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Built on experience.
Born from purpose.
The DDC Story
DDC grew from a simple conviction: the value of experience lies in what it helps people and organisations do next.
Years inside operating businesses bring you close to the connections between strategy, people, leadership and execution. They also teach you that valuable advice begins with understanding the reality of the organisation and the people within it.
DDC brings that experience into a new chapter through advisory, training and mentoring, shaped around the purpose of each engagement.
Experience shapes how we see. Purpose shapes what we do next.
The Meaning Behind DDC
DDC’s name carries a personal connection to Levent’s daughters, Defne and Deniz, and to dedication — giving care, attention and commitment to what matters.
That dedication also guides our work. We aim to inspire others, support their development and turn shared goals into meaningful action. We share our experience and perspective with the people and organisations we work with, while also learning from them.
The Visual Story
The visual language of DDC gives these ideas a form: a horizon, the light of a new day, and wings that suggest an open perspective.
HorizonA horizon invites us to look beyond what is immediately in front of us — to pause, imagine and consider what might come next.
It creates space for curiosity, dreams and discovery: a chance to see possibilities beyond the familiar and find inspiration for the future.
For DDC, this means seeing the big picture without losing sight of reality, moving between the overall picture and the detail, and continuously connecting strategy with execution.
SunriseThe energy and hope of a new phase — grounded in experience, inspired by dreams.
AlbatrossThe seagull inspired a way of thinking. The albatross became its expression within DDC.
It had been there all along.
Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull has been a quiet personal inspiration to Levent for more than 25 years. Within DDC, that inspiration found its own expression in the albatross: perspective, endurance, adaptability and calm movement.
Two wingsTwo wings, working together.
What we do and how we do it are complementary wings: purpose gives direction; the way we work brings it to life.
Business and people. Strategy and execution. Experience and innovation. Reality and intuition. Two wings, working in harmony — bringing balance to the way we think and act.
Founder
Levent Kocagül
Founder & Managing Director
Levent brings more than 25 years of experience across FMCG, energy, refining and petrochemicals, including roles at Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Coca-Cola İçecek (CCİ) and SOCAR Türkiye Refinery and Petrochemical Business Unit.
Before founding DDC, he led Human Resources for SOCAR Türkiye Refinery and Petrochemical Business Unit, encompassing PETKİM, STAR Refinery, SOCAR Türkiye Storage (STAD), SOCAR Türkiye Trading, SOCAR Türkiye R&D and PETKİM RES (wind power), with approximately 4,000 employees. In addition, he led and managed SOCAR Terminal’s industrial relations in line with SOCAR industrial relations standards and principles. Today, through DDC, he brings that experience into management consulting through advisory, training and mentoring.
His experience brings together organisational and cultural transformation, modern industrial relations, and strategic communication and stakeholder management. He links talent with value creation by aligning leadership decisions, organisational capabilities and ways of working with business priorities. This also informs his approach to preparing organisations and their workforce for AI and digital transformation.
Professional Development
- IMD — SOCAR Leadership Development Programme
- CTI — Co-Active Coaching Certification programme
He has completed IMD’s SOCAR Leadership Development Programme and the Co-Active Coaching Certification programme at CTI, complementing his executive experience with further development in leadership, organisational transformation, mentoring and coaching.
Leadership, Governance & Wider Contribution
Perspective also grows through responsibilities and contributions across industry bodies, education and university engagement.
TİSK
TİSK — Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Associations.
Through seven years of service on the Board and Executive Committee of TİSK, he contributed to working life and employer perspectives.
KİPLAS
KİPLAS — Turkish Chemical, Petroleum, Rubber and Plastics Industry Employers’ Association.
He served as Chair of KİPLAS for eight years, contributing to industrial relations and sector development. He founded KİPLAS Academy to connect learning with practice, beginning with a practice-based Industrial Relations Management Certificate Programme. A second programme in occupational health and safety was also prepared.
DEÜ
DEÜ — Dokuz Eylül University.
He has served on the Faculty of Business advisory board at Dokuz Eylül University for three years and continues to do so, connecting business experience with education.
TED
TED — Turkish Education Association; TED Aliağa College.
His wider contribution to education included eight years of board membership at TED Aliağa College.
He continues to contribute to the development of a new Turkish Labour Law and to the Türkiye–Azerbaijan initiative on working-life standards, of which he is one of the originators.
But the value of that experience is not simply in the number of years or roles.
It is in what those years teach you to notice.
What works. What does not.
When to challenge. When to listen.
When detail matters. And when it is time to step back and see the whole picture.
He knows consulting from both sides of the table.
Having worked with advisers from inside organisations, he brings an understanding of what clients need from an external perspective and what it takes to turn that perspective into action.
- Understand before proposing.
- Challenge without disconnecting from reality.
- Keep execution in mind from the beginning.
- Avoid unnecessary complexity.
- Build capability rather than dependency.
DDC is the next chapter of that journey — bringing accumulated experience, perspective and judgement to the goals of organisations and leaders.
Dedicated to Your Purpose.
We can begin with your context, your questions and what you want to achieve.