THE STORY OF THE ZEN MASTER

A Zen master was meditating in the middle of a lake, his eyes closed and his mind in the deepest stillness. He had lost all sense of time and space, and was in the purest state of peace.

Suddenly, a sharp blow struck his boat, startling him. The master's peace was shattered in an instant. Even before he opened his eyes, a wave of anger surged through him: "Who is this impudent person? How dare he disturb my peace?"

He opened his eyes angrily, about to yell at the owner of the boat that had hit him, to scold him. But when he opened his eyes, he was stunned by the sight before him. The boat that had hit his boat... It was empty. There was no one on board, having been swept away by the wind and currents.

At that moment, the master came to a profound realization: The anger arose not from the impact, but from within me. If there had been a person in the boat, he would have directed his anger at them. But when the impact was an empty boat, he saw clearly that the source of the anger was his own reactive mind.

From that day on, whenever someone made him angry or irritated, he always reminded himself: "It's just an empty boat..."

ABOUT ME

Zafer Dogruel

In Ankara in 1974
I was born in Ankara in 1999
University Geological Engineering
I graduated from the department.
In the same department in 2005
I completed my master's degree.
In the meantime, my military service
Commando in 2002
As a second lieutenant
I made it happen.
My interests are sports, beta software
test, chess, table tennis, guitar,
binding, mountaineering, cycling and
It is a motorcycle.
I am married and have two children.

I bring over 25 years of management and leadership experience in different sectors such as IT, energy and sports management to my coaching practice.

The strategic perspective I gained in senior roles such as Founder, Company Manager and Channel Management Manager forms the basis of my competence, especially in the field of Executive Coaching.

Thanks to my over ten years of experience as a Project Manager (PMP), I integrate the discipline of crisis management, problem solving and goal achievement into my coaching processes, ensuring my clients achieve concrete and measurable results.

My experience in coordinating teams, using an empathy approach in human relations, and providing sports consultancy and career development services,

It supports my successes in Team Coaching and Business/Professional Coaching.

My goal is to guide individuals and teams on the path to sustainable success by utilizing my versatile management and leadership experience.

My Journey of Awareness

2003

HUMAN-FOCUSED SALES AND RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

In my Corporate Sales Management roles, I interacted extensively with organizations and individuals from diverse industries. These seven years honed my skills in empathic communication, deep understanding of client needs, and developing relationships built on mutual trust. These experiences significantly enhanced my ability to "understand the client and enter their world" in coaching.

2010

MASTERY AND RESULTS-FOCUSED IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

As a Project Manager (PMP) for over ten years, I successfully managed numerous critical projects in the IT and energy sectors. During this time, I cultivated the discipline of crisis management, detailed planning, resource optimization, and achieving concrete goals. This ability to manage each project from inception to completion is the foundation upon which I offer a systematic, results-oriented approach to helping my clients achieve their goals in coaching.

The Story of Master Can

Part I: A Wandering Night and a Lost Self

Master Can is in his mid-30s, brilliantly intelligent, but his life is mired in a stagnation he can't quite define. "I feel completely adrift," he said during a coaching session.

At that moment, he wasn't just talking about being unemployed or idle. For him, idleness had a deeper meaning: loneliness, loss, exile.

Master Can was a vagabond, unaware of his life. He would wake up in the morning, but he had no idea why he was living. His thoughts, his feelings, his potential—all of it was shrouded in fog.

V

Part II: Coaching Moment: The Miracle of the Letter W

My duty as coach was to part this smokescreen. I gently caught Master Can's words and returned them to him:

"Master Can, you described yourself to me as Avare. So, what do you think is the word in English that most closely resembles this word and is the heart of coaching?"

“Aware,” he whispered.

"Great. All the magic in our story is hidden in that one letter: the transition from the letter 'v' to the letter 'w'."

This moment was a turning point for Master Can. Remaining a vagabond wasn't a conscious choice; it was a state of unconsciousness. To change the course of his life, he first had to realize exactly what would change it, to become aware.

W

Part III: Awakening to an "Aware" Life

Our coaching sessions from that day on turned into a journey of becoming aware of every detail in Master Can's life:

Emotional Awareness: By asking, "What is the source of your anger?", he moved from an idle reaction to an aware acceptance.
Behavioral Awareness: By asking, "What do the actions that distract you gain?", he realized the emptiness behind his idle habits.
Potential Awareness: With the question "Are you aware of your greatest strength?", he consciously embraced the talents that had been left idle within him.

Master Can was no longer a ship driven by the wind. He was an aware captain at the helm, knowing where he was at sea and which port he was heading to.