Meral “Merkku” Bedretdin-Rousku, MA/FM, Prosci-certified Change Coach, is a people-centered leadership and change coach who helps organizations turn change from a plan into something people actually live in their everyday work.
With a background spanning elite sports, finance, People & Culture, and organizational development, Meral brings a unique perspective to leadership, performance, and change. She spent ten years playing professional-level basketball in Finland and in Europe, represented the Finnish national team, and became the first Finnish woman to play in the EuroLeague. From the basketball court, she learned that high performance is never just about individual talent, but it is built through clear goals, shared rules of play, accountability, trust, and consistent execution.
Today, Meral applies those lessons to organizations and teams. Her work focuses particularly on leading and implementing change, strengthening leadership, and helping teams build the shared ways of working that make performance possible. She believes that even the best strategy will struggle to succeed if people do not understand it, believe in it, and translate it into their everyday behavior.
This said, she likes to connect lessons from basketball with the realities of organizational change. So from understanding people before planning change, to empowering middle managers, creating psychological safety, building habits through repetition, and making sure the organization does not depend on a single “hero” would be her go-to's.
Meral is known for her positive energy, encouragement, curiosity, and ability to challenge people in a constructive way. Her coaching style combines warmth with accountability: creating an environment where people feel safe enough to be honest, while also being encouraged to take responsibility and move forward.
Her work is grounded in a simple belief:
Change does not happen because a strategy is approved. It happens when people start doing things differently, together, consistently, and for a reason.
Meral works in Finnish and English, as well as Tatar and French.
