are afraid to ride them again and probably would just quit horse riding..Now I do not know how valid is his statement, but It definitely helped me. Because not only I rode back the horse but we went back closer to the dogs who scared the horse and followed the instructor's words on how to calm my horse down and manage his fear. I did.

Things you do after you fail are what matter. Are you going to immediately try again? or just let the fear from failing haunt you? Just when you know you failed and owned it, do not let the fear get to your heart and stop you from trying all over again. Now you may want to try something different, like riding a different horse, but never give up on your passion. Every time you fail you learn something in the process. While you may try one more time to only find yourself failing again, you will without doubt learn something each time you fail...until you actually succeed. I have never fallen from a horse since then, but I am certainly not afraid from it happening again.

Failed?.... Try it all over again immediately.

It is Ok to Make a Fool out of Yourself

I got a connection request on LinkedIn that brought back a memory so significant in my life, yet almost forgotten until I opened LinkedIn on my browser this morning. A connection request from a friend who facilitated my first introduction to the entrepreneurial spirit.

We were high school students, about fifteen years old when he got this "crazy" idea of building a resort on the beach of Casablanca. He believed so much in it, it was all he talked about. He was not afraid to share his dream with me. I listened and shared some immature thoughts. But he took it a bit further by making his own feasibility study, added his entrepreneurial optimism and enthusiasm to the mix to turn it into a project worth $150 Billion Dirhams, at least on paper.

One afternoon, while wandering around the break court, he came to me and said: "Sara, I want you to come with me, I will be on national TV". I was happy for him, but also flattered he asked me to give him company. The TV show was called "Challenger". It was a business plan contest hosted on the national Moroccan TV. Contestants applied from different cities and different fields. He was the youngest applicant and probably the least experienced. But as a fifteen years old, my thoughts were very typical :

" OMG, I am going to be on national television!".

Once we get to the studio, my friend enters the recording room and was bombarded with questions. Most of which were to embarrass him. After all, he was asking for an investment of $150 Billion Dirhams to build a resort. At that point, I started regretting going along. I did not want to be associated with a "crazy dude", who will be aired on TV for people to get a laugh from. It was pretty embarrassing. But he did not seem to care,  he answered the judges' ironic questions with confidence and professionalism. His first words to me after the interview were : "They don't get it, I will make it happen without them". All I was thinking about is the need to get out of there as quickly as possible. I immediately stopped believing in my friend and his "crazy" thoughts and lost hope he will ever make it. It was not until later, that I realized this friend has taught me a great lesson about entrepreneurship. He taught me that It is OK to make a fool of yourself, as long as you believe in yourself and in the greatness of your dream.

He did not let the TV hosts' silly comments, the investors' ironic questions, and the million of viewers' laughs discourage him from pursuing his dream. He had fallen but quickly and surely stood up even stronger. I was surprised to see him come back to me with a new idea a month later. This time, it was much more realistic. To my biggest surprise, in four months he started a summer camp company where he toured the country, animating shows and hosting beach parties. He followed his passion and made a business out of it.

Eight years later, I learned he is CEO of a business expo company organizing trade shows nationally and internationally. He certainly learned a lot from his experience with Challenger but I learned more seeing his persistence and indifference to people's devastating negative comments about his ability to make it as an entrepreneur. He proved everyone wrong, including myself.

Never be afraid of  making a fool out of yourself because you dream bigger than everyone around you. And it never hurts to believe in the beauty of your dreams, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship. Today, I certainly believe in his ability to build and run a resort in Casablanca.


Music Background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_eUnxDE8YY 

Letting Go

As I am contemplating the candle's flame burning, I started seeing this flame that is fighting so hard to not let go of its fire. After all there is a disturbing breeze infiltrating through my window. But soon it was not about the candle or the flame's battle anymore, it was about the concept of the fear from letting go the things we have, the things we possess. Why is it so hard to move on and just let go? We hold on to the little or big things although they might hurt us, just like the candle is holding on to the fire that is burning it.

I wrote previously about quitting, and I can't help but find the two topics related...At least in my mind. Moving on without closure resembles quitting an ambition, a dream, a challenge without having hit the dead end wall several times. After all I am perfectly content with holding on to a dream that my mind knew was harmful and irrational, but my heart refuses to listen...Or so I thought. And so, as with every decision I took, I decided to find reason and look for counter arguments to my premature conclusions. Why is it so difficult to move on and leave behind things or people we felt emotionally attached to? and what is the rational behind fearing the unknown emptiness "letting go" will engender?

1. Fearing "letting go" is simply fearing the unknown. We become comfortably accustomed to an emotion, a routine or ritual, a face...If we were to know exactly how things will turn out when we move on, our fear will dramatically be reduced, if not disappear.
2. Letting go means we are perfectly convinced there is better. After all we are all on the quest for the best. Knowing for a fact that moving on will only create better experience opportunities, stability and peace of mind; can only make us want to accelerate the "letting go" process. Ironically the many times we let go of uncomfortable situations, life gets better. But yet we thought our world has come to an end when we took that step. Some people will just tell you: "Everything happens for a reason" and they mean that it is for the best. I specifically got this conclusion from "The Alchemist". I can't remember the last time I was eager to finish a book in one read.
3. Ignorance is also a factor, as harsh as this may sound. We are ignorant about our own good. How many times we looked back in time and thought "what was I thinking?". We all have chosen to walk eye blinded at some point or the other, only to open our eyes to a wake up call from our mind to our heart. It is the call of reason and enlightening.
4. Failing to acknowledge our other options makes us prisoners in our self-made cage. We are so worried about keeping what we think we have, that we completely fail to explore the outside world.

I am sure some will relate to this struggle, but some will just have the same confused face reading through the post. But it is time for me to take away the flame's fire...obviously the candle is not letting go.

Music Background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmjEewiUciw

Relying on Luck?..Well Don't

Moroccan Lucky Khmissa

As I am sitting here thinking about how lucky I have been with many of the opportunities that were presented to me during my journey in the United States. I began to think a little more deeply about the concept of luck or fortuna. Is luck inherited?...perhaps inherited as we would inherit dark or blond hair? Is it a coincidence... randomly distributed among individuals? Is a power out there deciding whom to bless with it? Can we create luck?

I once had a brief conversation with my French teacher in Morocco about luck. The conversation lasted no more than 5 minutes, but every single word of it remained engraved in my memory forever. As many Moroccan students in their senior high school year, I was preparing for my Baccalaureat exam. Studying countless hours for that decisive two-days exam, which will determine my future, make my parents proud, and open doors for a higher education at a prestigious university...Le Bac! While trying hard to absorb content from 9 different ten month long classes, I decided I needed to complain a little, after all it may release some of my stress. I entered the teacher's conference room and told my teacher that studying for the baccalaureate exam was pointless, because in the end it is luck that matters. If I am lucky I will pass. Many bright students didn't pass because they were unlucky, or so I thought. He listened to me for a couple of seconds and said: " If I am testing you on one chapter of your book, and you read half of the chapter and came to the exam, what are your chances of getting a 20/20?". Without thinking much I answered: "50%". He then continued: "Let's look at a different scenario, if you actually read carefully the entire chapter, what would be your chances then?". Again, without much thinking, I answered: "100%". He then says: " See how you were able to increase your chances by 50%? What makes you think you can't do the same for the Baccalaureate exam?". The moral of the story was that we are able to increase chances by working harder. You cannot leave chances decide for you. His words were of great motivation, since I was able to not only pass the exam, but get an honorable grade. I didn't let chance play with me, I played with it and maximized it.

Now, can we create luck? Of course we can. Another great phrase I like to quote here is " Get Up, Get Out, and Get Something" by Jerome Love. Jerome is one inspiring entrepreneur I met at one of the C.E.O National Conferences in Dallas. Reading his book was only to confirm what I learned over time on catching those opportunities that fly by and need little or great effort to be seen and embraced.

Just when you think you are unlucky, do yourself a favour and get out of your comfort zone to meet new people, experience new things, and learn. There are endless opportunities but not enough people with the talent to create luck out of them. Stay alert, work hard, and strive to increase your luck or simply your probablity of succeeding! And Just when you feel you are lucky, take some time to celebrate because you most likely worked very hard for it.

Arab-Israeli conflict: the conquest of Palestine

The Arab-Israeli conflict is the main axis around which all the conflicts in the Middle East turn. It started in the 19^th century when Zionism came into being. Zionism as defined by Goldschmidt as a nationalist and political movement aiming at forming a Jewish state in Palestine. Many Jewish people joined the movement and started immigrating mainly from Eastern Europe with the help of Lovers of Zion and Beit Ya’cov ichu vnelcha, two organizations that sent young Jews to Palestine. This first immigration process from Russia to Palestine was called the “first aliya”.

The choice of Palestine wasn’t made randomly as many people might think, but the land of Palestine that is today Israel is believed by Jewish people to be the Promised Land. They believe that they should form Israel as a Jewish state in Palestine and await the Messiah.

Britain, on the other hand, has played an important role in the establishment of Israel in Palestine. In The Balfour Declaration, Britain had promised The Zionists to support their cause. However this declaration didn’t give The Zionists as much material support, however, it did give them hope and more determination to accomplish their goal. Zionists proceeded first by an immigration plan and then land purchases, which were faced by an increasing resistance from the Palestinians and Arabs in general who became more aware of the colonial intentions behind those purchases. Soon after World War II, a great number of Jewish people immigrating from Europe settled in Palestine and established organizations for self-defence, political parties mushroomed. They set up factories, food processing plants, and even a construction company (Goldschmidt 281). The next steps were to have the United States’ support for their cause and declare the creation of Israel as a Jewish state on 14^th May 1948. And since then, Israel tried to conquer more land. In 1967 the Israeli forces conquered the Gaza strip and also Sinai in Egypt, parts of Syria and Jordan during what is called the six days war. The colonisation of Palestine caused the frustration of Muslims around the world because of Jerusalem’s mosque, which is as important to them as Mecca in Saudi Arabia. That explains the support of Muslims to the Palestinian cause and their refusal of approving the creation of Israel even though most of the Arab and Muslim states recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

Peace in the region is quasi-impossible because it is home to two strong nationalist movements Arab nationalism and Zionism that both claim their right to establish and maintain their state in Palestine or what is now called Israel. And today both parts are victims of terrorism taking lives of innocent civilians among Palestinians and Israelis.

The fairest proposed solution for peace is the establishment of a state where the three Abrahamic religions’ followers can live in peace because this particular land is of equal importance to Muslims, Christians and Jews. For that to happen, a Jewish state or Muslim state cannot be officially declared. There is need for a secular state where politics is free from religious bonds.