THE CHALLENGE: My clients based in Palestine and Kenya were startups.  The NGOs supporting them were advocating mentoring as a route to grow young enterprises in the local economies.

THE SOLUTION: Following a programme from Mowgli Mentoring, entrepreneurs were matched using the Heroes Journey process.  Participants were asked to reflect upon the qualities and attitudes of being a mentor along with the differences between coaching, training, consulting, and mentoring.  All participants were put into trios to experience being both mentors, mentees and observers.

Each of these local markets had their own systemic challenges: Palestine had difficulty sustaining any entrepreneurial activities, particularly those that relied upon essential services (e.g. water for agribusiness) from their neighbours.  Both countries represented unique challenges for women who traditionally were not expected to enter the workplace.  

THE RESULTS: These are examples of where systemic change is required and yet, most interventions are sticking plaster approaches – and possibly better than doing nothing.