When BBC World produced ‘Formula for Success’ in 2007, my co-authors – Professor Mark Jenkins, Richard West, and I - had the opportunity to appear on-screen along with the many F1 drivers, personalities and experts. The 8-part television series was inspired by the eight chapters in our book, “Performance at the Limit, Business Lessons from Formula 1 Motor Racing,” published by Cambridge University Press in 2005. Two later editions followed along with several translated versio

I recently found and posted Episode 1 of “Formula for Success,” an eight-part BBC World television series based on our book “Performance at the Limit, Business Lessons from Formula 1 Motor Racing made in 2007. My co-authors and I collaborated with a very professional production team from Sunset + Vine in the making. I just discovered more episodes, each about 25 minutes long. While many of the people and teams that appear in the series are from an earlier era of F1, the story

Recently, my social media feed has been bombarded with studies that have found if you want to add 10 years (9.7 years to be exact) to your life compared to people who are sedentary – play tennis. Tennis ranks higher for longevity than other sports like soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming or gym workouts. Why? Tennis offers High-Intensity Cardio: The explosive stop-and-start bursts during rallies improve heart rate recovery and cardiovascular health. Also, tennis

It was great to be back in Istanbul last week to teach at the Global Turks Foundation’s Leadership Academy in collaboration with Ozyegin University. Executives from Unilever, PepsiCo, Garanti Bank, Yapi Kredit Bank, FIBA Retail, and other companies have attended the program monthly since January. I delivered a two-day workshop on ‘Leadership Lessons from Formula 1, very timely since F1 racing will return to Istanbul next year. I was delighted that Ayşegűl Dicle Aydin found ti

I finished teaching my “Performance at the Limit” workshop in Istanbul on Saturday and awoke early on Sunday morning to live stream the fourth quarter of the final Knicks-Spurs game. Congratulations to the 2026 New York Knicks. Home in Helsinki, I returned my suitcase to our attic storeroom this morning and retrieved my New York Knicks jacket. It was a gift from my college roommates, JD and Fred, for my 40th birthday, thirty-five years ago. I am delighted that it still fits.

In 1986, when I arrived in Türkiye, Yavuz Canevi was Governor of the Central Bank and a primary mover behind our establishing the Center for International Banking Studies. He then served in numerous leadership roles as the Undersecretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Turkish Eximbank and Deputy Chairman of the Istanbul Stock Exchange. He is member of the High Advisory Board of TÜSIAD and after many years as Chairman of Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) he now acts as Advisor to t

Marshall Goldsmith is a member of the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame. He is the only two-time #1 Leadership Thinker in the world and has been ranked the #1 Executive Coach in the world for many years. His books have sold over 4 million copies and have been published in 36 languages. At age 76, his mission is to share all that he knows with as many people as he can. I have been a direct beneficiary having been selected seven years ago into Marshall’s @100 Coaches community of execut

The first edition of ‘Performance at the Limit, Business Lessons from Formula 1 Motor Racing’ published in 2005, set a benchmark for learning about business and leadership from how F1 teams operate. Two revised editions and several translations followed. In 2007, my co-authors and I also collaborated with the BBC to make an 8-part television series, “Formula for Success.” Produced by Sunset + Vine Productions, the episodes were based on the book’s eight chapters. The series a

Today, I had the wonderful experiencing of unboxing my latest book, “A Lost Chapter in the Transformation of the Turkish Banking Industry,” and holding it in my hands for the first time. After researching, visiting Istanbul to conduct interviews, and writing, it is very special to see a manuscript turned into a physical book (and e-book if preferred). https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966837577?ref=sp_email The story explores when I headed a project to create the Center for Internat

Formula 1 Grand Prix racing began in Miami in 2022 and returned this past weekend. I was reminded that it was in Miami, ten years ago, that I delivered my first of many “Performance at the Limit, Business Lessons from Formula 1” workshops in the U.S. for a select group of participants. Working closely with Bonnie Hagemann and her EDA, Inc. colleagues, we examined how F1 teams deliver high performance while under extreme pressure. The insights discussed about leadership, teamw

I look forward to being in Istanbul this June to deliver a two-day “Performance at the Limit, Leadership Lessons from Formula 1” workshop at the Global Turks Foundation’s Leadership Academy. It is 5-month program co-developed with Özyeğin University, designed to equip the next generation of Turkish leaders with future-ready skills and real-world business insights. For my introductory session I had prepared a slide showing that a Formula 1 Grand Prix had taken place in Istanbu

Last Thursday the print version of my new book, “A Lost Chapter in the Transformation of the Turkish Banking Industry” was launched. It tells the previously unknown story about my experiences establishing the Center for International Banking Studies in Istanbul which helped develop a new generation of banking leaders in Türkiye and the Middle East. I am pleased to announce the e-book version is also now available. Both can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1966837577?ref=

I am delighted to announce the launch of my new book: “A Lost Chapter in the Transformation of the Turkish Banking Industry.” The book covers a dynamic period in Türkiye’s economic history and my personal journey designing and establishing the Center for International Banking Studies (CIBS) in Istanbul. It shares the challenges faced, the people involved, and the significant impact CIBS made to Turkey’s banking sector and its contribution to the development of bankers from ot

On June 12, 1987, about one year after I had arrived in Istanbul, the sun was shining for the Official Opening of the Center for International Banking Studies. We had already been teaching at our Dragos-Kartal location since January, even while renovations were underway. And prior to that, in September 1986, we began teaching courses at an employee camp owned by Yapı Kredit Bank, thanks to the support of CEO Hüsnü Özyeğin. Zafer, my driver, picked me up before dawn that morni

As I recount in the soon to be published “A Lost Chapter in the Transformation of the Turkish Banking Industry” the plan establishing the Center for International Banking Studies (CIBS) was to start teaching courses in English. Over time we were to train Turkish instructors and translate the curriculum into Turkish with the help of bankers seconded to the institute from local banks. That plan encountered roadblocks that I describe in the book. But we also faced another challe

Continuing the story of establishing the Center for International Banking Studies (CIBS) leading to the upcoming publication of my new book, “A Lost Chapter in the Transformation of the Turkish Banking Industry.” The project had substantial financial backing from the Banks Association of Türkiye and the support of its chairman, who at that time, was the Governor of the Central Bank of Türkiye. Although, during two years, I worked with three different Governors. The project a

Arriving in Istanbul in 1986 and seconded from Citibank to the Central Bank of Türkiye, I was tasked with a design and reconstruction challenge, renovating the dilapidatedHotel Dragos on the Marmara Sea into the Center for International Banking Studies (CIBS) and turning it a world class residential training center for bankers. Classrooms and team breakout rooms were created out of common areas that had previously been the lower-level restaurant and mezzanine level public spa

When I first visited the future site of the Center for International Banking Studies CIBS), reality set in. The 6-story building was an abandoned seaside hotel on the Asian side of Istanbul. Apart from the shock of seeing sheep wandering through the lobby, the extent of the complete renovation hit me hard. It meant designing and building: · Classrooms and breakout rooms for small group discussion · Dedicated micro-computer lab for teaching IT skills · Bourse room for te

When the idea for establishing a Turkish banking institute was first studied by experts in 1985, they found that: • Less than 20% of bank employees in the country had university degrees • Fewer than 4% spoke a foreign language Yet the country was opening rapidly to international finance and trade. The need for training and education was URGENT, and a new banking institute was proposed by the World Bank to help build a new generation of professionals. In 1986, I was working fo

During a clean-up of my home office in Helsinki, I came across a box of documents, photographs, and diaries from 40 years ago. They told the story of something that once existed in Istanbul — a world-class, residential international training center for bankers. But when I searched the internet, even with the power of AI, I found almost nothing about it. No records. No history. No stories. That led me to write my new book about an important chapter in the transformation of t