„I connect two worlds!"

Perspectives from Sabine Hönigsberger

Sabine Hönigsberger is the Head of Corporate Business Austria. The law and business administration graduate moved to Erste Group Bank AG in 2011 after working at Creditanstalt AG, Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG, and UniCredit Bank Austria AG. Until 2021, she led the Industry Team Materials (wood, paper, packaging, construction, building materials, and chemicals) in Group Large Corporates.

Since January 2022, Sabine has been leading the Corporate Business Austria division, which serves corporate clients with a turnover of EUR 5 to 50 million in eastern Austria. 

Her motto: Let’s cross the bridge when we come to it!
 

Dear Sabine, where are you from?

I grew up in Villach and come from a small business family. My parents had a refrigeration technology company. My grandmother had a country inn. I have always been confronted with the topic of entrepreneurship.

When I was 16, I went to the USA for a year and lived with a host family. Today, this is almost normal, but it was very unusual back in 1987. I was in Washington State at the time and through my host family and the culture, I got to know completely new realities of life. For me, the time was super exciting and had a big impact on me.

I studied business administration and law. I never wanted to work in a bank, but as life goes, maybe that's exactly why I ended up in a bank, and now I'm very happy. :-)
 

© Sabine Hönigsberger

What is important to you?

I support entrepreneurs, the classic middle class, the backbone of society. That is important to me. I connect both worlds: I work in a bank, but I have known entrepreneurship from my family since childhood.

I simply love family stories. I love people's stories. I like it when someone tells me they started selling eggs with a small cart and now have an egg factory in Burgenland. Or they baked their first roll somewhere and now make 500,000 rolls a day.

I love these stories. They tell about life! Not all are successful, but I love family businesses and see it as our task to support family businesses in what they do. What I also see is how much hard work is involved, that people work 60 hours a week, taking their own risks. I learned all this early on, and what I do connects me with my family.

Hats off to all that our entrepreneurs achieve!
 

What does perfectionism mean to you?

I've learned a lot from startups, especially the "I'll-just-try-it-now"-mentality. I think it's great! You simply can't do everything perfectly, and you can't overanalyze and overthink everything. Mistakes happen. No one will tear your head off for it. To move things forward, you can't work with perfectionism.

I am not a perfect person, and that's not something I strive for. I have a 17-year-old son and worked part-time for a long time. During that time, I learned a lot, especially to let go of perfectionism. This also includes being able to delegate tasks and trust others. That is very important to me and has a lot to do with good communication.

What is good communication in everyday business life?

I have become very clear in my language. I don't like flowery speech; I prefer plain speaking. It's important to me that things are stated clearly. I am convinced that open, transparent communication moves us forward.

Openness is very important to me. And positive energy. It's important to me to ask: How do we get it done? I believe that is a success factor.
 

What does performance mean to you?

I grew up with the belief that "if you perform a lot, success will follow." I still believe in that.

However, I notice that the younger generation thinks differently, and I need and want to learn from that. I believe that new work opportunities are opening up for young people that can also lead to success. I think this is changing right now, and we are in a major societal transformation process.
 

What is your connection to the Erste Women's Hub?

Since I took on my position as department head, I feel even more that I can make a difference. That's what I want – I also want to use the collaboration with the Erste Women's Hub to make positive changes.

It is important to me to directly promote women in my field. I introduce women to the board members and help them get into leadership positions.

At the same time, I initiated an event called "Shaping the Future - Female Edition". There, we try to coach our female clients and lead them to greater financial literacy. This is a very necessary area. We work externally, while the Erste Women's Hub leads internally.
 

What do you regret?

I should have taken on a leadership position earlier. I realize how much energy it gives me and how much I enjoy it. I wish I had dared to tackle it sooner.
 

Where are you headed?

I want to become even more positive and achieve more professionally. I don't know exactly what that is yet. I just want to make more of an impact because I know I can and have a positive influence.

I would like to further develop my department. My goal is for my employees to come to the office in the morning and say, "Hey, this is cool, I like working here!"

Than you for the interview, dear Sabine!

What do you regret?

I should have taken on a leadership position earlier. I realize how much energy it gives me and how much I enjoy it. I wish I had dared to tackle it sooner.

Where are you headed?

I want to become even more positive and achieve more professionally. I don't know exactly what that is yet. I just want to make more of an impact because I know I can and have a positive influence.

I would like to further develop my department. My goal is for my employees to come to the office in the morning and say, "Hey, this is cool, I like working here!"

Thank you for the interview, dear Sabine!