Business Diplomat: The Art of Managing Ambition

This interview is conducted with **Prof. Dr. Birol Mercan**, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Political Science, Necmettin Erbakan University, who is among Turkey’s forward-looking academics engaged in international work with young people. Prof. Dr. Mercan conducts academic research in areas including economic theory, regional economics, industrial economics, competition, innovation, social capital, and economic growth. In addition to his academic work, he places particular importance on providing young people with international experience and developing academic cooperation with different countries.

İsmail PolatSeptember 24, 2026Updated October 3, 2026

Introduction

International entrepreneurship asks for two seemingly opposite qualities in the same person: the courage to push into new markets and the ability to inspire trust once there. Without the first, no door opens; without the second, no one stays inside. In this part of its interview series, Business Diplomat presents three sentences that describe this duality and the third element that balances it. Together they offer a concise definition of who a business diplomat is.

Three sentences

"Any businessperson is an envoy who inspires trust for the other side and, from their own side, an akıncı, a vanguard rider."
"Business Diplomat is, on the one hand, respect for the values of the country where you do business and, on the other, the art of managing the entrepreneur's profit motive and ambition."
"Without a diplomat's finesse and wisdom in the process, mutual interests cannot continue for long."

Business Diplomat commentary

The first sentence describes the two roles of a businessperson, the second the balance between those roles, and the third the quality that makes the balance possible.

Two roles, one person. The first sentence looks at the same person from two places. In the eyes of the host country, a businessperson is an envoy. An envoy carries the reputation of the place they come from, and their first task is to inspire trust. For their own company and country, they are an akıncı: historically, the forward rider who went ahead of the army and entered unknown lands first. An entrepreneur is likewise the first to explore a new market, the first to take the risk, and the one who opens the way for those who follow. The two roles do not exclude each other; they complete each other. Without the vanguard's courage, no one goes anywhere. Without the envoy's dignity, no one holds on where they have arrived. Someone who is only a vanguard enters fast and leaves fast. Someone who is only an envoy is respected but builds no business.

An art between respect and ambition. The second sentence defines the Business Diplomat concept as a pair of scales. In one pan is respect for the values of the country where business is done: care for its culture, history, law and social sensitivities. In the other is the entrepreneur's profit motive and ambition. The sentence does not condemn the latter. Ambition is the engine of enterprise, and without it nobody takes risks far from home. But the verb "managing" is decisive: ambition is directed, not suppressed. An entrepreneur who tramples the host's values for short-term gain loses more than they win. The word "art" is apt as well, because there is no ready formula for this balance. It has to be struck again in every country, every partnership and every hard decision.

Finesse and wisdom. The third sentence says when the interests of two sides will last. The investor comes for their own interest, the host accepts them for its own, and that is natural. But the existence of interests does not guarantee that they endure. Conditions change, expectations diverge and problems arise. Those are the moments that call for two qualities. Finesse is being able to discuss a difficult matter without wounding the other side. Wisdom is knowing what to dwell on and what to let pass, when to speak and when to stay silent. Finesse concerns manner; wisdom concerns judgement. The verdict is firm: without them, mutual interest does not continue for long.

The unity of the three. Read together, the sentences form a line of reasoning. A businessperson is both vanguard and envoy. Balancing the two means managing respect and ambition together. And what makes that management possible is finesse and wisdom. Courage opens the market, respect earns acceptance, and wisdom keeps the relationship standing over the years.

The role of Business Diplomat. The platform's mission is to give young people experience, bring a diplomatic order to the business world, and benefit states by revitalising the economy. These three sentences cover both sides of that mission. Revitalising the economy needs the spirit of the vanguard; diplomatic order needs the bearing of the envoy. Finesse and wisdom are learned from experience and good examples, not from books. Business Diplomat aims to give young entrepreneurs respect, measure and judgement while preserving their courage.

Conclusion

A business diplomat is an envoy who inspires trust in the country they go to and, for their own side, a vanguard who opens the way. They respect the host's values and manage their own ambition with skill. What they rely on in doing so is finesse and wisdom, because mutual interest lasts only with these qualities. Business Diplomat aims to raise a generation of business diplomats who carry courage, respect and wisdom together.