Babak Rafati was a banker in a leading position and for many years a FIFA-/Bundesliga referee in professional soccer until he wanted to commit suicide in a hotel room in 2011, just before a Bundesliga game in Cologne.
Today Babak Rafati is a business speaker in the free economy, at management congresses and major events. His clients include DAX-listed companies and global players worldwide, so his expertise is increasingly in demand abroad.
He is also a mental/motivational coach for professional footballers, managers and public figures. Together with his wife, who also helps relatives from her own experience, he is in the process of establishing an academy for professional footballers and executives in Dubai in 2021.
Babak Rafati: Stress Management – I don’t care about death.
As a referee, Rafati was predestined for mistakes, stress and pressure. In the first part of his lecture, he uses his own history to show the amazing parallels between top-class sport and everyday work and business on the topics of stress and pressure to perform. As a listener, you feel immediately picked up. It works like a mirror.
Afterwards, he uses infotainment to convey practice-relevant strategies for stress management, how to master your daily business without stress and at the same time motivated. Very exciting, effective and entertaining, so that one wants to start right away. Work-Life-Balance from the practice for the practice.
Mental Health – getting to the top only with fresh mind.
In the last part, impressively highlights the causes of stress and performance pressure at the workplace. It becomes crystal clear that stress is primarily to be found within ourselves. Thus, not others are guilty, as we always believe, but we ourselves are responsible for it. The stress between managers and employees or even in relationships is then a thing of the past because we understand the connections and motives and thus “look at the old with new eyes”.
This is a plea for achieving strong self-management through change management and finally achieving sustainable personal development. The Handelsblatt has appointed Rafati as Corporate Health Award Ambassador, so that he can representatively give companies a face to the topics of leadership, health and team building with his expertise.
“Respect! A lecture that can change a life! – Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation
Babak Rafati is the first “prominent top athlete” & “TOP practice expert” to come out in public and provide valuable recommendations on the topics of prevention strategies burnout, pressure to perform and stress/conflict management. As a result, he is in great demand in the professional world and has a unique selling point. The response of the audience at the stress seminars is overwhelming. Among numerous top speakers from Europe, he is awarded the rating “Sensational” & “Excellent”.
Renowned medical doctors and Bundesliga managers praise his mission and media-effective attitude in society: “It is immensely important and commendable that Babak Rafati, with his high profile, makes the topic of burnout in our society public and thus enlightens all people in top-class sports and in professional life with his experiences and at the same time provides strategies”. A phenomenon of his lectures: The success rate after the lecture is impressive for the participants.
The fact that Rafati speaks openly and with a strong opinion about taboo topics in society makes him a highly sought-after and sought-after permanent guest at numerous TV appearances in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This is not only about problems in top-class sports, but rather about a social phenomenon in our everyday professional life.
Babak Rafati makes one thing clear: “It’s not the boss, the colleagues, the job or the pressure to perform that cause our stress. Self-determination and personal responsibility are the key to success”.
He knows what he is talking about.
Conclusion:
- Burning, instead of burning out
- Answers and strategies for all “affected people” who suffer from extreme pressure to perform, stress and exhaustion
- Who is the cause of our stress? Boss, job, colleagues or the pressure to perform? It is always our own script and not the others!
- Healthy companies need healthy employees, otherwise health insurance companies and employers will record an explosion of costs!
- Self-determination and personal responsibility
- Motivation in the workplace and a good work-life balance
- Strong competence through first-class references
- For all professional groups as well as entrepreneurs, managers and executives
- Duration: By arrangement 30 – 90 min. – day seminar also possible
Mental coach
Babak Rafati passes on his expertise as a mental coach and teaches practical strategies. He helps personalities and VIPs in public life, such as professional footballers and managers, who suffer from stress, pressure to perform and exhaustion to regain their balance and performance strength. He and his wife, who also helps relatives from their own experience, are in the process of establishing an academy in Dubai for professional footballers and managers in 2021.
Referee
Babak Rafati was a banker in a leading position and at the same time worked as an arbitrator for 25 years. Thereof 15 years in professional soccer in the highest divisions of the German Football Association with more than 200 games in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga and in the DFB-Cup as well as from 2008-2011 as FIFA-referee on international level. He has played for teams from over 50 countries in referee jerseys. This corresponds to more than a quarter of all countries in the world. He has accompanied superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Lukas Podolski, David Beckham, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Neymar, Manuel Neuer and many other world stars during his long professional career.
Suicide attempt
Following the tragic suicide of national goalkeeper Robert Enke in 2009, Babak Rafati’s attempted suicide in professional soccer immediately before a 1st Bundesliga match on November 19, 2011 also shook the entire public worldwide and put the entire Bundesliga in a state of shock. It was the first time in the history of the Bundesliga that a match was cancelled because no referee appeared. This act of desperation was the result of the illness depression, triggered by stress, pressure to perform and bullying. In 2012 he consequently ended his career. After his recovery, his bestselling book “I don’t care about death”, which caused a lot of public attention, was published on the market.
Documentary film 2015
The documentary film about Babak Rafati is a great help and a milestone in the removal of taboos about burnout at work. He is ready for new challenges and takes his role of social responsibility very seriously. Film producers from numerous television stations in Germany and abroad have taken up the revelations of the former FIFA/ Bundesliga referee. With his popularity as an ambassador he could be won over to revolutionize the everyday topics of stress and pressure to perform at work. It is a matter of life and death! An encourager!