Jean Fahmy

I was roasting marshmallows the other day with my kids. While analyzing how the sugary treat reacts to the fire, I couldn't help drawing parallels between that activity and managing people.

For those of you who have never had the joy of marshmallows on the fire, here's what happens :
- You put it on the end of a stick, usually a piece of wood you handcrafted with the pocketknife you brought to impress your friends.
- You bring it near the flame ... and the distance is the secret. Too close, and your marshmallow catches on fire, leaving a black calcined (and some say cancerous) outside crust and a hard middle. Too far, and your patience is what will get burned.
- At the right distance, and by wisely turning the treat with the stick, you get a golden outside color with a very tasty gooey middle. A true delight.

As a manager, I want my people to be entrepreneurial and take initiatives that they think are great for the organization. Which means they will make mistakes. Which means I want them to learn from their mistakes. If they can grow through their mistakes and come out stronger, then that is success - for themselves and the organization.

So I need to learn to let them feel the heat of the consequences of their actions, but just at the right amount. Too close to the flame and they develop a hard black outside crust and keep a hardened middle. Too far from the flame and they never learn. Both cases eventually become nightmarish for me.

The ideal is to make them feel the heat just enough to create a learned experience, an ingrained new habit and a willingness to keep putting themselves out there and be entrepreneurial.

That's when I - and the organization - gets the delicious golden hue with the gooey center.

And then, as I look at my 4 year old, I realize it's the same darn thing with kids...

I often coach entrepreneurs when they start their businesses and, in doing so, get to the core of 'why' they want to go out on their own. I love it when dreams of boatloads of money surface.

And then I ask THE question : 'How much is enough ?' I continue : 'If I give you 1 million dollars right now, would you be happy ?' 'How about 5 million ? 10 million ? (etc)' The conversation quickly turns to how much is needed to live well, what living well means and what the real priorities in life are.

Somewhere during the entrepreneur's soul-searching, I take out a fantastic study that was done many times and taken up by a University of Wisconsin group. There are similar stats on the web, this one comes from the good people at www.100people.org.

Miniature Earth have also made a video with older stats but still very poignant.

It's enough to make the entrepreneur reflect on his true priorities and just how much is really enough.

Important note : I'm certainly not coaching entrepreneurs to NOT make money. I am simply getting them to reflect about their situation on a global scale and realize just how blessed they already are. I also try to bring the entrepreneur to develop other reasons than money to start a business.

IF THE WORLD WERE 100 PEOPLE:
Gender
50 would be female
50 would be male

Age
20 would be 0-14
67 would be 15-64
14 would be 65 and older

Geography
5 would be from North America
9 would be from Latin America & the Caribbean
12 would be from Europe
61 would be from Asia
13 would be from Africa

Religion
31 would be Christian
21 would be Muslim
14 would be Hindu
6 would be Buddhist
12 would believe in other religions
16 would not be religious or identify themselves
as being aligned with a particular faith

First Language
17 would speak Chinese
8 would speak Hindustani
8 would speak English
7 would speak Spanish
4 would speak Arabic
4 would speak Russian
3 would speak Bengali
2 would speak Malay-Indonesian
2 would speak French
45 would speak other languages

Overall Literacy
82 would be able to read and write
18 would not

Literacy by Gender
87 males would be able to read and write
13 males would not be able to read and write
77 females would be able to read and write
23 females would not be able to read and write

Education
76 males would have a primary school education
72 females would have a primary school education

66 males would have a secondary school education
63 females would have a secondary school education

1 would have a college education

Urban/Rural
47 would be urban dwellers
53 would be rural dwellers

Drinking Water
83 would have access to safe drinking water
17 would use unimproved water

Food
17 would be undernourished

Infectious Disease
<1% would have HIV/AIDS
<1%would have tuberculosis

Poverty
53 would live on less than 2USD per day
50 would live in poverty

Electricity
69 would have electricity
31 would not

Technology
34 would be cell phone subscribers
17 would own a computer
1 would be be active internet users

A small article in the local paper helped me understand the necessary qualities for a great business coach. It's taken from Martine Deschamps from Syneraction Management

Qualities to look for in a great business coach (or qualities necessary to be a great business coach) :

- The coach understands what it means to lead and manage a business
- The coach listens, is curious and asks alot of questions
- The coach is human, dynamic and available
- The coach has a great capacity to analyze and make calls
- The coach is diplomatic to temper the discussions
- The coach has an open mind and can collaborate on the human and business level
- The coach is humble, (s)he does not for him but to help
- The coach has leadership and can influence
- The coach aims for the autonomy of the future leaders (s)he coaches
- The coach leverages his/her contacts to add value for his/her clients.
- The coach researches and knows a significant amount of relevant about the industry of his/her clients