Responding to Uncertainty with People Oriented Leadership

Hello everyone, it's a big pleasure to take part in this inspiring event. My name is Pinar, and I work for a financial services company specializing in consumer and SME lending. We are an affiliate of Koç Holding, the largest group of companies in Turkey.

Today, I will share how purpose guides our business and the journey we are currently undertaking to enhance our business agility.

Challenges in a Developing Economy

I live and work in Istanbul, a beautiful country that is the cradle of many ancient civilizations. However, it also comes with the challenges of being a developing economy. Major turbulence occurs every three to four years, and the causes are not only financial.

The pandemic hit us just as we were recovering from a country-specific crisis. While all nations are navigating uncertainty, our challenges are often multiplied by problems of our own creation. Generous stimulus packages are not available, and likely never will be. However, people in developing countries have an advantage in soft skills—an adaptive and flexible mindset that makes us naturally resilient.

Koç Holding: A Purpose-Driven Business

Koç Holding has a history of over 90 years, employing close to 100,000 people across diverse industries, including oil refining, automotive production, banking, hospitality, and retail. We have a global footprint, operating in more than 60 countries. Our resilience throughout history is largely due to our purpose-driven culture.

One of our fundamental values is: "We prosper only if our country prospers." We recognize the vast circle of influence we have—touching millions of lives through our products, investments, employment, and partnerships.

Beyond being a for-profit organization, Koç owns hospitals, schools, and a university, and has launched multiple foundations. Every two years, we introduce a widely promoted social responsibility theme, increasing awareness on issues such as blood donation, gender equality, and improving the lives of people with disabilities.

People-First Mindset

Another core value is that our strongest asset is our people. We prioritize hiring the best, investing in employees, and promoting diversity, which has placed Koç on the world’s best employers list.

These values are not just words on the wall; they are internalized at the company and employee level and reinforced at every opportunity. The pandemic provided numerous occasions to demonstrate this. Factories produced respiratory devices, group hotels housed health workers free of charge, and HR teams consistently communicated that employee well-being was the first priority.

From uplifting video messages to medical insights, yoga sessions, and children’s activities, we created numerous touchpoints with employees. Most notably, our online academy and sports content were made publicly accessible, reaffirming our purpose of supporting the wider community.

Agility and Leadership Transformation

Koç's transformation is led directly by our CEO, ensuring we benefit from digitalization rather than being disrupted by it. The philosophy is simple: Lead with people, and the business will follow.

In Turkey, we have a saying: "The fish stinks from the head." This means no change can succeed without leadership transformation. Leaders must first go through their own transformation before cultivating an environment where employees can thrive.

The new business reality demands customer proximity, rapid experimentation, and fast adaptation. Managers no longer have all the answers—it is those closest to the customer, leveraging data and AI, who hold the insights. This shift requires empowering teams and fostering a culture that values insight over power.

The Agile Leadership Journey

To support this transformation, we introduced leadership development programs, focusing on self-discovery, servant leadership, design thinking, and agility. These programs provided a shared perspective across our group companies on what it takes to lead change.

At the company level, we realized that agility had to extend beyond IT. To start, we transformed our leadership team into an agile business unit called Pit Stop. The name reflects our purpose—like a Formula 1 pit stop team, we aim to enable others to move faster and succeed.

Applying Agile practices, we adopted sprints, daily stand-ups, retrospectives, and tools like Jira. This strengthened our collaboration, clarified strategic priorities, and improved transparency. Employees could now see which tasks aligned with company strategy and adjust priorities accordingly.

Creating a Culture of Transparency

Transparency became a cornerstone of our culture. Our backlog and sprint board are now open to everyone, setting an example for other teams. Employees saw that when we said we would be more agile, we meant it.

However, business agility requires more than just adopting Agile rituals. It must be embedded in all aspects of work life.

Workplace and Behavioral Shifts

Two years ago, our office was traditional—full of walls, cubicles, and a hierarchical structure. We reduced office space by one-third and reinvested the savings into an open-plan design, where no department has clear boundaries, and job titles are indistinguishable.

Even small symbolic changes had an impact, such as eliminating special treatment for managers. No longer are executives served coffee at their desks—everyone now gets their own drinks. This small act symbolized a cultural shift toward equality and transparency.

We also changed meeting structures to be shorter, with fewer participants, and positioned the presenter—not the highest-ranking person—at the head of the table.

Performance and Compensation

A new performance management system based on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) was introduced. Traditional, fixed, annual targets set by managers are no longer relevant in an agile world. Instead, team objectives are as important as individual goals, and feedback is now continuous.

Monthly reviews replace annual evaluations, and compensation models are being restructured to align with agile values.

The Future of Agile at Koç

For change to last, two things are essential:

1. Every element of the employee experience must reinforce agile culture—welcoming simplicity, equal voice, transparency, and teamwork.
2. Leaders must lead by example, demonstrating the new culture in bold, visible ways. Without this, Agile risks becoming a superficial trend that fades away.

Final Thoughts

With vaccines offering hope for the end of the pandemic, recovery is on the horizon. However, fast adaptation remains the key to success. In an uncertain and complex world, there are no absolute right or wrong organizational models—only better or worse approaches.

We must embrace uncertainty and develop our own unique form of agility that fits our business and culture.

Thank you all for listening to my humble story from another part of the world. I hope this adds a little sparkle to your agile journey.

You can reach me anytime on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or email.