Dilek Onuk
Dilek Onuk is an Industrial Engineer, studied at Boğaziçi University and completed her master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.
In 2000, she started working as an Associate in the Istanbul office of McKinsey & Company. Until 2005, she worked on consulting projects in various sectors in Turkey, the UK and India, first within McKinsey and then as a freelance consultant with other McKinsey alumni.
Following her consulting experience, with a desire to experience the operation of growing multinational companies from within, she took on various financial management roles in Procter & Gamble, Mavi Jeans and Panasonic Turkey between 2005 and 2012.
Since 2010, she has been participating in personal development training programs such as Kuraldisi Academy’s School of Life, Communications, Relationships, Goal Setting and Initiative, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Psycho-Kinesiology, Reiki Level I and II, Homeopathy Emergency Basics, PDR Trainer’s Training.
Realizing that her main purpose in life is to support the development of the people around her during this process , she received the AC-approved Holistic Life Coaching Certificate from Anka Coaching In 2016. She went on to completing Anka’s comprehensive ICF-accredited ACTP coaching program in 2020, House of Human and MareFidelis’s executive coaching programs in 2019 and 2020, obtaining her ACC certificate from ICF at the end of 2020.
In 2017, Dilek she returned to McKinsey & Company’s Istanbul office as Professional Development Manager. In this role, she had the opportunity to improve her knowledge and experience in concepts around personal and professional development and adult education. During her tenure, she also received McK Academy’s Facilitator training, as well as becoming a trainer for Centered Leadership, which is a model that helps leaders lead with impact, resilience, and fulfilment at work and their life.
Dilek has started to build her own professional coaching practice at the end of 2019, working with professionals at various stages of their careers as well as college students. She has been actively participating as a coach and mentor in multiple civil service projects and has been a faculty member of ESTIEM Alumni Leadership Camp.
Dilek is also a facilitator of Google’s global #IamRemarkable initiative, running workshops with the purpose of empowering everyone, particularly women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.
By combining the fundamental principles of coaching with her corporate management and consultancy experience in multinational companies of more than fifteen years, Dilek aims to support individuals and institutions in their progress in line with their personal goals and values.
Dilek is an avid sailing enthusiast with 20 years of experience as crew and helmsman in yacht regattas. She is an RYA Yachtmaster, a licensed sail yachting instructor and race officer candidate from Turkish Sailing Federation. Her other interests include food culture, travel, and art history.
Professional Memberships
Dilek is a member of:
- ICF (International Coaching Federation) and ICF Turkey - certified coach (ACC)
- EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), and EMCC Turkey
- AC (Association for Coaching) Turkey
- BUMED (Boğaziçi University Alumni Association)
- CAA (University of California Alumni Association), UC Berkeley
- ESTIEM (European STudents of Industrial Engineering and Management) Alumni.
- Global Resilience at Work(TM) network
Translated Books
In her spare time, Dilek has translated books on health and personal development; from English to Turkish, all published by Kuraldisi Publishing House:
- Emperor’s New Clothes (Irving Kirsch),
- Traditional Foods are Your Best Medicine (Dr. Ronald F. Schmid),
- Overcoming Perfectionism (Roz Shafran, Sarah Egan, Tracey Wade).
Our Approach
Definition of Coaching*
- Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential
- Client-driven
- Focuses: setting goals, creating outcomes, managing personal change
* Source: ICF
The Coach's Role*
- Discover, clarify and align with what the client wants to achieve
- Encourage client self-discovery
- Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies
- Hold the client responsible and accountable
It is also important to be aware that coaching is different from:
- Therapy
- Consulting
- Mentoring
- Training
- Athletic Development
* Source: ICF
Our Coaching Process
We start each coaching relationship with an introductory session. In this session we aim to:
- Get to know each other
- Understand and clarify the client's objectives
- Co-defining our coaching process (timing, duration, initial outline of discussion topics, contract for coaching services and payment)
At the beginning of each session we confirm or redefine the goal and topic of the respective session, understanding that priorities can change.
We strongly believe that coaching is a co-active process: For success, the client should be ready to invest a period of time, not expecting instant results in one session (although it can sometimes happen) The client should also be willing to actively participate in building the process and relationship, be open to think out loud and to explore different facets of their self. In return, it is our responsibility as the coach to:
- Safeguard and guide the process,
- Hold a safe space that is confidential and without judgment, and
- Support the client as an accountability partner in converting their new awareness into change