When Gian Gilli takes to the streets somewhere in Engadin, he is recognized and greeted. Hardly any other Engadin is as widely accepted as the sports manager, project promoter and coach. Successes and failures shaped his life. The corona crisis makes him thoughtful and optimistic at the same time.
Gian Gilli likes people, you can feel that immediately when you meet him. He doesn't avoid encounters with unknown people. He is there for everyone, finds a few suitable sentences for everyone. He can do it just as well with ordinary people as with top managers or politicians. People trust him because he doesn't pretend to be. Gian Gilli is simply himself.
When the corona crisis broke out, he was CEO organizing the 2020 World Ice Hockey Championships in Zurich and Lausanne. 320,000 tickets had already been sold for the games in May, when the cancellation became inevitable in March. “That was a low blow for my team. But we also had to put things into perspective: The pandemic is affecting everyone and it was about saving lives.” It is typical that Gilli talks about his team first. As CEO, he only sees himself as a “prime inter pares.” He knows that the team can only be as strong as its weakest member.
“That is structured savagery.”
Gilli has seemingly endless energy: “Sports projects are full of emotions. Externally, these are events for athletes and fans. Internally, however, it is about team spirit, the many helpers and cooperation. This is how this passion is created, which unleashes enormous powers in everyone.” At the core of each of his organizations, he employs a small group of specialists, whom he gives a great deal of responsibility and trust. “I set the structure and they are responsible for their areas of expertise. That is structured savagery!”
Anyone who puts their skin and hair into their work needs a good balance. “Movement helps,” says Gilli. “And the family.” In his sparse free time, you can meet him on racing bikes, golf courses, cross-country skiing trails, ski slopes or at high altitude tours. “I need nature, preferably in the Engadin.”
Engadin is his place of strength, he says. Here are his favorite places, his roots, his family. “Like nature, it is a source of strength. My wife Christine has had an enormous share of all my experiences, the positive and the negative. She always supported me, always listened to me. She always stood and is behind me.”
The cancellation of the World Ice Hockey Championships was not Gian Gilli's first loss. His curriculum vitae juxtaposes successes and failures. “It's not just the beautiful moments that move you forward. Crises shape you much more and take you much further.” Dealing openly with ups and downs is probably one of the reasons why Gilli remains true to himself and his cause even when there is a risk of defeat.
“I'm also thankful for the difficult moments.”
In 2013, he led a committee that wanted to bring the 2022 Winter Olympics to Grisons. Many people would have bent the concept in such a way that it would have the highest possible political opportunities and would only reveal the details when the vote was over. But Gilli took full risks, relied on a sustainable concept and full transparency about the costs. He then lost the vote razor-thin. The defeat had no effect on his reputation in the region. No one had ever doubted his honesty.
Yet he had to bite hard about this voting result, he says looking back. “But I also need the difficult moments that challenge me. They force me to reorient myself. I'm also grateful for these difficult moments.” Gian Gilli's reputation as a promoter of talent precedes Gian Gilli. When he tackles a project, employees usually queue up. These include long-time colleagues, but also always new people. Gilli demands a lot from them, supports them when they need help and often gives them the stage when there is success to celebrate.
“Sometimes you have to overwhelm yourself.”
In 2003, for example, he turned the World Ski Championships in St. Moritz into the Voluntaris World Championships, of Volunteers. The team spirit from back then is still considered exemplary today. The World Cup was his journeyman's piece as manager of major events, but it was also a risk for him: “I overwhelmed myself immensely with this task,” he says about it today. “But sometimes you have to overwhelm yourself and take risks.”
The 2003 World Ski Championships were a huge success and the World Championships for Gian Gilli. He then became head of competitive sports at Swiss-Ski, organized the 2009 World Ice Hockey Championships in Switzerland and led the Swiss Olympic teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014 as head of delegation. In addition to organizational skill and assertiveness, Gilli was also repeatedly challenged as a person.
It was August 1, 2012 at the Olympic Games in London: On National Day, the Swiss delegation would have been able to win an entire set of medals. But things turned out differently: Superstar Fabian Cancellara crashed in the road race and injured himself, fencer Max Heinzer was eliminated in the second round and in canoe slalom Mike Kurt broke a paddle and saw his justified medal dreams go down the drain.
“Losing sight of humility too much.”
In the evening, there was a speech before the Swiss Foreign Minister and invited guests. But Gilli moved them, went to the Olympic Village and stood by the athletes in the moments of their biggest defeats. “Competitive athletes are used to dealing with resistance, picking themselves up after setbacks and moving on. They live in a disciplined and self-determined manner. That is why sport is also an excellent school for life.”
Resilience, i.e. the resilience to deal with difficult situations, is a quality that makes athletes strong in crisis situations. Like during the corona crisis, for example. “Sometimes you have to spell back and recognize that trees don't grow in the sky,” says Gian Gilli. It also gains positive results from the current situation. “New processes and a new way of thinking have started. Perhaps the future will be a bit easier and more resource-efficient,” he hopes. “In recent decades, we've lost sight of humility too much.”
This text by Christian Gartmann was published in Skiservice Corvatsch's “Active Alpine Lifestyle” magazine.
It is available free of charge in all ski service branches and more than two dozen partner companies and hotels.