Leaders change things

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

Leaders are rarely recruited to maintain the status quo. When they are it is often a recipe for disaster. Probably the best example of this is the recruitment of David Moyes to follow the hugely successful tenure of Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of the football club Manchester United.

Moyes was the continuity candidate, someone in the same image as Ferguson – dour, Scottish, fiercely committed and intense. From the moment he took the job, Moyes was caught in a no-man’s land of trying to put his own stamp on the club while maintaining things as they had been. The past won.

Stuart Crainer is editor of the award-winning magazine Business Strategy Review and co-founder of the Thinkers50. According to Personnel Today he is one of the most influential people in British people management. His book credits include The Management Century and a biography of the management guru Tom Peters. His work with Des Dearlove in business thought leadership led Management Today to describe them as “market makers par excellence.” Stuart is an adjunct professor at IE Business School.