Post by Gabrielle Bugat

Building a strong team is not a project plan with milestones. It is a long, patient “science” that unfolds over years, one relationship at a time. Research on high-performing, client-centric teams shows that what unlocks performance is psychological safety: the belief that we can speak up, challenge ideas, and make mistakes without fear, always with the client at the center. In diverse teams, this safety turns different perspectives into better outcomes, not friction nor groupthink. Last week, at our Giesecke+Devrient ePayments quarterly business review in Istanbul, I watched my team in action: passionate experts, genuinely curious about each other’s views, and committed to solving problems together. They listened, challenged, and built on each other’s ideas. Like Istanbul — where Hagia Sophia holds Christian mosaics alongside Islamic calligraphy, and where Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi’s leap from Galata Tower symbolised the first “intercontinental flight” — they connected across functions, locations and cultures, to serve a common purpose. For me as a leader, the takeaway is simple: we don’t create high performance overnight. We patiently create the conditions where diverse, talented people feel safe enough to bring their whole selves to the table — proof that the science of strong teams is, above all, a human story. And to our Turkish teams: thank you for making these moments happen and for your professionalism, expertise, and the warm way you welcomed us. #Leadership #HighPerformingTeams #ClientCentric #Istanbul #diversity Hakan Acar Nehir Kahraman Senol Saglam ÖZLEM AYDIN KESKİN Christiane Zhao Christian Bellsolell Atul Singh Philippe Delanoue Hussam Nasser Eric Megret-Dorne Carlos Thomas German Garcia Pajares y Cespedes Wei Xiao DEBABRATA SAHA Mikko Kähkönen Alexander Rühl Jeremy Borot Olivier Guiot Lucie Fonseca Gurpal Singh Sebastian Kerschbaumer Chitua Kalio Rafael Ferrarezi de Souza Martin Moecklinghoff Florian Baumgartner Philippe Serres Hala Assassa Andreas Riegg Steve Rugen Kai Dittberner Konrad Wiebalck