Feyhan Yaşar kimdir? | İndeks Konuşmacı Ajansı

I actually found my dreams in a diary that my father wrote for me. When you're a member of a family with a strong father, you're put to the test twice as much. I always evaluated my own success myself. Generally, I focused not on what I wanted but on where the organization needed me. I believe the most important measure of success is the account one gives to oneself. Family members like us usually have to find our own motivation. I came from a very clear career path. This project was prepared for myself, primarily containing my own assessment.

I graduated in 1978. It was a time when Turkey was quite troubled. The difference between Izmir and Istanbul was already an important criterion. I was supposed to return to Izmir to start my career, but from the very beginning, through that negotiation, I got permission to study in Istanbul. So when I returned, I automatically started in human resources with a career plan chosen by my family, given by my father. There wasn't much chance to choose back then.

Humility is very important, I think. When she looks back today, she sees herself as a fortunate person who has accomplished many of the things she wanted to do.

I actually found my dreams in a diary that my father wrote for me. He wrote it when I was seven years old. I had my father write in a heart-shaped diary, and he drew a roadmap for me. My dreams at that young age were built on those sentences. Ultimately, your father and mother are the people you draw inspiration from, are nourished by, and trust deeply. So whether knowingly or unknowingly, that roadmap became my dream. I found that dream in my business life, and without questioning much, I fought with the challenges and the future exactly as they came, with pleasure. I try to live that same dream and pleasure regarding the future.

In life, I never prioritized what I wanted, but rather what the organization needed. What the organization needed was definitely not playing to the galleries. Even today, I would do the same thing, even in another organization. Because I believe that evaluating success in a permanent and long-term way is more realistic. When I look at history, I see it the same way. One needs the ability not to waver from one's principles and path, and to look at long-term events. You need to keep your ego under control, and you need a plan to give back to society what you've received. The size of this giving plan doesn't matter, but its content does. Sharing this with your close circle and those who need it is very important. Quality is entirely a long-term lifestyle that one chooses for oneself.

My career, frankly, passed by working in many different places within the company — it wasn't focused on just one area. After tourism, I worked in general management across the paper sector, food sector, finance sector, and many others, serving on boards of directors or as vice chairman alongside professional management. So when you look at it, I see coherence. Business life always allocates resources where they're needed, so I accepted this as a natural process. Generally, I focused not on what I wanted but on where the organization needed me. I tried to enjoy my work — even if I didn't love a job, I tried to find something lovable about it. That's actually possible, because sometimes it becomes a very difficult mission.

Family members like us usually have to find our own motivation — that's our misfortune. We generally have to motivate ourselves. You even have a duty to motivate the entire team below you, those working beside you, and sometimes even those above you. Making the right decision and making it on time is very important, both in business and in life. As much as knowing a lot, you need to be able to make quick, confident decisions, chart certain courses, and convince others to implement them. Because we're in a world where you can't do everything alone — you do it with a team. Some things come through experience: when you've worked hands-on for 20 years, there's a serious accumulation. You try, you make mistakes, you learn from your experiences. The more a person learns, the more new ideas they reach.

For the first time in the family, someone other than Selçuk Yaşar was appointed chairman of the board. This was a transition period. At the beginning, we were in a crisis environment, and there was a strong executive chairman. My father was personally working with Hasan Bey and me on all the strategies. I don't even want to recall the balance sheet of that period — it was very difficult. The process that started at the end of '99, leading to my becoming chairman at the beginning of 2004, saw me working personally in crisis management as vice chairman with authority close to the chairman. Since I had taken on finance-heavy tasks, there was significant financial restructuring. High inflation had caused serious financial damage to the company. Some assets had been disposed of, but in the strategy that followed, without any company sales, we strengthened companies' profitability and reduced borrowing costs. The board presented a mission to the family to prepare the future with a much stronger financial structure, and with the authority received, I believe everyone worked with conviction. I see the chairmanship as a representation of trust — to the markets, partners, and third parties. I fulfilled that mission by presenting our future strategies with solid data, fulfilling our promises, and ensuring stakeholders trusted us and continued their cooperation. Turkey has truly come to an important point in the last 45 years. What matters is sustaining this — continuing reforms, maintaining macroeconomic stability. I see all of these as the beginning of an important value chain that will attract foreign capital to Turkey and reflect all the way to consumers in this country of opportunities. I come from a business life shaped by Turkey's development, successes, and crises. Throughout this period, we always maintained our trust in our country and its future. As the private sector, we always made intense efforts to contribute to development, produce solutions, and fully fulfill our social responsibilities.

I've been a member of the World Economic Forum for four years as well. Very important exchanges happen here — you both take something and give something on behalf of your country. I believe young people should manage the future of their own careers, because you are the best person who knows yourself — your strengths, weaknesses, and where you want to go. Having multiple work experiences and working across different disciplines is very important for seeing the whole picture. The coming years will be very competitive. Competition among rectors will be fierce, and among world nations, institutions are rising to the fore. You'll work in a world where borders have disappeared, so you need to feel responsibility at every stage of your career.

When you're a member of a family with a strong father, you're put to the test twice as much.

I evaluated myself most of the time, and I believe the most correct evaluation is one's own. Why do I say this? Because evaluating events as you live them on that day is very different from evaluating afterwards or from the sidelines. Under the conditions of that day, the best result is achieved by the person themselves. And when it comes to what success is: it's taking something to a point further than where you started — no matter what job or problem. That's all there is to it. Numbers, events, emotions, people, competitors — many things are involved. But the important thing is: you took something, small or big job, and where did you bring it to when you left?

Of course you look at the positives and negatives — nothing can be 100%. But if your positives far outweigh the negatives, you've been effective. I don't think of success as individual most of the time, especially in large institutions. Even the economic environment affects your success. Your team, decisions — usually majority decisions — the economic conjuncture, even your competitors' success all affect yours relatively. Successes give a realistic image when evaluated in the long term. Don't forget that markets, consumers, and all stakeholders have an unshakable memory. Success can be achieved through the trust all social stakeholders have in the institution and its representative managers. In today's world, only institutions with strong roots can compete, grow, and hold their place in markets. This is possible through human resource power, system power, and strategy power.

The most important capital is human capital, and its foundation is education. Otherwise, we can't have individuals who understand rapid technological developments and keep up with their pace.

I've made an accounting of my working life. I've been working part-time for about a year and a half now. I had a very enjoyable period. It was a difficult period, but nothing in life is easy. I knew the difficulty when I set out on this path.

Feyhan spent serious time there. Many different periods, many different investments. Many things happened — secrets, joys, sorrows — they're hidden in the footnotes, but the balance sheet is what everyone sees when they look. From my perspective too.

After school, I saw it as a second school. Feyhan Yaşar calls it a second family, and she has great expectations from the Yaşar Holding management.

I think of it this way: I was really one of them. I entered as an ordinary person, took on duties at certain points, and worked with them. We shared many good and bad things. Many left, new ones came. Ultimately, it's not about individuals — as an institution, we create significant employment. I did many things, and I expect what I couldn't do to be done. I expect the continuation of many unfinished projects. As a partner, I have an important interest there. I expect them to succeed and complete what was left unfinished — with the same energy, same discipline, without compromise. I expect them to continue making changes in that competitive environment without sweeping anything under the carpet, building secure and solid foundations for the future. I actually expect a lot. Since I was someone who put my hand under the stone when I was working, I think it's much harder from the outside, and my expectations are even higher.

This is a project prepared for myself. Primarily, it contains my own assessment. Secondly, it covers everyone who worked with me on this journey — those there today and those who aren't. Because I always saw all my work in the Yaşar Group as important for the institution to move forward, no matter what position I was in. Out of respect for the work I did, respect for the institution, and respect for corporateness, I wanted the group's work to be found in the group's records and archive. Because ultimately, my work is not about me — it's about the group.

I came from a very clear career path. Now, to hastily say 'I've closed 30-something years and I'm moving on' wouldn't be the right line for me. I want to share my experiences with students and young people. I've lived through and know the problems in family companies and what dangers may arise in the future. There's a serious agenda ahead regarding Turkey's strategic position, and I'm very closely connected to it. I closely follow what we call the global axis shift — the rapid growth of India and China, their effects on the world and Turkey, and the new business positions, sectors, and opportunities that will arise. I have studies and research on how institutions' strategies in the future can strengthen risk management and work toward longer sustainability. I frequently meet and exchange views with thought leaders from abroad and within the country. Now I look further ahead — as far ahead as I can see.