The first day of the congress is always focused on topics which address the concerns and needs of the GEN country organisations and their delegation. The morning was spent hearing from a number of GEN country leaders and small group discussions, some in the large plenary session, and then the afternoon in focused country groups. […]
GEC 19 – Bahrain, Day 0
Sunday was a good time to relax and great old friends as they started to arrive in Bahrain for #GEC2019. The ubiquitous WhatsApp groups have been set up, and the consistent ‘pinging’ heralding a new message will be the background notes for the week as everyone shares info of meet-ups, tales of late flights, and […]
GEC 19 – Bahrain – Arrival
The annual meeting of over 170 countries all coming together to celebrate, learn and network all things entrepreneurship has been a major highlight of my year for nearly 10 years now. Over the years I have made many friends who, like me, have continued to work in the ecosystem in a range of areas, from […]
Human Capital and Entrepreneurship
A few weeks ago I was privileged to speak in Beirut at the Union of Arab Banks conference on ways of making progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I was one of a panel of speakers on the topic of: “Achieving SDGs through Entrepreneurship and Innovation”. One of the themes to […]
Youth, Innovation, Social Governance and China
Prizes for the first person to correctly guess the connection! Well, as there would be no blog post if I didn’t reveal the link; what ties all the words in the title of this blog together is the 2nd Youth International Innovation Conference where I was asked to speak earlier this month in Shenzhen. The […]
Startups – take the medicine!
Having recently returned from a gig judging a startup competition, I was challenged once again about the nature of feedback, how it is delivered and how it is received. I have judged, given feedback to and mentored probably hundreds of startups over the years and very happy to do so. What makes it worthwhile for […]
The rise of women entrepreneurs in MENA
The continued rise of women entrepreneurs in MENA The recent legislation changes in Saudi Arabia bringing to women the freedom to drive and the programme for continued changes to empower women in the country are attracting a lot of media attention at the moment. Being in the news for having the freedom to drive is […]
Rules are not for creatives, but frameworks are
Over the years I have worked with a number of creative teams in a variety of sectors ranging from R&D teams in Pharma, marketing departments in Finance and Hospitality, to Corporate Identity organisations, and then of course to startup entrepreneurs and founders. Reflecting on these experiences and the individuals I have worked with, I’ve observed […]
It’s tough to manage creatives!
“Creativity”, and “innovative thinking”. We are frequently told how necessary these skills are to successful business. Yet they bring their own challenges too, especially for leaders. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find that many CEO’s and managers in the creative sector find it difficult to find ways of dealing with difference, particularly when […]
Skills for Start-Ups
Last week I was back in Doha and in the recording studio to record further material for the QF Radio Show: “Women Entrepreneurs Weekly”. One of the programmes featured as our main guest Dr George White, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar. During our discussion we touched on the increasing awareness of the […]