What if becoming a better leader has less to do with learning how to lead others and more to do with learning how to lead yourself?
My guest this week is Ahmet Bozer, former President of Coca-Cola International and author of Soulgery: Unlock Your Potential.
After spending 26 years at Coca-Cola and eventually overseeing the company's operations outside North America, Ahmet entered the next chapter of his life intending to share what he'd learned about leadership. But as he began writing, he discovered something deeper: the better we become at leading ourselves, the better equipped we are to lead others.
That realization eventually led him away from writing a traditional leadership book and toward Soulgery, an exploration of how we continually develop our potential to become more capable, impactful, and resilient.
Our conversation goes well beyond business.
We talk about ego and what Ahmet calls our "sense of self," why he tries not to think in terms of success and failure, and how both can distort the way we see ourselves.
Ahmet also shares one practice he believes we don't do nearly enough: self-reflection.
It's not enough to simply accumulate experiences. We must examine them. What was I thinking? What was I feeling? Why did I react that way? What patterns keep appearing?
Over time, that practice becomes a way of strengthening our inner selves just as exercise strengthens our bodies.
We also explore character, wisdom, identity, potential, relationships, and the possibility that personal growth isn't always about adding more to ourselves.
Sometimes it's about removing the things that are getting in the way.
One of my favorite moments comes when I ask Ahmet whether he'd rather be known for having been President of Coca-Cola International or simply for who he is.
His answer stopped me:
He wants to be seen as an "aspiring human being."
Because titles end. Careers end. But the work of becoming a fuller version of ourselves can continue until our last breath.
And perhaps that's what self-leadership is ultimately about.
Not creating a more impressive résumé.
Becoming a better human being.
In this episode, we discuss:
• Why self-leadership comes before leading others
• Ahmet's journey from Coca-Cola executive to author
• The philosophy behind Soulgery
• Why "success" and "failure" can both become traps
• Ego and our sense of self
• Developing a habit of self-reflection
• Why experience alone doesn't necessarily produce wisdom
• Character as something we develop through action
• Removing the barriers we create within ourselves
• Human potential and lifelong growth
• Working on the self, not for the self
Ahmet closes our conversation with a beautiful idea: he believes in the potential of people he's never even met. Every one of us, he argues, has the capacity to become more capable, resilient, and impactful than we are today. His hope is that we learn to believe that about ourselves.
That's a message I can get behind.
About Ahmet Bozer:
Ahmet Bozer is the former President of Coca-Cola International and author of Soulgery: Unlock Your Potential. His work focuses on helping people continually develop their capabilities, impact, resilience, wisdom, character, and humanity.
Connect with Ahmet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmetbozer/
