In conversation with Prof Dr Emre Alkin

A few months ago I co-wrote a piece for Women’s day with Prof Dr. Emre Alkin and it was overdue to feature him and share with the world who he is.

From the moment I met Emre in Barcelona, I knew there was something very special about this unique individual, and the more I have gotten to know him, the more I see the incredible qualities that make him who he is today. Someone who I am very blessed to call a friend, someone I truly respect and is a big role model both in business and in life.

As most of you know, I believe inspiring people stories have to be shared. They pave the road for the new generations. And although I could probably write a trilogy about this individual, an interview will have to do for now! 

So who is Prof Dr. Emre Alkin?

He was born in 1969 in Istanbul. He graduated from Saint-Michel French High School in Istanbul. B.A. from Istanbul University Faculty of Economics English Economics in 1991. The same year he was accepted as a research assistant to the Istanbul University Faculty of Economics. He received the title of associate professor in theory of economics when he was doing his military services in 1997, as a project officer in F-16 Tactical Aircraft Systems.

Prof.Dr. Emre Alkin has also written books about risk management and financial institutions, he is on the board of management and has worked as a consultant for several investment companies. He became a professor in 2002 and worked as an economic commentator for TV Channels such as FOX, CNN, and CNBC-E and wrote columns for newspapers.

Between 2000-2014 he was on a duty as the Secretary-General of Turkish Exporters Assembly, Member of the National Tax Council, Secretary General of the Federation of Captive Finance Companies, Secretary General of Turkish Football Federation and member of UEFA Marketing Committee.

He has held various positions in GSM and Telecommunications, International Financial Institutions, Payment Systems, Energy and Iron-Steel Industry. Furthermore, he gives economy classes at the Alt?nbas University and continues its mission as Provost. He still takes part in international projects about payment systems and financial management and also he is a member of the Huawei Global Key Opinion leader program.

Prof. Alkin is a columnist for the business newspaper DUNYA and has 2 best selling novels in Turkish about socio-economics and writes about new dimensions in the business life in the various magazine. He has two sons and speaks French and English.

He is also a rock musician and fan and in my own views, someone you will be inspired by from the moment you meet him.

Emre, you are such an extremely accomplished individual that is hard to choose just a few topics to talk about today. So let's start at the beginning. Let's see how Prof Dr. Emre Alkin became who he is today.

Emre, what sparked your interest in economics at a young age?

Actually, it wasn’t my plan. It was my father’s and my mother’s plan. I liked to play music and playing professional tennis when I was 18. But in the late 20th century, people used to work in their fathers' area of work. It seems a bit awkward today, but I am happy with my choice now.

Actually, I cannot say that I wanted to do my father’s work, I just wanted to be better than my father. He was a man of science, music, and philosophy. I wanted to add more qualities like sports etc. on top. Economics was the only subject that interested him.

In high school and college, what else did you like to study?

In the 1980s and 90s, high school and college education were quite multidisciplinary in Turkey. Now, young people are more relaxed and focused. In my time, from philosophy to psychology we had to know many things to get our grades.

For example, accounting was one of the hurdles and I also remember Civil law lessons that we had to pass. But all of these were quite OK with my character, as I dared to do everything. Actually, I still dare to do everything. Back in the day, I was studying and playing professional tennis and in addition to this, I was making money from music and private lessons.

You sure were a super achiever Emre, and I get it, as a young kid I also loved to play tennis and wanted to be a tennis pro, but on those days it was all about academics. If you could give one piece of advice to economic students, what would it be?

I think I will give the same advice that I give to my kids. You can be everything that you want, but first be happy. Remember that without hard work, we are nothing. Talent is important but not everything. Mathematics is the key. You cannot measure if you cannot be calculating. But numbers are not meaningful without a hypothesis. Because no wind is useful if the boat has no direction.

Those are very wise words, and I agree, hard work and determination are very important. Would you say you are more analytical or creative in your thinking?

Let’s say I am always open to all options. Economics is the science of alternatives. Also, life is the science of alternatives. We try to leave it as we planned but take it like it comes. It’s just the way it is. Even though I am strong in mathematics, I accept the reality of the karma and try to find solutions for the problems that come out of the blue. Of course, the experience is important. Analytical and creative skills get sharp with age.

A very profound answer. What are your thoughts on the global economy right now?

I can say that we just started positively. What we have are many issues, for example, trade wars, federal decisions, growing tensions in the Middle East. Also, high inflation, high interest rates, and high growth is a dangerous process.

Unfortunately for another three years, we will go through this. On one hand, technology and digital transformation are going faster, on the other hand, we still argue on the topics of last entry. This creates a disharmony in the world. But let’s see, things can only get better. This will all pass.

You are currently a professor at Altinbas University in Istanbul, what is the most rewarding aspect of being a professor?

Been a professor in Turkey is an honorable status but a hard one as well because some people admire you and some do not.

Provisions are heavily criticized like being far from practical life. That’s why I am obliged to be in two different worlds. The academic life and the business life.

I use my experiences from both sides and this makes me different from other colleagues. In Turkey, professors who execute in practical life are mostly accepted as trustable scientists.

But you cannot escape from the criticism of being “too practical” even though you do a lot of scientific work.

You also travel doing keynotes at other institutions. How do you keep your audiences engaged and interested?

First of all the presentation, you make has to give a message. This message has to be interpreted with a scenario, like a movie. You have to avoid showering the audience with information. Never supply if not demanded.

If the presentation is long, you have to use the shock or surprise effect. An explosive start is not always the best way. From my experience, an interesting start is good and you go higher and higher every second. The energy and the breath have to be used economically. Be careful not to swim too far from the shore, stick to the subject. So far this is my methodology.

This is great advice and I’m sure anyone wanted to do more speaking can take notes here. I love that you said it has to be like a movie, it is my methodology too. You have to be able to engage the audience and do a bit of storytelling for your information to stick.

Emre, we met when we were both attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as guests of Huawei Technologies as we are both global key opinion leaders. What does it mean to you to have access to these companies around the world, to be what we call now an “influencer"?

Opinions and experience differ from one region to another. This is the beauty of the world, also the challenge. Global firms have to be aware of the local facts and the differences. Because all of the local details will give a global idea, moreover a universal idea.

A product or service has to be found “useful” from Alaska to Singapore. I mean, it has to be a solution for a particular problem or need and they vary from one region to another. Me, being a Business Influencer, I also try to position myself as a solution. While encountering local experiences of global firms I learn a lot. I am not doing this to teach, not to counsel. This is a continuous learning process which creates benefits for both sides.

In Barcelona, there was a lot of talk around 5G and Digital Transformation. Can you share your views on how these areas will change the way the world operates? Are we overusing the words "disruptive innovation" when talking about it or are we truly moving into a new era?

The dispute between Taxi Drivers and UBER all around the world is a strong evidence of "disruptive innovation". A company that owns neither vehicles nor drivers manages to become a competitor of the ones owning these two. The same goes for Airbnb. They do not operate hotels yet they too managed to take a groundbreaking step in "disruptive innovation" with the accommodation they provide, a big rival of regular touristic facilities. But how and when this situation has first emerged?

 The world is becoming more and more digitalized. But this can't be considered a standalone reason for the above-mentioned phenomenon. The fact that technology companies now rank first among the most valuable companies of the world is the unstoppable change affecting our lives. If we reduce the industry 4.0 to a simple definition, “a system solely designed to meet customer satisfaction and integrating artificial intelligence and supply-demand balance”, we will notice that the importance of the factory within the value change will slowly diminish.

In the 1970s, the share of production in the distribution of value-added was not very large however the preeminence of pre-production and post-production services have eventually became indisputable, which means companies must attach more importance to services to the services I mentioned above, including the logistics of the product, right financing so it can be bought by the consumer or the retailer, right advertising policies, digital applications, whether the product has a universal design, or whether its R&D function is designed to “make it better”, if it has a chance in the global competition...

In general, how do you think technology is impacting the way we do business now and in the future?

I don’t have a concrete answer to this but, it is envisaged that in 2027 the number of freelancers will surpass the number of employees on the payroll in the US.

Given the fact that we know many businesses that we are supporting, providing with incentives or limitless funds today will cease to exist in a foreseeable future where robots will dominate the manufacturing industry, the number of workers on payroll will diminish slowly, and many professions will fade into history and be replaced by new ones, what should we do then?

These are all very critical questions and providing an answer to each and every one of them is absolutely more important than keeping daily track of economic developments.

One of your sayings is "Discovery Never Fails...". That is a very powerful sentence, would you like to explain that a bit more?

Today a successful company is an institution based on experimentation. Most of the industrial companies are now building their strategies on discoveries and experimentation point because doing better is based on failures point to discover the better one will always have a positive reflection.

I advise many companies today, to boost pilot projects. And each project is managed like an independent entity. Even 3 project out of 10 is successful, they will find themselves in the champions league of their sector.

You have written some books, one of them in English called " Risk Management", can you tell us about it?

I wrote it with two colleagues after the 2001 banking crisis in Turkey. I remember it like it was yesterday, the darkest moments that we experienced. A devaluation of 239 %, interest rates like 9000 %, something comparable to what Venezuela lives on today.

Therefore we decided to reflect on this terrible experience and turn it into a checklist to avoid financial risks. The Book had a lot of impact In the emerging world. I was requested to send many copies of this book to Birmingham University, England as well.

Another of the many things you do is that you sit on the board of other institutions, tell us your experience and what you hope to accomplish.

This is an experience of exchanging ideas rather than giving speeches in the board. My duty is to put everything on track, monitor the risks and establish/maintain the corporate governance in institutions.

To accomplish that you have to be very calm, you have to be a very good listener, sympathetic but always stick to ethics. A slight elasticity in the ethics or a small negligence in the rules can ruin everything.

I am now an executive board member of various institutions in various sectors, including sports, iron and steel, telecommunication, payment systems, education, banking and non-bank financially solutions. This variety gives me tremendous opportunities like knowing great people, sharing knowledge, experiencing glory and agony as well. Every moment opens another door to another horizon.

You are also the former secretary general of the Turkish football federation. What was that experience like?

It was a pleasure an honor to serve my country, under the national flag. But there is also the other side of the medallion point. Football except for some countries like Spain, Britain, Germany, and the USA is not taken as a serious occupation. Although people put their life on it.

There is not much respect for the expertise. Financial, scientific, psychology and marketing aspects are usually fallen down to the bottom of the to-do list. The word infrastructure is commonly understood as facilities, stadiums etc. However, the most important infrastructure and resource is the human.

Developing football means grassroots. But most of the countries are only focused on professional football rather than developing youngsters. Germany made a tremendous effort and combined digital technology. Spain made a lot of investment for the grassroots. England chooses another path by forming the best national league with the best players from all around the world.

In my experience with The Turkish football federation, I understood one single thing. I have to be the president to change everything. Execution is easy but set a vision for the next century is the most important thing. In countries like Turkey, only the president of TFF has the power to do it. But of course, my experience of Secretary-General will help me if I will be the president of the Federation one day.

I look forward to the day you become president of the federation then! The more I have gotten to know you Emre, the more I see how your leadership is helping the people of Turkey. In your opinion, what makes a good leader? What does good leadership mean? How can someone's wisdom be heard?

A good leader is like the maestro of an orchestra. He/she always increase the quality of the people that he/she works with, and plays the most difficult pieces just like a popular song with joy, comfort, and harmony.

A good leader never raises his/her voice but must raise his/her words. A good leader always chooses the right battlefield and, never exchanges old friends with new people. The enemy can hardly be a friend, but he/she must be aware that negligence can make a friend an enemy one day.

Brilliant metaphor and I agree 100%. What would you say have been some of the most memorable moments in your career so far?

I think the day that I was appointed as Professor. I was the youngest Professor in economics in the Turkish republic history so far, and still, no one has beaten that record. I have done so much in my life, I had so many important duties but this was the best achievement of my life, of course after being the “father” of two wonderful sons.

I love hearing the different reasons as to why people do what they do, so Emre, why do you continue doing what you do? What drives you?

Because I dare to do everything and I love to learn every day. That’s why I choose this path and this gives me a reason to live.

Based on your social channels, I can see you are a big rock music fan and you even play the guitar, where does the love for music come from?

My father was a great musician but everybody knew him as a great economist.

He was a writer and the composer of many pieces, but he was using a nickname. I found many of his works after he passed away in his library. I also found the love letters of my mother and father, encrypted with musical notes.

Eventually, we have a musical family background. I started to play guitar when I was 13 at home, then we form a band called “Mad Madame”. This turned to “Fly” after 3 years, I was playing bass guitar. The drummer and I would choose another path like being a scientist and the other part of the group continued with music and today their name is “Duman”. Probably the best rock band that Turkey has had so far.

Today I’m playing rhythm guitar and my aim is to be a regular composer, like my father.

That truly is inspiring and I can see how your creative side merges with your logical one. I have heard you play and you are very good! I think next time we need to discuss music! If you had not become an economist, would you have become a rock musician?

When I was a kid I promised myself to do everything globally. I was a tennis player and a guitar player but I did not get the chance to be global.

I think what I do now is taking me there. But of course yes, I would have loved to be a musician who makes a connection with the people around the world.

Who knows Emre, it might still happen. Being in front of the camera is also quite natural for you. We can often see you on the radio, Fox TV Turkey and other channels sharing your views on the economy. You have so much knowledge and wisdom to share with the world, have you considered creating your own video series?

If I have time, yes. I have enough technology on my hand, but I couldn’t find time to make it properly right now. I plan to do it in three languages: Turkish, English and French. With your help maybe I can do it in Spanish as well?

Of course Emre, por supuesto! You can count me in to be your Spanish sidekick for that project.

Now talking about social channels, please share your secret as to how you are so good at keeping connected! You and I talk quite often and I always tell you how I thought I was good, but you have taken the title of being one of the most engaged business people I know, which is not the norm. As a father, businessman, professor, you are always on the go, but you still manage to be engaging and responsive to your socials. How do you balance it all?

First of all, I am a divorced man. I cannot imagine myself having my smartphone in the hand all the time at home with wife and kids. That would be unfair to them.

If you don’t spare time for kids, don’t spare your money for them. It’s useless. No money in the world can compensate the quality time with kids.

Secondly, my two sons are now big enough to share my world. We are all together in social media, sharing photos and writing things. Therefore they know that social media is serious business.

Besides, I make my living with social media. This means most of our vacations and travels are sponsored by the attraction created by social media. And how I do that? With sincerity, objectivity, and respect for the people. I always give the right information at the right time and I never deal with subjective and offensive responses. My duty is not to judge people. My mission to inform.

Love it, and very true, similar answer as to when people ask me how I answer so quickly sometimes. Bottom line, It is all about balance and you have managed to make it a part of your daily life. I recently spoke in Belgrade, Serbia as you know, talking about business influencers and I asked people to follow you after they heard you on the video ( which by the way thank you for taking the time to make the video for me!) and I explained how you had managed to create some pretty amazing profiles for someone who is in the business world but still approachable, real and authentic.

Thanks to your social popularity you are also the face of a few sports brands in Turkey, can you tell us more?

I cannot say that I’m addicted to one particular single brand. But Nike is always my favorite. When I was 18-19, I was always dreaming to be sponsored by Nike. Today I have the privilege to use the most prominent pieces of design from Nike because of all my social media stories and posts.

But I have one condition, I get paid for all of these. I don’t like free things and I don’t want to sell my identity in exchange for goods or services. I do the same thing with Under Armour and lately with Moncler. Without hesitation, these three brands are fit me with their designs and approach to life.

I choose them not because of the quality but also the behavior of the shopkeepers and their prompt responses to my requests. Maybe one of the key reasons that they get along with me easily is, I am a perfect “M” size with 42-43 Europe shoe size, sportive, at 45-50 years of age I’m a clean-cut guy with a decent career, in the upper middle-class community. I think this is a good example for the target clients.

 Ohh Nike and Under Armour… how do we love thee….. You are a big role model not just in the academic world but in other sectors. What is the one thing you would want people to remember you for?

A gentleman who is not only working to do the right things but also tries to do the things right.

 Wow, that is another profound sentiment. So what is next for Prof Dr. Emre Alkin? Any more books in the making?

There is always a “next thing” for me. This June I will sign my new book which was written with Yalin Alpay. A story of a worldwide known Turkish painter. Fikret Mualla, known as “Moualla”. Truly an interesting but a sad one as well. This book is printed in English and will be distributed all over the world.

Also, in September my new book about love will be in bookstores. This book does a story about a lady who is stuck in a love triangle. I furnished the story with a lot of common virtues, mistakes and feelings and everybody will find an element which belongs to them eventually.

This is the story of how we are living dependent on other peoples desires and demands rather than our own choices and decisions in our communities. Of course, I talk about love but without defining it in a concrete way. Love is love and no one can put limits or definitions to this. Love is love because it's unlimited and indefinite.

Looking forward to seeing these two new books. I am sure many people are too.

 What or who inspires you in life?

I am truly inspired by my father because he was a man of ethics. My mother, she was a queen. I learned a lot from her, as I spent a decent amount of time with her in London when she was having her medical treatment.

But there are some other people living in this world who also inspire me a lot. For example Roger Federer, Sir Alex Ferguson, Lenny Kravitz etc. Not only because of their hard work but also their ability to come back when they hit rock bottom.

And without hesitation Ataturk, The founder of the Turkish Republic is my source of inspiration.

 You mentioned Roger Federer, he is also someone I get inspired by. He is a very unique individual too. So, what does Prof Dr. Emre Alkin enjoy doing in his spare time?

Funnily enough, I don’t have much time to spare. When I find the time, I prefer to travel just for fun and meet new people. I have a dream to leave my back on the white sand, on a deserted beach with a turquoise water. Listen to the waves and cherish the moment with my beloved. Don’t ask me who it is. This is a secret for now.

 Traveling is amazing, I know exactly what you mean. With all the experience and wisdom you have gathered so far in life, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Carry on the flame and don’t look back.

Simple but powerful! Tell us something not many people know about you?

I am the guardian angel of some people but so far only a few of them know about it.

What country would you like to visit you have not been to as yet?

I want to go to Zanzibar…. and I will…

Interesting choice! That has been on my top 5 list as well as places to go. And finally, what is the one item you cannot live without?

I cannot live without direction. When you sail, not the wind but the direction is the most needed. Because without direction no wind is useful. Some people say target but, we all know that life is not lived as planned, but as it comes. Target is good but the direction is the key.

Well, what can I say, but a big thank you for your time Emre. I am sure the readers will enjoy getting to know you and I know this will not be the last time they head from you.

Sharing stories like Prof Dr. Emre Alkin’s, always makes me smile. It is people like him that don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk who inspire me and make me want to meet more people alike so I can share their stories and what they do.

I think my takeaway here as Emre said in his last words today, are… to have direction! You need to figure out where you are going in life. Find a purpose, find something you are good at, become the best you possibly can be at it, then share your gift with the world.

Here are Prof Dr. Emre Alkin social channels.

Instagram www.instagram.com/emrealkin1969

Twitter  https://twitter.com/emrealkin1969

Linked In https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/emre-alkin-44539160

Or visit his website: www.emrealkin.com which is available both in Turkish and English

Live, laugh, be bold, take risks & be super mega awesome

Love Always

Elise Quevedo, aka The Digital Ghost Queen

p.s. Interview first released in the August issue of MilliOnAir Magazine