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Last but not least: KIC Lecture Hans Nijland
On 27 May, the last KIC lecture of this school year took place. Last but not least in this case, because our last guest was Hans Nijland! This time, 30 people were allowed to physically attend, which was of course very nice after all those online lectures. However, there was also the option to follow along via the KIC Youtube channel in case you could not be there physically.
But who exactly is Hans Nijland?
Hans Nijland is the former general manager of FC Groningen. He helped Groningen up the ladder in the years 1997 to 2019. He is an extrovert man with a good sense of humour, which also came out clearly during the lecture. He describes himself as a true entrepreneur and tries to see all threats as an opportunity. Before becoming a director at FC Groningen, he was a trumpet player in the service of the government. After that, he started his own company, a publishing company for sports magazines and programme guides. They also sold spots for advertising boards in stadiums to companies. Together with his business partner, Hans grew into the market leader in the Netherlands. Eventually, they spread their field of activity abroad, so that the company had no fewer than three hundred employees. This turned out to be only the beginning as an entrepreneur. At the age of 35, he then had the opportunity to sell his company, which he decided to do together with his business partner.
And then suddenly he was working at FC Groningen
In the 1990s, Hans actually bluffed his way into his position at FC Groningen. He had a conversation with the then chairman of FC Groningen and said 'FC Groningen is at the bottom of the league and financially it's a mess'. Then the then chairman said 'Well we are looking for a commercial man, from Monday you can start'. He arrived on Monday and his colleagues didn't even know he was coming. In short, a stroke of luck with a bold statement.
The many adventures
Hans travelled the world to make deals, but told us that secretly he hates flying. Still, he was able to make some great deals. He also told us that there are big differences between, for example, a Uruguayan and a Japanese footballer and the communication with these different delegations. The Uruguayan delegation is almost a bit anti-social in contrast to the extreme cleanliness of the Japanese delegation.
Hans also told a funny story about Sergio Padt. One evening he had misbehaved on the train and ended up in jail. Hans told that Sergio was allowed to make two calls and that he then also called Hans. Hans tells that Sergio had to take the blame, but did protect him in the media. He told Sergio that he knew what he had done was not right and that he had to tell the honest story to the press that day. Of course it had big consequences, but the way Hans handled it says something about his way of communicating.
After he had told a lot of things, there was a chance to ask Hans questions. There were a lot of football questions, because the football fans could not miss this lecture. Miguel ran around the room with the microphone so that the people who were watching online could also understand the questions.
In short, the last lecture was a party in many ways. On to many more great KIC lectures in the coming school year!
Marjolein Roerig - Editorial Board Study Association KIC
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