The 2017 Global Leaders in Consulting: Kivanç Emiroğlu

Kivanc Emiroglu grew up in Turkey and started his career as a construction engineer and went through a transformation journey in the middle of the 2008 economic recession. Afterwards, he set up a niche-consulting firm, Opsago Consulting, focusing on mid-market firms and private equities to help them in their operational transformation related issues.

Emiroglu set up a niche consulting firm named Opsago and ran it for two-and-a-half years before PwC acquired it. "I made a specific focus on employee engagement and happiness at Opsago," he says.

"This created an environment where people collaborate very closely to create value at customer projects. This in return brought us long-term customers with repeat projects. I was proud to be a part of this team."

Now he and the firm are still in the midst of an ambitious growth trajectory to make PwC Turkey's best consulting firm.

Emiroglu has been working with the consulting leaders of other PwC European countries and integrated the firm's operations and teams in order to create a regional consulting practice. "We think this will differentiate us massively in the marketplace," Emiroglu says.

"I always had the chance to work with organizations and teams that had a purpose in the work that they do. In every job, every geography, I had a different motivation to excel, but at the core of it I guess it is the excitement of being able to help someone or a firm to develop themselves."

As he continues the process of integration with PwC, Emiroglu says the biggest factor to his success is listening to his peers.

"I listen to customers and team members for their feedback and evaluate my development areas accordingly," he says. "It's been one of the big keys to our success so far.

And when it comes to the consulting profession, Emiroglu says two things excite him: "One is the awareness that I am trying to solve a problem that is core to other people's lives, and the second one is to work in a team where I had the chance to work with motivated and smart people," he says.

Q&A:  What does being recognized as a Global Leader in Consulting mean to you? Your firm? Your clients?

Emiroglu: "Doing consulting in emerging markets is challenging because the customers usually lack the white collar talent you need to define and implement a project. This means you need to take it from strategy to execution. I feel that I had to work with my customers more closely and engage myself deep into their operations and build trust with them. Being recognized as a Global Leader in Consulting means that the trust my customers built in us is well placed. My specific focus during my niche consulting firm period was a special attention to employee engagement and happiness. I guess this is also being recognized with this award."