Hello, Hakan Bulgurlu.
I am CEO of Arcelik, a global appliance manufacturer.
And here are some of the lessons I've learned along the way.
Trust can take you far
The most important one is trust.
At a very young age, I worked in the Bazaar.
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is probably the world's first shopping mall with maybe 20,000 shops.
Beautiful place, ancient in terms of history, and still very much the heart of commerce
in Istanbul, and you could say - you could argue, the whole of Europe even.
And there, I was entrusted as a jeweler’s assistant, and a young boy, maybe 12, 13,
14 years old, you can look at me as an intern doing a summer job in actually pricing the
jewelry to tourists that were coming into the store.
The reason they trusted me was because the tourists trusted me, a young boy who could
communicate clearly in different languages.
And that trust taught me many things.
I could be more expensive than the shop right next door, but they still chose to buy from
me because I was able to build that relationship and trust.
I think self-confidence, when coupled with trust, can take you a long way in life.
And that lesson was very early in the Grand Bazaar for me.
Every failure is a lesson
Of course, my life is littered with lessons because each failure is a lesson.
I have failed innumerable times and I watch in horror, as people trying to protect their
careers are busy trying to hide or avoid failures.
Failures are the only way you really learn and grow.
You need to amplify the impact, you need to be vocal about it, communicate it, and really
internalize the learnings from each failure.
I've tried to do that along the way.
There have been many instances where I've shied away from it too, but at least I become
aware of what I'm doing, and I try and stop it and learn from every mistake.
Stand for what you believe in
Sometimes I've been labeled, especially recently, as a climate activist.
It took me some getting used to it - or an industrial anarchist.
That tells you how much the industry likes me for pushing a transformation, which I think
is absolutely essential.
But so, that is who I am.
I am very passionate about sustainability.
I have put my actions, my heart, my mind, everything I am into becoming that.
Be authentic about what you don’t know
Authenticity is very important.
My leadership has been a journey of learning and I am just starting.
I have a lot to learn.
I have been CEO of Arcelik for eight years now.
But the decision to climb Everest, the goal I set to raise awareness and the whole planning
process, discipline, preparation, talking and trusting in subject-matter experts is
something incredibly important.
Knowing what you don't know essentially, and learning and trusting others who know better
than you on those topics, are what actually carried me to the summit, and more importantly,
back down alive.
What ego I had disappeared on that mountain because I came very close to death.
Many people died that morning, but the lessons I learned will stay with me forever.
I am more humbled, more grateful for everyday life, and I really devote myself to bettering
the platform I run in terms of the environment and sustainability and also being close to
my family and loved ones and really reducing the number of interactions I have to more
meaningful ones.
I think these lessons collectively have made me a better leader, they have made me a better
team player, and have set me up for a better future where I can be proud of the things
I achieve.