Bahadir Samli

In a challenging landscape of decommissioning and modernisation, Bahadir Samli successfully navigated his tech teams through rough waters. “Our people were key to making things happen, even though they were impacted and challenged along the way. They constantly have to learn and evolve in a changing workplace.” By showcasing excellent people management skills, he succeeds in building an open culture and a ‘care and dare’ attitude in his teams.

Coaching and inspiring leadership, what does that mean for Bahadir Samli?

“I strongly believe in leading by example. For me, this is the core of coaching others. It is about nurturing leadership skills, allowing growth and creating an adaptable, resilient tech team. So my way of doing that is by being on the floor with the people and listening to them. Instead of giving them the answers, I guide them to find the answers themselves. This is what I refer to as care and dare: create the right environment for people to make mistakes, to learn from each other and to speak up.”

“My vision on coaching leadership is actually very simple: choose the right people for the right roles, challenge them to ask questions and push their boundaries, empower them to find solutions, and challenge the norm.”

“Building this culture is not easy, to say the least. But once it is there, it inspires people to improve and grow, now and in the future.”

Which people & team achievements make Bahadir most proud?

Talent pools

“Over the past months, we were able to set up several talent programs in order to attract new talent. These programs were directed at different profiles and layers, including management levels. We were able to build talent pools for the future.”

Representation of women in Tech

“Women are still underrepresented in Tech. Also at our teams we reached only just under 20% of women in leadership, but we’ve already come a long way. We significantly increased the female population in our senior management succession pipelines. Our ladies are very active as a community to increase gender diversity, inside and outside of ING.”

Reduced attrition & stabilized turnover

“We’ve managed to reduce attrition to a relatively healthy rate that is in sync with the market. Our internal turnover is low, an aspect that is crucial and especially important in some legacy environments, where the specific knowledge is no longer part of the standard curriculum of our schools and universities.”

Culture & inclusion

“Overall, I am very proud of the open culture we are creating. It is all about finding a balance between performance management and talent management.”

“I feel very passionate about the topic of inclusion. We’ve got communities to solve challenges of colleagues with disabilities so they can feel included. I am the proud sponsor for this group in Belgium. And of course we are also lucky enough to benefit from generational, gender, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity at our company.“