It is my pleasure to host author Hanane Benkhallouk on my blog today. Her book Seeds of Change launches on Aug, her birthday!
It’s such a coincidence that I got to interview her when she happened to be in New York, the very place where the first seed of her change was planted.
Me: Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Hanane: I can’t remember I had a precise wish of being a writer, but writing has been a favorite form of expression since I was a child. I had a daily journal since a very early age, and I enjoyed documenting my reflections about diverse topics, and events. Later on, I started writing more structured blogs and articles, and you can find many of those published on diverse platforms and some famous publications such as Forbes Middle East. I think I just evolved as a writer with time, and for some reason, I was motivated by many people around me who repeatedly said: “I see a book in you”, I guess this kept resonating in my head until I made it happened. Prior to Seeds of Change I co-authored two more books.
Me: What made you pen down Seeds of Change?
Hanane: As I said earlier, that “I see a book in you” expressed by many who believed in me and whom I didn’t want to disappoint, was the trigger behind me taking that step, but the year I decided was 2019 which coincided with my 20th anniversary of joining the workplace, and starting my professional career, which counted many years of full time employment before I went on my entrepreneurial journey, to drive the change, I wanted to see at the workplace when I was an employee. Seeds of change summarizes all the learning and insights ,I gained from my work experience, with very diverse audiences, from government institutions, to multinationals, startups, NGOs as well as youth and women development organizations.
The business landscape around us is changing exponentially, and requires a different outlook towards the future, even the way we manage change has changed, and that’s what made me write Seeds of Change.
Me: How long did it take you to write it?
Hanane: 10 months, I had started in November 2019, before I knew that couple months later we would be living the biggest change ever accelerated by the ongoing Covid 19 crisis, which validated even more the principles of Seeds of Change.
Me: What makes a successful business?
Hanane: I might want to reframe your question to “what makes a successful business, today?” and my answer would be, a successful business today is not the biggest, or the most profitable, but the most adaptable that has enough agility to reinvent itself to be relevant in this ever-changing business environment.
Me: What should readers expect from this book?
Hanane: The book introduces the readers to a framework that has the main attributes that will be needed to develop more resilient, and understand what it means to be human-centric, in order to avoid obsolescence. SEEDs is an acronym that stands for Sense (and sense-making), Engage, Empower, Develop and Sustain.
Me: Will this book help leaders of established businesses and the ones starting up new ventures alike?
Hanane: The book introduces the framework that is valid for all businesses, or even individuals who want to reset their careers, it is also beneficial for startups who are starting fresh and established businesses, because the on-going changes and the unprecedented speed of change today, is forcing everyone to think like a startup and the notion of “established” is actually challenged by the book, the whole point is to steer away from thinking that you are established and successful and be ready to always transform yourself, your business, your structure, processes etc…
Me: Describe yourself in three words.
Hanane: I have my 3Ps that I always mention as my drivers of success:
Passionate, Proactive, Persistent.
Me: Are there any new projects underway?
Hanane: Yes, I am working on multiple projects, the most immediate one is a global think-tank that tackles balance in a fundamentally different way and on many fronts, its initial focus was on shifting the narrative of the gender gap issue and then expanded to even beyond, it is more of a movement and a community that has already started to grow and calls for more advocates who want to join hands to create a more balanced world. You can find out more about it on www.tawazoun.com, tawazoun is the Arabic word for Balance.
Hanane Benkhallouk is an award-winning senior consultant and entrepreneur, with a broad scope of expertise and 20 years of diversified experience and exposure to international markets, from the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Her position, at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum foundation, managing Innovation and entrepreneurship programs across the Arab World, was the trigger of her career shift to consultancy. Today Hanane works as he Executive Director of Sustain Leadership Consultancies.
A culture change and certified innovation strategist, Hanane holds a DBA and an MBA from New York city. She supports corporates, government institutions, NGOs and SMEs, in building human centric business models, and creating cultures of innovation, to remain relevant and sustain their leadership in an ever-changing world.
Hanane is a thought leader, a global speaker, and an author; she is published on Harvard business review and Forbes Middle East.
Hanane’s vision is to contribute to moving the Arab Region to an innovation and knowledge-based economy.
