The World is transforming, so do individuals, business, and societies at an unprecedented speed. Every morning, we woke up into a new world which asks us to think again how we embrace change.
I am Kadir Sener and for over 20 years I have been honing the experience, skills, and education to be in the forefront of this new and exciting frontier.
Having had a series of increasingly responsible positions with Microsoft, I have had the privilege of working with great digital strategists, leaders, and executives across the world. Working in one of the most advanced technology companies in the world and working with various enterprises across the world to innovate their products, services, customer experiences and business models; I am getting inspired and energized every moment how we can make more positive impact to businesses, their customers, and the society.
I am currently the Global Transformation Leader of our Enterprise Sales, Consulting, and Industry Solutions businesses in Microsoft, responsible for defining the transformation strategy to serve our enterprise customers and partners more effectively, efficiently, and with competitive differentiation across the world. My overall experience in Microsoft involved Sales Leadership, Strategy Leadership, Marketing Leadership, Business Development and Strategic Management roles globally, regionally or in subsidiaries with a successful track record of growing the business and transforming organizations.
I also had additional opportunity to address several seminars as a keynote speaker, deliver classes in universities, be published in Business & Technology magazines and sit on several advisory boards.
My passion areas include Innovation Strategy, Digital Transformation & Operating Models, Transformation & Change Management and Enterprise Technology Sales Leadership.
If you want to learn more about me, please connect with me on LinkedIn or reach out to me.
My Story
There are three things that shaped who I am now: Immigrants, Ships, and a Guitar. You will ask how these three things might be related to each other and can shape a life. Let me tell you my story:
I am incredibly lucky person because I have born into a family where all my grandparents were immigrants. When they moved to my home country 70-80 years ago, they started a new life from almost nothing. My childhood is full of their memories and stories, mostly happy with some sorrow as well, lots of hardships with lots of challenging work; but always full of hope, always determined and always benevolent. What an opportunity in early childhood to observe how to renew and reinvent the life and to internalize the values of determination, optimism, compassion, and unity.
Second one is about ships. I always felt myself as a truly fortunate person to be grown in Istanbul, next to the sea. Since my early childhood, I was spending a lot of time next to Bosphorus and was trying to guess the departure and destination ports of ships crossing. Strange habit I keep, almost every morning in my early morning routine which I usually spend in a café next to sea from 5am to 8am. Once when I was 12 years old, I had met a captain and had told him about this. And he taught me one life lesson. It is always nice to guess the departure and destination ports, but what would be nicer is to think about the experiences, learning, funs, challenges during the journey. All the time; I reflect on this: Whatever the start or end is, wherever the departure or destination might be, I focus on enjoying the journey.
And lastly a guitar. It was when I was 15 years old; I wanted a lot to play guitar. I was not feeling comfortable to ask for it to my parents given their financial situations at that time. Hence, I felt the urge to act myself. The urge to act rather than waiting things to happen. Myself a student in the school, I decided to teach private classes to students in my class. I needed to learn better than everyone else, needed to become better and better so I could find people I can teach. So, did I. And hence after couple of months of hard work; I started to teach mathematics and geometry to my peers. And with the money earned; I bought my first guitar after 3 months. And since that, I kept working hard. Do I play guitar now? No. Did I forget how I bought my first guitar? Never...
Every day in life is a journey. And there were so many things which shaped who am I today. But the most important three things were immigrants, ships, and a guitar. Every day I wake up feeling I am an incredibly lucky person for things and experiences life gave to me. You should also do. Life is a magic. You should be just seeing and be aware of those little things.
Personal Values
Whether you call it Personal Values, Leadership Principles or Business Philosophy; I am a big believer that everyone should reflect and think on his/her personal guiding principles. After many years of professional experience; I came up to a point to reflect, think and distill to come up with a summary view of my own leadership principles applying to every minute of personal and professional life.
These five are my guiding principles everyday, in everything I do:
Grow Big by thinking Big
Drive with passion and enthusiasm in everything you do
Always strive to do the right thing
Be generous
Learn every day
Quotes Enlightening My Every Morning
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So sail away from the safe harbour. Explore, Dream, Discover. -Mark Twain
Be passionate and bold. Always keep learning. You stop doing useful things if you don’t learn. - Satya Nadella
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. - Steve Jobs
Believe you can….and you are halfway there! -Theodore Roosevelt
It’s hard to remember for you guys, but for me it’s like yesterday I was driving the packages to the post office myself, and hoping one day we could afford a forklift. - Jeff Bezos
Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. -Barack Obama
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. – Rumi
Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Gandhi
The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. -Albert Einstein
How good it is to migrate every day!
How beautiful it is to stop somewhere every day!
How nice it is to flow without freezing and getting muddy!
What word that belongs to yesterday,
Is gone, my loved one, with yesterday,
Now is the time to say new things.
- Rumi
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. –Confucius
Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.- William Jennings Bryan
Be the change that you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi
Becoming is better than being- Carol Dweck
Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future -Satya Nadella
When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves. - William Arthur Ward
Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. -David J. Schwartz
Success is not an accident; success is a choice. - Stephen Curry
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. -Voltaire
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing
himself. -Leo Tolstoy