I was born in Toronto but lived most of my life in Istanbul, Turkey where I studied at a French school and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. It was then that I was starting to get glimpses of my purpose; I was primarily driven by understanding and helping people and a love for philosophy, meditation and reading about leadership was growing in me.

After my graduation, I worked at large corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Intel, and my speciality was sales and marketing. I learned a lot about human psychology, communication, persuasion, and influence during this period. I started to discover that the focal point in my life was about the human potential, who we can be(come) as human beings and the impact we can have on our own lives. This discovery led me to move in the direction of consulting, coaching, and training.

In the last decade I worked at Great Place to Work doing culture consulting and coaching, at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) as a consultant working with entrepreneurs, and at Bob Proctor Consulting as a Managing Partner where I worked directly with C-level leaders. I also love teaching! I taught at Bogazici University Lifelong Learning Center, Global Knowledge Canada, and SFU. 

I feel privileged to have worked with leaders from MEC, Telus, Aviso Wealth, Doctors of BC, and Suncor in Canada.

My last 6 years has been incredibly busy with completing my Master’s Degree and my PhD while working full time and keeping my family a priority. I am very lucky and blessed to have a supportive spouse who believes in lifelong learning as well; our son already believes school is something he’ll be engaged in forever!

Q: How did you get to learn about coaching?

I got to learn about coaching while I worked at Procter & Gamble and Intel. I started investing in becoming a coach leader at that time. It was then that I fell in love with the idea of coaching and saw its potential to offer a new approach to leadership. Over the years, I have been trained on many different schools of thought and approaches such as cognitive behavioral coaching, behavioral coaching, solution focused coaching, and positive psychology coaching and as a result, I have build expertise in these areas. I led a school of coaching back in Istanbul for 4 years, I wrote a book on coaching, and my PhD is in coaching; you can likely see that I love coaching, but I continue to crave learning more in this field.

The characteristics of self-actualizing people are even more relevant today than ever before.

Timothy Tiryaki PCC, M.ED

Q: Where did the idea of Maslow Centre for Executive Leadership come from?

Since 2007 I have had a goal of starting a global school of coaching. Not only did I think and write about this goal, I spoke to many people about this vision.

One of my books, published in Turkish in 2011, is called “Insanlik 2.0” (meaning “Humanity 2.0”) and it talks about how we need to change humanity’s mindset in the 21^st century and develop a new set of leadership and organizational paradigms.

Another of my books, entitled “The School of Coaching”, explains how coaching as a strategic approach can help humanize leadership.

I would say Maslow Centre for Executive Leadership’s starting point is routed in these two books. But then it took another decade, moving to a new continent with my family, completing higher education, and finding the right people and place to realize my dream.

Q: Why the name Maslow?

I have taken a deeper dive into Maslow’s work during my PhD and in doing so, I realized the characteristics of self-actualizing people are even more relevant today than ever before. Maslow’s view explores the farther reaches of human nature; it explores our potential. Now that organizations are understanding the value of being more people-focused, Maslow’s knowledge and principles can guide us through the 21^st century as well. Our organization is intentionally named after Maslow because our purpose is to help leaders move into self-actualization, and in doing so, shift the leadership paradigm.

Q: What program(s) have you created for Maslow Centre for Executive Leadership? Who should take them and why?

I created the core of our certification programs with the help of our partners and team. We built all of our programs with a focus on two main audiences: (1) corporate leaders working at large organizations, and (2) seasoned coaches wanting to work more effectively with corporate leaders. Our Coaches are purpose driven corporate influencers and change agents helping us move towards a better world.

The programs that I specifically developed and curated for the Centre include Leadership Coaching (covered in Modules 1 and 2), Culture Coaching (Module 3), and Executive Coaching (Module 4). These programs bring together over a decade of research, learning and growth as a leader, coach, educator, and lifelong student.

Q: The last several months have been extremely unique while the world experiences COVID-19; what is one thing you have learned, changed, or gained a new appreciation for in the last 6 months?

This COVID era has been an incredible eye opener for all of us. Specifically, it has reminded me of our impermanence, that we are not machine pieces, but human beings with personal lives. It accelerated digital transformation but has also been a reminder that not all jobs are easily moved into the virtual space and this is highly impactful on people’s lives and livelihoods right now.

In the past several months, I have been even more conscious of the personal situations of both our team and our clients. I am reminded about a video I saw a few years back when a BBC correspondent’s curious toddler walked into his office during a live interview. The video went viral and the whole world was (unfortunately) laughing.

We finally get to experience this firsthand and we have become open to, and creative about, different ways of working. I strongly highlight in virtual meetings that people do not need to apologize for their real life showing up during work. I have personally seen cats passing hairballs, kids storming into rooms, cartoons playing in the background, and even a topless spouse, all during meetings I have been part of over the last several months. If kids show up, I encourage them to say hi or listen in a bit; after all, when else do they get to see their parents in action? I am so happy to see that this is more widely accepted. After all, this is real life and it is all normal life and it is part of being human.