Team size: Eight

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

I currently work as the head of legal and compliance for an energy company that is the largest private electric utility in the market. Our diversified portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, solar and thermal power plants with a total installed capacity of 3,662 MW. The energy sector is one of the most male-dominated sectors in Türkiye and women often find themselves at a severe disadvantage when it comes to networking, discrimination and leadership opportunities. This is also true for me.

Over the last couple years, I have learned that women in leadership positions should be much more determined, persistent and playing an active role in overcoming barriers. Female leaders should do their part to lead effectively by expanding their learning path and building on their individual strengths. In this way, organisations will find the flexibility and strength to survive in an immensely competitive business environment.

In your opinion, what areas should in-house lawyers focus on over the next few years to prove value to their organisations in Türkiye?

In-house lawyers should concentrate on risk anticipation and prevention to reduce the amount of time and effort wasted on risk remediation (e.g. on litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations). They should also devote much more time to streamlining their routine daily work and adapting large-scale compliance programmes. All of these areas should be powered by some combination of technology, structured implementation and creative resourcing.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

We have worked with our IT department to develop an array of document management tools and to integrate knowledge management technology and transaction platforms.

This has created speed and efficiency within organisational processes for a low cost to people and place. This also frees up highly experienced in-house lawyers to concentrate on more value-added work.