Sport and business, the parallels in line with the challenges of the future in companies and teams. Every victory in sport and every win on the balance sheet is the result of people’s achievements, the combination of their talent, their passion, their individuality, but also their imperfections and many failed attempts.
Anyone who is responsible for leadership and teamwork faces a variety of challenges in ever-changing situations and constellations. Mastering these demands a great deal of personality. First and foremost, they require managers to be willing to reflect on themselves and develop themselves and others.
Bernhard Heusler & three important topics – Experiences, lessons learned & insights
In an open dialog, Bernhard Heusler and the participants focus on experiences and lessons learned in practice, i.e. the very personal learning process of managers. The course does not follow recipes and is not based on mnemonics. Concrete cases from practice are used as teaching aids.
Together with the participants, Bernhard Heusler analyzes the attitude and behaviour of managers and team members. He puts them in the position of a specific case and develops ideas together on how these can be overcome in the interests of the whole. In this way, “learning by doing” in the day-to-day work of team leaders and those responsible for results is modeled and understood in the workshops and seminars.
Bernhard Heusler: “Leadership is not about being the best. Leadership is about making everyone better.”
Since 2003, Bernhard Heusler has increasingly devoted himself to FC Basel 1893. Initially brought in as a legal advisor to the Board of Directors, he was elected Vice President of the football club in 2006 and took over responsibility for operations as Delegate of the Board of Directors in 2009. Under his operational leadership, FC Basel 1893 won the Swiss championship eight times in a row, reached the ½ and ¼ finals of the UEFA Europa League and qualified for the UEFA Champions League six times.
After studying law at the Universities of Basel and Davis (California) and completing a doctorate in constitutional law, Bernhard Heusler practiced as a business lawyer specializing in M&A and IT law, first in New York (1995) and then in Basel at Wenger Plattner. From August 2014 to fall 2017, he was counsel at the Basel office of the law firm Walder Wyss AG.
In the course of assuming operational management responsibility, Bernhard Heusler became majority shareholder of FC Basel Holding AG. In 2012, Bernhard Heusler was elected Chairman of FC Basel 1893 (club) and FC Basel 1893 AG (public limited company). Under his leadership, FC Basel increased its turnover from around EUR 40 million (2009) to EUR 100-130 million (2015/2016). In summer 2017, Bernhard Heusler – and with him the entire management team – stepped down and transferred the shares in FC Basel Holding AG to a new owner. Bernhard Heusler became the second honorary president in the club’s history to date.
Bernhard Heusler: A team wins. Always.
In recognition of his activities and achievements with FC Basel 1893, Bernhard Heusler has received the following awards:
- Basel Star (2013), awarded by the “Sternen Komitee” for outstanding services to the city of Basel,
- “Award for outstanding Leadership and Teamwork” (2016), presented by the ‘World Forum for Ethics in Sport and Business’ at the 2nd World Summit on Ethics and Leadership in Sports in recognition of the values-based leadership and teamwork at FC Basel 1893;
- “Ehrenspalebärglemer” (2016), awarded by the ‘Sperberkollegium’ for outstanding services to the city of Basel (since 1976);
- Honorary President of FC Basel 1893 (2017);
- Honorary member of the Swiss Football League (2017)
Bernhard Heusler is President of the “Foundation for Sick Children in Basel”. He is a regular speaker on the subject of corporate and team leadership at business events, management seminars and academic courses. He is married and has two children.
