I met Gülsün Gürsel 25 years ago. She was the Product Manager of Lopresor. At that time, when nobody fully knew what a product manager did, Gülsün made her product the market leader,also defining the exact role of the Product Manager .In the following years, sometimes I watched her from a distance, and we came by each other in meetings or one to one chats.
What was the difference between this friendship and those acquaintances whom I met 25 years ago for business purposes but did not develop a friendship?
The most important difference is Gülsün's positive viewpoint, her relaxed and laid-back spirit, her fondness of listening as much as of speaking, that is her knowing how to share. Institutional life moulds some women - they become like their institutions rather than themselves. They become like news reporters. While working within institutional structures, Gülsün managed to get out of that.
She did not only get out, but also changed her path in order to use her 20-year experience gained in three valuable organizations to run her own company.
What can we learn from Gülsün? Perhaps different case studies, experience with real difficulties, practical solutions filtered through these experiences... in addition to the fact that being at peace with one's self results in better success.
Ayþe Özger
General Manager
Eczacýbaþý Pharmaceuticals .Co
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The environment of competition that we are in makes it inevitable that we always have to achieve the best.
In our efforts to move beyond our needs and provide balanced training to our team, we have received tremendous support from dear Gülsün GÜRSEL (Bellatris) and it is likely that we will carry on doing so.
Bahadýr AKAR
Group Product Manager- Diagnostic Imaging Bayer Türk Kimya San. Ltd. Co.
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It is wonderful that Gülsün
Gürsel is sharing her pharmaceutical experience with trainees. We have also needed her consultancy in regard to some product management issues while we were receiving training from her. She offered to us the best possible training. Product management in the pharmaceutical sector is different from other sectors. At the end of the training, my friends and I said 'It's so good that we have received this training.' When we returned to the business life, we realized the necessity to look at the practices from another angle.
It has contributed greatly to our professional development.
A.Ebru Acar Görseval
Group Product Manager (Biofarma Co.)
Training: 'Innovative Product Management in the Pharmaceutical Sector'
Date: 2006
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Dear Gülsün Gürsel is a very kind and positive person from whom you can learn a lot, and even just chatting with her is so very enjoyable.
I would like to say that she has transferred her knowledge of marketing and management to the way in which she works in the best possible way.
As Domino's Pizza Management Team, we received her consultancy in regard to 'being a team' for a period of six months. This program was quite useful in terms of integrating newcomers into our big organisation, getting to know each other and communicating successfully. Practical applications included in the training helped us transfer theoretical information to real life.
I feel I should once more thank Gülsün Gürsel, with whom I always enjoy keeping in touch with, and whom I see as a role model in many aspects
Kindest regards,
Banu Güney
Domino’s Pizza Turkey
Assistant General Manager
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The coaching , which I had some curiosity and some questions about at the beginning, turned into informal meetings and chats that I didn’t want to finish towards the end. I was looking forward to meeting with Gülsün Gürsel once in two weeks to get rid of work stress and share with her the questions I had gathered inside myself. Gülsün Gürsel contributed a great deal to my way of doing business through her kind, smiling, and positive questioning style. During my coaching, I acquired the skills to ask myself the right questions, and to approach subjects in a more controlled manner and to be able to assess them correctly. During her coaching, I discovered myself more and more, my awareness increased and I think I see the big picture better now.
Aslan SARANGA
Pizza Restaurantlarý Co.
General Manager
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I had suspicions about working with a 'business coach'. However, short afterwards, I realised that it was very useful. I must say that, especially Gülsün Gürsel's guidance that she offered through her upper level management and coaching experience has played a great role in reaching my management goals.
I experience that while progressing in business management, the greatest difficulties occur in one's assessing themselves correctly and in awareness. In this respect, it's very useful to work with a life coach in order to achieve the unity of 'doing the correct thing and doing things correctly', to define the areas of improvement, and to take the necessary action.
Dear Gülsün Gürsel contributed greatly to my management development with her positive energy and expert guidance.
Ateþ SUNGUR
BimSA
Institutional Strategy and Performance Management
In this training, where the experience of 25 years is shared generously, you can find the key points of many important subjects from innovation to planning and from segmentation to human relations.
'Innovative Product Management' with Gülsün Gürsel is a rich, extraordinary and inquisitive training.
You will be surprised to see that you will not be able to move the training file from your desk.
Uður Yazgan
Healthcare Brand and Trade Marketing Manager
Reckitt Benckiser Turkey
In our company, we have been very satisfied with the training our managerial and field teams have received both in terms of trainee satisfaction and the benefits they have gained. In the assessments and comments we have received, participants stated that they benefited not only from the content of the training but also from Gülsün Gürsel's rich experience in the pharmaceutical sector.
Þener Erdal
Product Associate
Lundbeck Ýlaç Tic. Ltd. Co.
It is the shared view of all participants that the training sessions Gülsün Gürsel organized for all our sales team and sales executives have been beneficial in terms of both content and practice. In addition to the fact that the sessions are extraordinarily participatory and enriched with case studies that are adapted to the Pharma sector dynamics, it has been observed that they were enjoyable thanks to Gülsün Gürsel's deep sector experiences and superb communication skills.
Dr.Altan Görseval
Eczacýbaþý Zentiva Department Manager
Lundbeck Sales Manager
Dear Gülsün GÜRSEL
We would like to thank you for your professionalism and the excellent quality training you offered to our product managers and group product managers from BIOFARMA PHARMACEUTICALS SALES AND MARKETING FAMILY in Dragos Elit Hotel on 18 - 21 April 2006 under the title 'INNOVATIVE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT IN THE PHARMA SECTOR.'
Thank you for opening up new horizons in our participants with this training, and also thank you for sharing your experience.
We wish you good luck in your career.
Dr. Olcay Gündüz
Assistant General Manager
Biofarma Ýlaç San. ve Tic. Co.
Phar. Çiðdem TIRPANCI
Marketing Manager
Biofarma Ýlaç San. ve Tic. Co.
About Coaching...
Perhaps we have all stopped once in the busy traffic of our lives and asked questions such as “ why” and “how” to ourselves about our lives. During that period, it is really important to find a person who has been refined through the experience of life with her experience and knowledge and who is a professional in helping you discover yourself and reveal the purpose of your life through her training. One of the most significant aspects of coaching I had with Gülsün Gürsel was to see how we could solve the problems we encountered by asking the right questions. Another was to try and start doing what you want to do immediately, without procrastinating. Thanks a lot for everything Dear Gülsün Gürsel.
About the Product Management Training...
The key to the success of a training session is not only its content or interactive format but also the presence of a successful trainer that can deliver these. The Product Management Training I received from Gülsün Gürsel deserves an A in all these aspects. It was training in which my team mates and I learnt many things and also had fun, discussing and putting things into action. It is also meaningful to have received it from someone who has been very successful in product management in the past.
Esra Ýlkay
Astra Zeneca
Product Manager
Dear Gülsün GÜRSEL,
When I started my training process with you in 2006, I truly felt lucky; and as the time passed, your contributions to me have proved to be so big in terms of my achievements in product management.
I have reorganized my working methods through the training I received in 2007, and now I am a product manager enjoying the joys of fulfilling my responsibilities in the highly competitive cardiology segment.
Receiving training from a well-known name in the sector like yourself is a joy in its own right.
I am calling this a joy as your methodical approach synchronizes maximum efficiency and enjoyment in learning.
You are a trainer with whom I would wish to work throughout my lifelong learning processes through your innovative and rational approach.
Thank you so much for your help.
Ahmet Turan KALAYCI
Drogsan Ýlaçlarý San. Tic.Co.
Product Manager
We met Gülsün Gürsel upon the advice of a beloved and well-known CEO in the pharmaceutical sector. I took part in the first sales and marketing training that she provided for our firm's medical sales representatives as well. The subject she prepared, her control over content and her delivery were faultless. The training proved very useful for the entire team, including our experienced sales representatives who had received sales and marketing training many times before. After applying the techniques in the field, their success and confidence increased. Therefore, we are now continuing to receive our firm's routine trainings from dear Gülsün Gürsel. And I can also say that I have gained a good friend.
Dear Gülsün GÜRSEL, I wish you the continuity of your success, see you in Gaziantep training.
M. Naz BAYLAN
Project Manager
ALM
First myself, then my managerial team, and then everybody and always!
Our business is communication consultancy. Due to its nature, our profession organizes and educates us in a range of topics from perception management to relations management. In addition, acting fast and proactively is a must in our profession. Practising this profession, and more importantly, being successful are impossible without team work. We are a successful company. Our sector and the organisations to which we provide service share with us at every opportunity the opinion that we are 'successful, pioneering,' and that 'we make a difference'. But we belong to the family of 'those who are never content' and we are perfectionists! No matter how much we resist, all these can stop our growth rate only to a certain degree. We grow, we become more, we take fast steps to become institutionalised and we develop restructuring models. Who can 'coach' such a process and who can 'grasp' such a dynamic structure and sector and adjust and adapt to our speed and experience?
As the leader of the organisation, first and foremost I need a guide. I have a strong network of references in terms of reaching the correct contacts. Yet, it doesn't work... I don't feel comfortable with any of the initial interviews. Just at a moment when I was judging the notion of 'coaching' and was stuck with the idea that 'coaching' is of no use for our profession or the needs of our company, -and at a moment when I was least expecting it- I experience an encounter where I am able to say 'This is truly it!'
First I must start with myself. The result is excellent. These are objective result-oriented meetings that nevertheless do not neglect the fact that I am / we are first of all humans. It works great for me. I feel tidied up. Next, it is time for the executive team. We identify the topics and make a two year program repeated every year. Everybody finds it very useful.
Now, I, our executive team and all of us feel much better at all times. Dear Gülsün Gürsel, it's great that you are there and you have understood us! Thank you so much!
Figen Ýsbir
CEO - EXCEL - HILL & KNOWLTON |
