Bercan Günel: ‘If you leave, you can no longer make a difference.’

How would you explain what you do to a child?
I support today’s leaders in their development. I do that as a supervisory board member, as an adviser or as a sounding board, mainly for family businesses, private equity portfolio companies and a number of societal organisations. Everyone struggles with something, and that differs by leader and by context. People do not always come to me with a clear question. Quite often, I help them uncover it. I observe, look for where the possibilities lie, and then start a conversation. Sometimes CEOs struggle with their own leadership. Sometimes with strategy. And sometimes they think they are struggling with executing the strategy, while after observing I think: you are struggling with your own drivers. Or the other way around.

Why do people come to you?
Because I am quite good at getting to the core of an issue. I observe carefully, I am analytical, and I work from my own experience. I have sat in that boardroom myself. I have always been good at understanding complex issues. For me, the most important thing is to find the right question every time. That can be confronting. We call it ruthless compassion. Compassionate, but without holding back. As a client once said after a conversation with me: I was filleted with love.

What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Breathing. For about three minutes, I breathe very slowly and deeply. It allows me to face whatever the day may bring with a positive mindset. It is a form of meditation, but shorter. I do not have the discipline for full meditation. Through breathing, I activate my energy and let the noise leave my body. That creates space.

What is the best piece of leadership advice you have ever received?
Do not react too quickly. I was always very fast. I reacted quickly, did everything quickly, and I was highly appreciated for that. Until I once had lunch with a supervisory board member, who said to me: you could mean so much more in silence. I was about thirty-seven at the time, and it took me a long time to truly take that in. I was completely taken aback. It went against everything I was used to. I had always been praised for my quick analyses. But I immediately felt that he was right. I am still working on it. More silence. More listening. More letting things unfold. While still being truly present. But when I respond now, it is with greater depth.

Which mistake or disappointment taught you the most?
There is one mistake I made that I have not been able to undo. I still carry it with me. I was a young supervisory board member at a Dutch company, and my advocacy for more diversity in boardrooms, especially when it came to women, was already quite well known at the time. A few months after my appointment, I was called by the vice-chair of the supervisory board. That person told me that a board meeting had taken place without me, and that I had not been informed. The meeting concerned the CEO, who had just been convicted of sexually inappropriate behaviour. He had received a light sentence, and the supervisory board had decided that he could remain in his role.

What exactly was your mistake?
I immediately resigned. I did not explore the options. I did not reflect on my responsibility. I acted from emotion and immediately assumed I was powerless. A few years later, the CEO was convicted again. Even then, he was not removed straight away. I still struggle with that, because many people were exposed to this CEO, partly thanks to the rest of the supervisory board. By leaving, I allowed that behaviour to continue. I reflected on this for a long time, and later, when something similar happened, I made a different choice. If you leave, you can no longer do anything. And there are always options.

Do people ever see you as a rebel or a troublemaker?
I am certainly a rebel. For many years, I was a boardroom activist. In the early 2000s, I was already saying that we needed to pay attention to women at the top, and everyone in the Netherlands laughed at me. I was a Turkish woman who, according to many, did not understand how things worked. Since then, a lot has changed. In 2009, I wrote the Quota Manifesto, which was signed by more than 270 women. It later became law. Today, I use my expertise and experience to support those fighting for climate justice, among other things in my role as Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of Milieudefensie. I am still trying to change the system from within the system.

Who or what has shaped you most as a leader?
If I start naming people, the list will be endless. But I did have one life-defining insight during a leadership trail in South Africa. A week of walking right through nature. That is when I realised that every encounter I have in my work helps me recognise something within myself. Everyone contributes something, and in doing so helps me grow as a person.

Even this conversation we are having now?
This as well. I sense a genuine curiosity in you, and that is something I recognise in myself. That recognition does not create connection. It flows from it.

What would you like to pass on, or leave behind?
That love is the only thing that truly matters in life. Love for connection. Love for yourself. Love for others. But also, the strategy of your company is made possible by love and hope.

Do you not distinguish between work and private life in that respect?
I do not believe in that distinction. For me, there is one life, and in that life I only do things I truly enjoy. Sometimes that includes unpleasant things, but they serve a higher purpose. I focus on everything to which I can give meaning, and I do not distinguish between business and private life. Yes, I work eighty hours a week, but it does not feel like work. Is this interview work? And if a CEO calls me for advice, is that work? No. I am, however, very glad that they pay me, and not a small amount either. Many times, people have told me my fee was outrageously high. Then I would say: fine, I will do it for free, because I think it is important that it gets done. In the end, they still pay the fee, because they see the value that has been created. And CEOs are where they are because they feel love for their company. If you keep feeling that, you can move mountains. That is what I try to pass on to my children, and within the organisations I work with. Love sits at the core of everything.