1. Can you tell us through your professional journey, what led you to Myanmar, and what inspired you to start E3E? 

I arrived in Myanmar 11 years ago, July 27th, 2014. I was invited by the current government to help build a Journalism's Institute. The idea was that if the country wanted a real freedom of expression and press freedom, there was a high need for trained journalists, able to follow and respect professional ethic and standards. I worked during one year and a half on this project and then I quit, to move to some other fields of work. I have not only a journalism/communication's background, but a consultant's one as well. I studied Change management in France during one year of Master. So, I wanted to try to develop a Change management consulting activity. I wanted, I still want, to have an impact on Myanmar's business environment. Even if it would only be a small one, any change was welcomed, I thought. And I still think it. It was clear to me that I would be able to make that impact only if I created my own SME. E3E was born.  

2. What have been the most rewarding and most challenging parts of running an SME in Myanmar’s evolving business environment? 

The most rewarding is always the same: it's when I start a Change management process with someone and, after some common work together, I observe the transformation for better of my customer. It can be small transformation, huge one as well, it's always the same feeling: not exactly "Job's done", as Change management is an attitude, an on-going process never-ending process, but rather the satisfaction of being part of a positive move, a move that is going to have an impact on the customer's company, on the people I have been working with. 

The most challenging is to convince people to change. Most people are afraid of it. Many talk about the need to change, how important it is to adapt to new challenges, to improve… but when they have to move from words to action, most quickly and easily give up. That's the most frustrating for me: to see and understand the needs of some people or potential customers but to be unable to convince them to try genuinely to change. One of the most common words I heard in Myanmar were "Yes, you are right, but we need time. We are going to do the things slowly, step by step". In today's world, Time is more than money, it's a luxury: taking too much your time results in giving an edge to the ones who go faster. In a competitive environment, it destroys the slowest.   

3. You're also one of the trainers at CCI France Myanmar. What makes your sessions unique or impactful and how do you support Myanmar people in their career development journey? 

I am not sure my sessions are unique but thank you if you think so. What are my trainer's main skills are mainly my broad experience, 40 years of professionalism in very various fields and functions (physics, movies' industry, journalism, environment, management, consulting…) and my ability to connect the dots between all these experience, to use for instance a little bit of psychology added to some mathematic and a lot of management to be able to answer a question. This allows me to understand quickly the needs of the trainees and then to find usually a proper answer and method to these needs. However, there is a major limit: as my approach is participative, consultative and relies most of the time on a coaching linked to trainees/participants real situation, I have difficulties to work with people in denial, participants who don't really want to make the efforts to improve. I need people to do more than just talking "I want to improve", I need a real commitment and hard work from the other side. I guarantee improvement to anyone who really tackles his limits, but I won't lie, it is often a painful process to change, and to improve means to learn new ways… and to give up your own safety for a while. It means to accept failure and to make mistakes to get more in-depths knowledge. You can't improve without moving from your comfort zone. 

To support people who ask for my services, my first point is to listen at them a lot, to pay attention to their verbal and non-verbal communication, to be careful to the pain in their transformation, to assist them as much as I can. Sometimes, it even becomes a little bit conflictual, when people are very reluctant, but either I am convinced they really want to improve and then I keep pushing them – I have one or two people who thanked me at the end of our collaboration because I did not let them give up and I helped them find their own way to transformation – or I realise that there is a not a real will for improvement, and then I usually choose to stop the common work. I don't want to take money for a service I can't provide anymore. 

4. How do you think FMCCI’s training programs contribute to the broader goals of professional growth and organizational resilience in Myanmar?  

FMCCI’s training programs focuses on soft skills, even if it also provides some hard skills courses. But it's main target is the development of soft skills. And in Myanmar, these skills are both the more needed and the more difficult to develop. That's where FMCCI steps in : it can help in a thorough needs assessment and provide then the relevant courses, or even taylor-make them. And to achieve that, FMCCI has a major asset: very high level trainers. And I am not at all praising myself, as I think I am a good professional but I won't call myself "high level". However, every time I took part to a training from FMCCI, I was impressed by the versatility of the trainer, usually with a very strong experience and teaching ability. FMCCI favours quality to quantity: it doesn't sell a certificate with a "big name" for a course, it sells highly relevant inputs in a highly professional manner. I am sure it makes a difference. 

5. From your perspective, which interpersonal and leadership skills have become increasingly valuable in today’s dynamic business world?  

The first one is proper communication. So many people think they communicate just because they talk or they write. But do they really reach their target? Make their audience listen? Communication is more than a skill, it is a major asset, especially in Myanmar's culture where it is difficult to be straight forward. To communicate efficiently is more than a skill, it's a game changer. Then, I would focus on the mind-set, the attitude: the strength to accept to be challenged, questioned, the strength to accept to make mistakes, to fail and stand back. And finally, emotional awareness, empathy: the skill to understand what others want or wish, to understand it deeply – which doesn't mean you have to accept it… - so you are able to design a proper answer to it, professionally, personally. It might be strange to many but these three skills are skills everyone can learn if he/she accepts to be challenged! 

Another very valuable attitude is proactivity. Too many professionals are just reactive: they do what they are told. They do it well or very well but without enough initiative. Consequently, actions taken lack originality, they just reproduce what was done previously. In a fast changing world, it's not enough. For instance, Human Resources know their jobs, understand the market and maintain proper data professionally. No doubt about that. But they are also usually poor at needs assessment: they get feedback from departments for the training they want and then they find an organisation to deliver these trainings. Often, they don't check enough to make sure the specific training requested matches the needs. The risk here for the company is to spend money in trainings that may be very good but won't be relevant enough to make a positive impact for the company. I think that HR should be more proactive generally speaking, make more needs assessment, put "continuous improvement" processes in place, like the Japanese companies did so well. HR should provide more technical support to other departments, which means of course that these other departments should be welcoming HR as well. A peer-to-peer process that allows a better capability development in the firm. 

What values or principles guide your work, whether in training or running E3E? 

First one, my interest and curiosity in other human beings. I am convinced that I can learn from every one, that any people I meet or I work with has things to teach me. And second, obviously linked to the first one, is that I enjoy very much sharing with others, sharing my knowledge and my experience, learning back from them as well. To stop questioning the world and learning from that is like a kind of death. Let's delay it as much as possible! Then, consistency, integrity and respect are my key values: do what say, say what you do. Last but not least, my way to transform all experiences into assets. For instance, I had some administrative troubles during this year, I tried to handle them myself, without any broker or third party, just through questioning relevant people and asking friends for some help. From learning my ways through the administrative labyrinth, I understood better some of the difficulties my customers face, and I am now abler to help them, to pick relevant example while training, to design better Change management plans. 

6. Looking ahead, what are your goals for E3E and how do you see your partnership with CCI France Myanmar supporting that growth? 

My main goal for E3E is to maintain it profitable! It might sound a little bit down-to-earth but Myanmar's business environment is so challenging that survival is a challenge for any SME! To reach this goal, I need to find more customers of course. I don't look for number but for quality: I work alone or with a very limited help from freelance workers if needed, so I can't deal with too many customers at the same time. And because I believe in thrust and commitment, I try to develop some "first class" collaboration. It doesn't always mean long-term contract: sometimes, it's a two or three months' work, for just a few hours a week, but what matters is the quality of the relationship, the fact that trust is here and even for a small work, customers call me because they know I will give my best the same for whatever commitment. There are not small or big customers, just customers…  

To reach that quality goal, FMCCI is a key partner for me. It supports E3E through exposure – this interview for instance -, through networking, through the members' directory, through all the updates and newsletters… For an SME, information is a major issue: one can't lose a lot of time to collect it, but one needs it fast, relevant and secure. FMCCI provides all that. And so far, it makes the difference as E3E is about to celebrate its 6 years' existence, and I hope it will keep helping companies in Myanmar as it has done since it was created.