Founder Rector of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, was a guest at the 'Tea with CEOs' event organized by Rotaract. Tarhan, addressing the topic of "Psychological Resilience in Leadership", explained leadership in all its aspects. Tarhan stated that a leader should not only be able to make decisions but also possess the ability to manage crises, cope with stress, and maintain motivation. Emphasizing the importance of psychological resilience, Tarhan stated that psychological resilience is the most crucial quality a leader must possess, and he also highlighted that leadership is about managing the chemistry laboratory in our brain.
Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, touching upon the key points of psychological resilience during the online interview, stated: "The first step in building psychological resilience begins with knowing oneself. For this, a psycho-SWOT analysis is performed. The person identifies their strengths and weaknesses, then sets a goal, and identifies threats and opportunities while moving towards that goal. We cannot perform this analysis without a purpose. Setting goals is also a fundamental principle of resource management. We manage our psychological resources in the same way. Psychological resilience is the most important quality a leader should possess. Achieving psychological resilience ideally is harder than going to the moon. Those with medium to long-term goals can achieve this. Those with short-term goals cannot. Psychological resilience is one of the most important points to focus on. That is, the ability to cope with stress. There will be stress, we cannot defeat stress, but we need to manage it. We can even turn stress into an opportunity. One of the most crucial aspects of psychological resilience is psychological flexibility. The second part of psychological resilience is possessing flexibility. This is called cognitive flexibility. Its exact opposite is stubbornness. For example, Teflon itself does not burn, but it burns what it touches. When scratched, it goes to waste and becomes unusable. Therefore, one of the important values of psychological resilience is to be able to bend and return to its original state," he began his words.
"Leadership is managing the chemistry laboratory in our brain"
Tarhan, emphasizing the importance of staying calm under stress, stated: "Having a positive attitude in the face of events is another important issue. If a person panics when an event occurs, it means that their psychological resilience is weak. In such situations, we teach the skill of staying calm under stress. Being able to maintain a positive attitude. These people keep their morale and hope high during events. Leaders with a positive attitude manage crisis times better by seeing opportunities in difficulties. There is a hidden variable in psychological resilience. The name of this hidden variable is neuroleadership. That is, one who cannot be their own leader cannot be the leader of a group. Leadership is managing the chemistry laboratory in our brain. A person who thinks long-term pursues meaning and ideals. For example, let's say a very delicious meal comes before them. They can say 'No.' Because they have a goal. They struggle at that moment, but later they can rejoice like a victorious commander. Since they realize the meaning, they do not become depressed and unhappy. Because a person is what they choose as their ego ideal. We are what our ego ideal is," he stated.
"Every person who disciplines themselves is a leadership candidate"
Tarhan, emphasizing the skill of delayed gratification, said: "Emotional resilience is important. For this, there are skills of delayed gratification. Groups with delayed gratification skills show 20 percent higher emotional intelligence. This also serves as resilience training. You postpone your desires for your goal. This is a laborious task, but there is a saying in Anatolia, 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.' In fact, resilience is like that. You are patient, you endure, and then good results follow. Being able to think long-term in this way is important for psychological resilience. Being able to lead oneself, to manage the chemicals in our brain, is important. Every person who disciplines themselves is a candidate for leadership. Every child born is a candidate for leadership,' he commented.
"True leadership is transformative leadership"
Tarhan, giving examples from third-generation psychotherapies, said: "In third-generation psychotherapies, they are called meaning therapies. That is, meaning-making studies are conducted. Previously, psychology never delved into the topic of meaning. There are things a person can control, and things they cannot. There are things within their power, and things beyond it. There are things they can change, and things they cannot. In such situations, if a person becomes part of a larger meaning, they become a transformative leader. They have a vision and think long-term. For example, if a person makes life events, death, and illness part of a higher meaning, they can control them. Therefore, true leadership right now is transformative leadership. Having a vision is important. The most important part of a vision is a high ideal and goal. It is the ability to think strategy-focused,' he said.
"Artificial intelligence can perform the quality of wise leadership"
Tarhan, emphasizing the importance of risk analysis in crisis management, stated: "The most critical point in crisis management is to be prepared for the crisis. If a person is prepared for a crisis, they manage it very comfortably. If not prepared, they panic. For example, this is one of the very weak aspects of Eastern societies. For instance, when a crisis occurs, we manage it, we save it, but our preparation to prevent the crisis from occurring is insufficient. There is no risk analysis and risk management. Therefore, if you perform risk analysis and risk management before a crisis, you will manage that crisis well. This, of course, is related to becoming wise. Currently, artificial intelligence has provided us with tremendous ease. Artificial intelligence can perform the quality of wise leadership that has reached a certain point through years of professional experience and master-apprentice relationships developed over years. It has provided a tremendous advantage. Utilize artificial intelligence,' he stated.
"A person needs to have an ego ideal worth striving for"
Tarhan stated that it is necessary to be able to say no to distracting reasons: "In this era, there are many reasons that tempt and distract a person while moving towards their goal. It is necessary to know how to say no to these. In such situations, we work on the skill of saying no. This is also known as frontal lobe training. We exercise the emotional muscles in our brain. This used to be called will training. This is actually a power of the brain. For the brain to be strong, frontal lobe training is necessary. For this, a person needs to have an ego ideal worth striving for and getting tired for,' he explained.
"One of the most important diseases of this era is comfortism disease"
Tarhan stated that addiction can emerge with comfortism disease: "One of the most important diseases of this era is comfortism disease. For example, they talk about 'Monday syndrome.' It is very rare to be able to wake up on Monday and go to work cheerfully. Some people go to bed late and wake up late, for instance. Their sleep cycle has shifted. If a person has no purpose, they will wake up late, no matter who they are. A strong reason is needed to wake up in the morning. A person with a strong reason can say no to their desires and impulses. There are important diseases brought by comfort-seeking. One of them is obesity. This is called hedonistic eating. 80% to 90% of obesity is hedonistic obesity. That is, one cannot say no to the urge to eat within them. The primary things comfortism does are hedonism and, secondly, addiction. It short-circuits the reward system in our brain. Addictive substances cause dopamine release in the brain. Under the influence of that dopamine, a person gets instant pleasure, but when the effect of the substance wears off, they want it again. As a result, addiction occurs. In the background of this lies complacency and comfort-seeking,' he continued his words.
"Leaders should be like steamships, not sailing ships"
Tarhan, pointing out that happiness depending on internal causes rather than external ones should be achieved, stated: "True happiness is happiness dependent on an internal cause. This is called intrinsic motivation. Motivation that originates from within us. This is very important in leaders. Leaders should be like steamships, not sailing ships. Sailing ships are driven by external motivation. Steamships, on the other hand, are driven by internal motivation. Don't be myopic in the face of the future. You need to have a reason to say no to things that don't align with your goals. For this, never give up. It happens once, twice, and finally, you score the goal. Even in war, a breach is made in the castle. A thousand cannonballs are fired at the breach, and then they enter. In life, too, you will take a step in the face of such events. After that, you will be determined, consistent, and continuous. That is, success is like snowfall; it sticks if it is slow and continuous,' he stated.
"If the sense of responsibility is very high, we are candidates for burnout"
Tarhan, discussing the characteristics of burnout syndrome, said: "Burnout syndrome is a syndrome that has entered the literature. Unlike depression, a person's expectation level is high. The person's expectation level is not realistic. Another characteristic is the uncertainty of the cause. Often, there is inexplicable depression. The reason for feeling burnt out at work is the existence of unrealistic expectations. There are some mothers, for example, whose child gets a 97 on an exam and asks, 'Why didn't you get a 100?' In such situations, the child becomes sad and depressed, stops studying, and becomes lazy. The indifferent one gives up but misses their goal in life. The other one consumes themselves with a sense of responsibility. Those children always get burnt out. Children without a sense of responsibility give up and become spendthrifts. If the sense of responsibility is very high, we are candidates for burnout. In such situations, we must use our brains correctly,' he stated.
"If we can manage our thoughts, we can manage even the biggest crises"
Tarhan, emphasizing the importance of the priority pyramid, stated: "If we can manage our thoughts, we can manage even the biggest crises. We must be able to manage our psychological resources and social capital. The same applies to relationship management. Social capital is very important. You allocate more time to important people and less time to less important people. You should definitely have a pyramid of importance. At the top of the importance pyramid should be the most important things. You should not dissipate your energy on unimportant issues. Priorities must be determined. And let's have a priority pyramid. There is a great rule in Mecelle, 'Usul esasa mukaddemdir,' meaning the essence is important, but the procedure comes before the essence. For example, if you have a court case, there is a 60-day procedure; if you go on the 61st day, your case will be rejected. Being right is not enough; you also need to follow the procedure. It's the same in life; it's not what you do but how you do it that matters. We must not forget that. Determining priorities is related to 'How will I do it?' The ideal way to determine is according to our pyramid of importance. If we manage our psychological resources, our time resources, and our mental resources, we will reach our goal much more easily. Being our own leader also leads us to be leaders of others. By practicing effective leadership, we can create an effective personality,' he said.
"The leadership of this era is participatory leadership"
Tarhan, stating that teamwork is very important in leadership, said: "Ideal leadership is participatory leadership. Leadership where monophony prevails and power resides in individuals is classic leadership. This is not the leadership of this era. The leadership of this era is participatory leadership. That is, not individual intelligence but group intelligence. No matter how perfect individual intelligence is, it makes mistakes. For example, starlings fly in masses without colliding with each other. Eagles cannot approach them, they are afraid. Being a group creates group intelligence. This is also genetically coded in them. The characteristic of herd intelligence also exists in humans. When it becomes a team, it succeeds,' he stated.
"Narcissistic leaders cannot maintain the balance of power and fair sharing in management"
Tarhan, also answering questions from leadership candidates, drew attention to narcissism in leadership. Tarhan stated: "One of the biggest diseases of leadership is narcissism. In narcissistic leaders, success leads to power blindness. They say, 'Power is with me, control is with me.' A narcissistic cell is like a cancer cell. It is limitless, irresponsible, and insatiable. A cancer cell says, 'Always for me.' It gathers immense power around itself. Narcissistic leaders cannot maintain the balance of power and fair sharing in management. It consumes most of the oxygen and glucose entering the body and grows by engulfing nearby cells...' he concluded his words.