We recently sat down with Cem Enginarlar, the General Manager of the Steel Business at Samsung C&T’s Istanbul office. Read our interview with the Samsung C&T Trading and Investment (T&I) “Best Employee” award recipient to learn more about his value for trust and passion for business.
Meet a man who gets things done and is motivated by an insatiable desire to succeed. This is Cem Enginarlar, a winner of the award for the best employee in the T&I Group. Enginarlar, who leads the steel trading business in Samsung C&T’s Istanbul office, is responsible for overseeing product sales and has contributed significantly to steel sales since joining the Samsung C&T T&I Division in 2006. His efforts have been instrumental in expanding Türkiye’s steel business through the diversification of volume, products, and sources.
What drives your work?
When asked what drives him to work, Cem Enginarlar replied, “I have been driven by an unquenchable desire for success.” Enginarlar is motivated by the pursuit of success, delivering results, and positively impacting others. He believes his 18 years at Samsung C&T have allowed him to grow both personally and professionally.
Enginarlar continued on to say that “the characteristic of this particular motivation is that it can never be totally satisfied, and continues to burn within. The satisfaction comes with the realization that you actually are making a change in other people’s lives through improving their career and prospects. Afterwards, the cycle begins, once more.”
Locally Aligning Sales Strategies with HQ
Despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a recession, and trade barriers, Enginarlar successfully led the expansion and diversification of steel products and sources. Under his leadership, the Istanbul office has increased its volume almost threefold in less than three years. During this time, Enginarlar helped diversify sourced materials to include hot rolled, cold rolled, and stainless steel, in addition to traditional automotive steel. This success was achieved by strategically distributing roles among team members based on strategies that aligned with HQ and optimizing sales approaches using detailed insights from Türkiye’s steel market.
The steel market in Türkiye is vast and dynamic, characterized by a culture of flexibility. There is also a mismatch between demand for certain steel products and local supply. Türkiye exports steel to neighboring countries, making it a hot market where interests and transactions converge. Therefore, it is crucial to react swiftly and diversify business strategies to increase market share and secure deals.
“Our Steel Division’s responsive and 24/7 continuous communication has been key to increasing Samsung C&T’s market share,” explains Enginarlar. “Also, diversification is key for continued growth in trading. In Istanbul, we have selected to go both ways; while we strived to acquire new customers for new products, our Steel Division raced with us to introduce new steel mills that matched these requirements.”
Even with market intelligence and strategies, increasing market share was not an easy task. Enginarlar summarized the approach the Istanbul office took to diversify sales as follows:
- Understand HQ’s strategies and new sourcing options, consider opportunities for local implementation.
- Analyze the demand and customers for each product, broken down by segments from a local perspective.
- Build a foundation of trust with potential customers
Building Complementary Teams through People-First Leadership
Cem Enginarlar described the importance of valuing his team members and supporting their growth throughout their careers. “I value my team members and focus my attention on their growth, motivation, and transition from newbie to a self-propelled deal maker,” says Enginarlar. “Developing this type of team results in a better judgment of market intelligence and expansion.”
Enginarlar finds the greatest satisfaction in knowing that his passion for success also positively impacts others. He views coaching and mentoring as one of the most important parts of his job, emphasizing that supporting team members’ growth is essential. As individuals become more empowered and fulfill their roles, their collective performance creates synergy.
Enginarlar also considers an open and transparent organizational culture to be very important. While many people might initially conceal their potential, goals, and values, he believes that openly discussing these aspects of your career can foster alignment, communication, and mutual growth.
How do you define leadership?
Enginarlar became the head of the Steel Business in the Istanbul office after participating in the Global Successor Program (GSP) almost 10 years ago. When asked how he defines a leader, he initially described a leader as someone who does three things: sets organizational goals, creates a plan, and executes it, leads by example to ensure team awareness, and takes responsibility for both the process and the results.
When asked the same question ten years later, Enginarlar still thinks the same way. However, he said that he would add the following to his answer: a leader is also someone who listens to ideas about organizational goals, shares diverse examples and experiences to foster synergy among team members, and gives feedback to members on their results.
These responses highlight Enginarlar’s commitment to transparent communication. Through this approach, the Istanbul office’s Steel Business has successfully built trust and achieved results by communicating with each other and taking ownership of work as a team.
Personal and Professional Growth: The Cycle of Continuous Improvement
Throughout his 18 years at the Samsung C&T T&I Group, Cem Enginarlar has fostered a virtuous cycle of pursuing success, positively impacting others, and achieving personal growth. He envisions a promising future for the steel market in Türkiye and aims to achieve even greater results by accurately identifying and addressing demand.
To close out his interview, Enginarlar passed on a message of gratitude to his colleagues by saying, “Thank you to all team members and colleagues in the Istanbul office and HQ for their support and trust. I would like to continue to contribute to the success of the Istanbul office as a senior leader with the longest trading experience, best understanding of Samsung C&T’s culture, and superior local business knowledge.”
He also set future goals for his team and said, “I would like to see that our Steel Business achieves a volume of 1 million mt/year and continues to grow, while I support our office to diversify into business in other fields, inspiring and coaching all of our colleagues in Istanbul.” We very much look forward to seeing what Cem will achieve in the future!
When asked the same question ten years later, Enginarlar still thinks the same way. However, he said that he would add the following to his answer: a leader is also someone who listens to ideas about organizational goals, shares diverse examples and experiences to foster synergy among team members, and gives feedback to members on their results.
These responses highlight Enginarlar’s commitment to transparent communication. Through this approach, the Istanbul office’s Steel Business has successfully built trust and achieved results by communicating with each other and taking ownership of work as a team.
