Hansruedi Hasler: Why a technical director must act as “architect” for football in their country

“As a technical director your role is one of an architect. You have to build football in your country,” says Hasler, who also worked as a FIFA technical leadership expert during a long and successful career as a technical leader. “As an architect, you are thinking about what should be the foundation for your house. Because a good house does not put the roof on first. First you need to build the foundation and in football that is grassroots and children’s football from age seven up to 12.”

To devise a plan from grassroots through to elite level, technical leaders must have passion and energy for each level of the game and be willing to put the time and effort to be visible at all forms of the game and coach education.

 “As a technical leader you have to love football. You have to love football in all its elements, from grassroots up to elite, from women's to men's. You have to love football because it gives you the motivation and energy to do this work,” says Hasler. “Be present, go out and see the game, don’t always be in your office,” he adds. “But also go out and see grassroots football, children’s football and coach education – be present.”

Alongside energy, passion and a love of the game Hasler cites the importance of strong internal relationships and the ability to convince key stakeholders through concise and persuasive communication. 

“It is easy to have a plan, but you have to find the resources to build it,” explains Hasler. “I had a wonderful collaboration with my general secretary and we worked together for 15 years on the technical project. He helped me when we were discussing budget and how to find the money for this new project.”

To do so, technical directors must know how to communicate to key decision-makers at board level and develop purposeful and powerful communication skills. “You have to convince people,” adds Hasler. “That means you have to present your project as simply and clearly as possible, with good presentations for the board or executive committee.  At this level, you may not get 20 minutes to speak, instead you may only get two minutes. So, your presentation must be clear: What do you want to do? What will it bring? What does it cost? To discuss your proposal, the board must be clear on your project and understand how you want to go forward.”