Ferit 艦ahenk 鈥�89, who sits atop one of the three largest conglomerates in Turkey, was near the end of a lunch gathering with two dozen undergraduates in Cushing Hall when he pointed out, 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 ask me about my failures.鈥�
Failure, culture, and the meaning of听success were among the conversation points at the October 20 鈥淟unch with an Entrepreneur鈥� event, part of a series offered by the Carroll School鈥檚听Edmund H. Shea Jr. Center for Entrepreneurship.
艦ahenk is chairman of the Do臒u艧 Group, which encompasses nearly 300 firms across sectors ranging from media and tourism to construction and finance. The company was founded in 1951 by his father, Ayhan, and he went to work there after graduating from the Carroll School with a marketing degree. When he took it over 15 years ago, Do臒u艧 had 11,000 employees. Now there are 55,000.
A couple of years ago, the alum did something many high-powered CEOs wouldn鈥檛 feel they have time to do. He pulled out his old undergraduate texts assigned at the Carroll School and started rereading them.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e working, you sometimes forget the basic rules of business,鈥� he explained, seated at a long rectangular table with the students. After taking a fresh look at marketing research principles and what people are looking for, 艦ahenk decided to scrap plans for a new hotel in Istanbul and build a children鈥檚 hospital instead.
He quickly threw open the conversation. Most of the students had identified themselves as sophomores majoring in finance, and the first question from the group was about the challenges of 鈥渃ulture change鈥� in a corporation. In response, 艦ahenk underscored the importance of communicating a clear vision to everyone in the organization. 鈥淭hey become the game-changers,鈥� said the Do臒u艧 leader, who also serves as chairman of the group鈥檚 Garanti Bank. 鈥淏ut it takes time.鈥�
鈥淒on鈥檛 worry about the jobs. It鈥檚 going to happen鈥o see Boston鈥earn about yourself鈥earn the classroom material very well鈥ry to meet people from other cultures鈥nd if you鈥檙e lucky, that helps too.鈥�
At that point, he started putting questions to the students, seminar style. 鈥淲hat is success?鈥� he asked. One young woman quickly replied: 鈥淎chieving what you set out to achieve, and being satisfied by it.鈥�
Then 艦ahenk served up a bit of slapstick humor. 鈥淎s an entrepreneur, you have to be bold,鈥� he said, but he vaguely pronounced the 鈥渙鈥� in bold鈥攁nd then triggered laughs as he pointed to his shaved head.
During the rest of the hour-long conversation, 艦ahenk discussed with students the ingredients of true success.
鈥淒on鈥檛 worry about the jobs. It鈥檚 going to happen鈥o see Boston鈥earn about yourself鈥earn the classroom material very well...Try to meet people from other cultures鈥nd if you鈥檙e lucky, that helps too.鈥�
That鈥檚 when 艦ahenk pointed out that nobody had asked about his and his company鈥檚 failures. He said that about 70 percent of Do臒u艧鈥檚 entrepreneurial ventures have been successful, 鈥渂ut there are unbelievable failures as well. So life goes on.鈥�
With that gathering and meetings with small groups of students on October 20, 艦ahenk became the Shea Center鈥檚 inaugural, one-day Global Entrepreneur in Residence.
Photography by Stefanie Tracey