Three months after his release from FC Bayern, there is something to be heard from Oliver Kahn again. The 54-year-old talks about the time with the record champions – he also talks about what he learned the most during that time.
It was probably one of the most bitter days in Oliver Kahn’s life. On May 27, 2023, the CEO of FC Bayern was fired and was no longer allowed to celebrate the championship with the team – mutual accusations followed, an unworthy and shameful scenario.
Now the boat has spoken for the first time. In a video for his new Learning as a Leader course, which he co-produced with start-up Masterplan, Kahn talks about his time at Bayern. The recordings are from June 1st – just three days after his release.
Oliver Kahn speaks up after Bayern-Aus
The 54-year-old explains how he’s doing after the turbulent phase: “Of course you have to shake yourself a bit, also in between. But I’m just shaped like that, also shaped by sport.”
He has experienced many setbacks and defeats in his career. However, experience has taught him that “after a certain period of reflection and dealing with the topic, there are also great opportunities.”
“I’m not the kind of person who thinks they have a mindset now that is immutable. But someone who believes that you can always learn from new situations and develop further,” explains the ex-Bayern boss.
Kahn on what is probably his greatest lesson: dealing more with people
After his time at Bayern, some have criticized his leadership qualities. Kahn sees it as follows: “A very, very important point is not to deal so much with the technical issues, but rather with the people I deal with, with the people I work for bear responsibility.”
He also allowed himself to stay away from the office in order to be able to separate work from private matters. Kahn was in places “where I feel comfortable. Whether it’s playing golf or wherever, where everyone feels comfortable, just to get a little distance again”.
Kahn: 24 hours in the office? “This is outdated”
According to Kahn, the fact that a person in his position has to be in the office 24 hours a day is “totally outdated these days”. Now the 54-year-old wants to review the time to process what he has experienced.
“If I now look back on the last few years, I think I’ve never learned so much in my entire life. That’s why I don’t want to learn anything at first, but let everything settle first, because I think a lot will have happened in me after that,” he explains.
