There’s nothing like the first home match of the season. The Weserstadion alive with chants, scarves in the air, and 42,000 fans dressed in green and white, ready to be the 12th player.
The season hadn’t been easy: a new coach, a young team, injuries. Within minutes, Leverkusen scored. Then another. Soon it was 3:1 down. The setback could have silenced the crowd, but not in the Weserstadion.
Then our captain saw red. For the last half hour, 10 men carried the work of 11. That’s the weight of a red card: one person’s mistake becomes everyone’s burden.
The stadium’s energy drove every move. In the final minutes, 18-year-old Karim Coulibaly answered that call. The Weserstadion erupted. 3:3. On paper, just a draw. In the stadium, it felt like victory.
Beyond the tactics and rules, I always leave football with something else: inspiration. The way people respond to setbacks and pressure translates so clearly into lessons for life and leadership.
In management, mistakes may be handled quietly, behind closed doors, but the impact is still shared. The rest of the team feels the strain, even if they don’t know the reason.
As leaders, we have to find the balance: hold people accountable without breaking their spirit, protect the team while guiding the individual, and keep belief alive even when mistakes are made.
In football, the fans are the 12th player. In business, culture plays this role. A strong culture carries us when resources are stretched, mistakes are made, or wins are few.
Sometimes leadership is like that 3:3… resilience is the real victory.
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