Ömer Tetik, BT CEO: "Performance demands pragmatism, but without a soul you can't"

In September, Ömer Tetik, CEO, Banca Transilvania, gave an exclusive interview to Magazin Olimpic, the official magazine of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee. What performance looks like through the eyes of the General Manager of Banca Transilvania and what is the connection between banking and sports you can find out in the next interview.

Run a bank. So you work with the money, but nevertheless you said that an exhortation read in a profile magazine touched your heart, namely that money must be in your mind, not in your heart. Could we consider that the partnership with COSR comes to complete this side as well, the one with the heart?

Banking is first and foremost about people, trust and performance. As far as money is concerned, I think we need to learn how to use it better, how to save it, how to make sure we always have reserves. In other words, not to spend money before we have it. We have to be pragmatic to achieve performance, but to grow we must also put our heart into it. The partnership with COSR, which started in January, is about both. We look forward to supporting the performance of Romanian athletes in the next three years at the Olympic Games and other competitions held under the Olympic circles. It is, above all, a partnership of Banca Transilvania for Romania because athletes are role models for all of us and ambassadors of our country in the world.

One of the values on which COSR builds its mission is also the National Pride. We somehow also find in the philosophy of Banca Transilvania this vein, not only looking at the way in which this bank was founded, but also at the services offered to local entrepreneurs, at the support of the small, local economy, also found in your Campaign "Buy next to you". But in a world of globalization, does it still matter to turn to tradition, to the national spirit?

Globalisation has its advantages, and sport and we, the supporters, are among the main beneficiaries. It is a phenomenon that has transformed the world, impacting on national economies, and thanks to it goods, money and information can move faster and over much greater distances. Sport itself has become a global industry because of its international and commercial dimension.

In all this context, I believe that the national spirit must always be cultivated. It is the same with the Olympic spirit. Every people comes to this world with something special, unique, and Romanians have something to be proud of. A prime example that comes to mind are the athletes that Romania has given to the world. When foreigners are asked about Romania, often the first words are the names of athletes - Nadia Comaneci, Ilie Nastase, Gheorghe Hagi or Simona Halep, but also David Popovici. Sport unites people. The stands have a special vibe . It is the place – perhaps the only one – where we see people singing the national anthem with their hand to heart, thinking about victory. This means national pride, which must be perpetuated whenever it comes to Romania.

At BT we believe in the power of community and sport brings people together. Banca Transilvania started 28 years ago with 13 people in the team, and today it is the number one and the largest financier of the economy. The road to the podium, to the medal has depended a lot on the fact that we know Romania better than any other bank, that we are the bank on the way home. That we play at home, on our home ground. "Buy from near you" and "Buy from a small business" are two of our initiatives for entrepreneurs. We at BT are the biggest supporters of entrepreneurs. The pandemic period was a special way to say Go Romania! and mobilise people to get us all on the same team.

COSR has attracted over time partners to whom it has offered the association with performance, with the notoriety of some legends of the sport, and as a benefit was not only financial support, but also know-how, and values, concepts and even management tools borrowed from business and used in sports. In this respect, what do you think would be the successful experiences of Banca Transilvania that COSR could also benefit from?

It was hard to become number 1 in banking, but harder is to maintain ourselves. It is exactly like in the lives of athletes. I think it can be an interesting exchange of experience between BT and COSR. We have Romanian DNA, we support ideas, entrepreneurs, champions, performance. To a possible question for us and for the Romanian athletes, What did you do for Romania? we would have something to answer. After all, we are what we do.

After the Tokyo Olympics, a new strategy was outlined at the level of the COSR leadership regarding the support they have to give to support the performance. There will be a number of transitions, but the one I would like to stop at is to change the exclusive focus on the athlete with the multidirectional support, which obviously includes the athlete, but also the coach, the medical team, from nutritionist to psychologist, as well as all the other technicians without whom the athlete, on its own, it could not achieve the highest performances. Science, technology, digitalisation have imposed, I think, this transition. How do you see this approach? At BT what is it like with interdisciplinarity?

Every athlete has behind him a team that, when he wins, wins with him or vice versa, so the initiative is salutary. In banking, as in any other field, interdisciplinarity means interdependence and complementarity. In addition, the field has become increasingly complex, it is a combination of fintech and banking services. BT has hundreds of different jobs, and success depends on the participation of everyone in the team, each with his experience, specialization, energy and training . Individually, maybe none of us are the best bankers, but together we are the best bank. We perform if we collaborate with each other and raise the bank and the performance. It's just like a football game, for example. Could one person cover the whole land? There would be no way.

We live in a stressful world. Can setting performance goals motivate the athlete or, on the contrary, shake him and remove him from achieving good results?

It depends on the person, on what motivates them, but goals are more than necessary regardless of the field, even more so in sports. They are like landmarks on the journey to success or to a better version of yourself, as an athlete. It is about perseverance, endurance and physical and emotional resilience.

The pandemic has shown us that any long-term strategy is not the only tool with which we can approach the development of an entity. Those who remained stuck in plans that no longer fit the unexpected context suffered. Instead, those who quickly understood what the deal with resilience was and knew how to adapt to the new conditions not only survived, but even developed, reinvented themselves. At BT, how did the pandemic get through? Would he have anything to learn from all this and the world of sports?

The pandemic was a match with many overtime and for BT, with the change of rules during the game . But we've adapted. From how to collaborate in a team or with clients, to the projects we put first. To take the bright side, the pandemic has been an accelerator of BT solutions for remote banking, has generated or accentuated certain trends and has contributed everywhere to the growth of the adoption of digitalization. I think the lesson we all received was adaptation and patience, but also that social distancing can bring us closer together.

It is no secret that, in general, Romanian sport is going through a difficult period, given primarily by the economic and social situation of the country, which has led to a chronic underfunding of sport. Of course, it is not the only reason why Romania no longer has the results of the past, but there are a series of factors that are intertwined and that are not only related to us, but also to what is happening in sport worldwide. However, it seems inconceivable what we see happening with Romanian artistic gymnastics. Looking with the eyes of the successful manager, where you think the rift occurred, and with what you think the process of recovery of this discipline should begin in which the "ten" was... invented by a Romanian woman? And it wasn't an exception, I proved it later.

The recovery of gymnastics I think depends on investing at every level and shaping, from an early age, the winning mentality. Regardless of the generation, we can have representation in the elite of world gymnastics. I hope to be again what we were because not every sport has "a Nadia Comaneci".

You are the number 1 bank in Romania. What is the road to the "most"? And that's what athletes all dream of, to be "the most." How to get to the top? And how do you resist there, in the position that many other people are aiming for almost as good as you are? Is the recipe valid for the world of sports as well, whether we are talking about a nation, a club or, simply, an athlete?

As in sports, team spirit and champion mentality are built, trained, and if you want to be up and maintain yourself you have to do something extra. The summit is reached by conquering first other, smaller peaks. And once you get to the top, there's another challenge, maybe bigger: how do you stay there.

It is equally important to respect our teammates, opponents and the public. I think it's the same recipe for everyone, the important thing is to take into account the travel, not just the destination, even if this performance is aimed at, the podium. Our stake is to be the banking institution that is closest to customers, to be an example for other Romanian businesses. It was not a priority to be the highest in the industry. So it is with athletes: not necessarily the most loved are the first.

In the family, how do you stay with sports? But I wouldn't want you to just talk to me about the engines, that we know you passionately, even if motorcycling is a beloved sport in our country, but unfortunately, practiced at the level of performance less and less. It would be of interest to tell me what you think about the link between sport and health, about what the Americans have established through a study, namely that a leu invested in sports means 3 lei saved in the public health system, and maybe about the transition from health sports to performance sports, which implies, at some point, and sacrifices, renunciations. Would you urge your children to venture on such a path? Under what conditions?

Sport certainly contributes to a healthy lifestyle. I'm passionate about motorcycling, but it's a hobby for me, it's more for relaxing. All of us in the family are big basketball fans – whether it's the National Team or U-Banca Transilvania. Sport is part of my children's education, and I owe it mostly to my wife. I would definitely direct the kids to performance sports if I saw inclinations. The most important thing is that from sports, even from the recreational one, children have the opportunity to learn to be good teammates, to be persevering, to want to be superlative and to know how to slalom among challenges, whatever they may be.

The interview can be browsed here in Romanian and English.

Background

BT became the Official Bank of the Team Romania Olympic Team, thanks to the partnership with the Romanian Olympic Sports Committee, started in January this year to support the performance and the Romanian athletes who are preparing to represent our country at the Olympic Games.

Through this partnership, some of romania's champions at European level are in the spotlight and we can get to know them better during the Between Medals campaign: Simona Radiș, Iulian Teodosiu, Robert Glinţă, Alexandru Novac, Adrian Șulcă, Laura Ilie, Bianca Ghelber, Andreea Ana.