Mentor Liderlik Danışmanlık

My first encounter with Prince Charles was watching their wedding with Lady Diana on TV when I was 10. I can’t ever forget that meters-long veil of Lady Diana. When I was a little girl, assuming that was everyone’s dream wedding, I watched it like a fairy-tale on our black and white TV. And I looked at the pictures of it on the newspapers for a long time. For me that wedding was a proof that the prince and princess tales which I thought were only in fairytales, were real.

It’s been years. Prince Charles, under the authority of his queen mother, never portrayed an effective potential leader picture. On top of it, he caused misery to the angel like Lady Di, cheated on her and even it seemed impossible they got divorced. And in this divorce, like all the divorces, the woman spouse, Lady Di was the one to suffer. The royalty excluded her even though she raised two very good successors. Than Lady Di died. Afterwards we learnt from the movie Queen, that if there were no social pressure, the royalty would act even more careless; that’s how mad they were she divorced the prince and had a boyfriend. And the most loyal one in this period was again Prince Charles who thought “she’s the mother of my children”. That’s what the movie said, at least.

Then, the Prince got married, again. With his lover that he couldn’t marry years ago, without giving her any titles, without a church wedding, with his grey hair, with his age getting closer to being king but probably with less excitement. It must be tough to still be a successor at 59 even if you are a Prince. Waiting for your mother’s death to be a king is yet another tragedy. It is not easy to sympathize but it is easy to see that it’s not an easy situation.

This week, I met Prince Charles. The man who was my symbol of princes being real, not fairytales. When he entered the hall in the Koç Museum to make a 20-minute speech he was surrounded with a group of people but they were not a group of bodyguards that makes you uncomfortable. On the contrary his entourage was a group of elegant people from Rahmi Koç to British Consul General Barbara Hey. A special seat was not placed to the front raw for him, either. Only a pillow that shows his seat and symbolizes his title were placed on his chair. Contrary to our people’s tendency to stretch every situation to be featured in the press, the press members who were late were not allowed in, so there were no pictures and not enough news of the meeting in the newspapers. Personally, I respect him having principles. How many people could force principles when they’re outside of their own culture? Using the advantages of being a Prince for principles is a respectful thing. His 20-minute speech was far from arrogance with a prince-worthy humility. His stance and speech were so kind, made us feel literally the royalty of the generations with a great vision that cares for all the world, and a sense of British humor that knows very well how to joke about himself, not hiding his humane side with the desperation he feels for the environment.

If you couldn’t see enough news, this meeting was very important. Prince Charles became the chair of a non-governmental organization called “Business in the Community”, 23 years ago. A non-profit organization that wants to strengthen the bond between companies and the society. They have various organizations. One of them is “Engage”. The meeting the Prince attended on Wednesday was the launch of “Engage Istanbul.” At first, according to the contract signed with the Private Sector Volunteers Foundation, Turkey participated in “Engage” programme with several social responsibility programmes. The Prince said, “I’m keeping an eye on you and I’ll be watching you. We learnt that one of the main focus areas of the Prince was the social responsibility projects for Middle East. Even though we have quite a road to walk in this area, an international support like this will clearly be a catalyzer. We’re pleased.

I think the most important part of the Prince’s speech was the story of its beginning. Instead of sending company bosses and executives whose support they’re asking for, files, videos and brochures about the programme; he invited 4000 executives to take a trip to the rural parts of the country with him and of course, everyone attended. He took them to schools, hospitals, jail houses and make them see the difficult circumstances for themselves. All the executives who witness the difficulties realized the world was bigger than it seemed from their offices, got excited about what they could do, started developing projects. Today, 80 companies are Engage members. They have big projects. We heard a lot of success stories from reconstructing the villages that had a great role in industrial revolution but then abandoned by the industry to mentorship programmes they designed for the orientation of the Muslim immigrants in England; to studies for climate changes. They mostly fight for the forests and rain forests which are more valuable dead than alive, like in our country.

It makes you think; non-governmental organizations, volunteer projects are very important, our population is equal to England’s and we have a lot of problems to solve. On the other hand, a conscientious feeling like “repaying your debt to the society” is very typical for us. Our women who gave their golden bracelets in the past are now in the business world and they’re prepared to do the same sacrifice materially and morally. Do we only a lack a Prince that would take 4000 businessmen with him to see the challenges? Can’t another leader emerge from this whole country?