I've really had a terrible soccer season, watching Manchester United plummet from its perennial Champions berth, to the ice-cold, murky depths of 7th place in the English Premier League. Therefore, today's announcement of the firing of its head coach , David Moyes, a man who prior to joining the Champions at the start of the season had specialized in 7th place finishes, comes as a great relief.
Having suffered, its some consolation to know that my pain was not in vain, as already the business press are chronicling the disaster, and memorializing it in Case Study format. Here's one I just ran across in Forbes magazine written by Andy Cave. Maybe Sir Alex Ferguson will be teaching it when he assumes his new position at Harvard.
10 Leadership Lessons From Manchester United's Hiring And
Firing Of David Moyes
1) Don’t change the two most important people in the organisation at the same time
Sir Alex Ferguson had been manager of Manchester United for
27 years and David Gill had racked up a decade as chief executive when the duo
stepped down last summer. For manager and chief executive at a football club,
read chief executive and chairman at a publicly listed company. Allowing both
to leave at the same time is dangerous, particularly when their combined
leadership has been so successful. Where was the succession planning that
didn’t let that happen? And what happened to the board’s oversight of the
career decisions of its two most important executives? How many companies have
lost their chairman and chief executive at exactly the same time and replaced
both with great success?
2) Don’t let the last business leader choose the next one?
Sir Alex Ferguson imposed what some observers have described
as a “Stalin-like grip” on Manchester United during his 27 years in charge.
Very little, it is said, happened without either his direct say-so or tacit
approval. But allowing the man who has had a stand named after him and a statue
erected at the club’s Old Trafford stadium to effectively nominate his
replacement as manager brought personal emotion, ego and self-interest into the
succession, when it should have been a rational, well thought-out collective
board decision. Who on the board would have dared to shoot down the suggestion
of the club’s most successful manager ever? Ferguson was allowed to become much
too important during his reign at the top. How many departing chief executives
are allowed to select their successors?
3) Groom successors from within when you have a winning team
Ferguson’s biggest failing perhaps was not grooming a
potential successor. Maybe that’s a pitfall of having a domineering,
win-at-all-costs personality. But some of the most successful leadership at
winning companies has taken more of a team-based approach, generating a cadre
of capable lieutenants who have gone on to follow them as well as taking the
helm at other companies. Groups including Procter & Gamble PG -0.37%,
Dixons, Asda and the former menswear chain Burtons have served as prodigious
academies of management talent. And in British football three of the 19 other
managers in the Premier League served as players and/or backroom staff under
Ferguson, demonstrating that the talent to groom at hand was indeed available.
4) Keep the most important support staff intact when the top
jobs change
David Moyes entered the lions’ den when he took the
manager’s job at Manchester United. The previous manager had won everything
there was to win in a glittering career; the top players’ medal cabinets were
stuffed full too. Having never won a major trophy himself as a manager, he had
an instant credibility gap and needed wise heads around him who had the benefit
of having been around in the glory years. Instead, he replaced the entire top
coaching staff, bringing in the team that had served him at Everton. While this
might have been seen as asserting his authority at the time, it left Moyes
unsupported within the club and deprived the club of vital experience, know-how
and continuity.
5) Appoint someone big enough for the job
Moyes has never won a major trophy as a football manager and
yet he was expected to deliver more or less instantly at a club whose previous
manager had won 13 Premier League titles and two European Champions Leagues. As
if this was not mission impossible, his body language, demeanour and
communications with the media suggested almost from the outset that he did not
feel that he was up to the task.
6) Get the cultural fit right
The history of an organisation is an irrevocable part of
what it is. It is almost impossible to imagine Apple AAPL -0.17% as a company
full of conformists or General Electric GE +0.34% as recklessly-managed.
Similarly in football, Manchester United’s history and reputation is as a
dynamic and romantic team full of derring-do, adventure and attacking style.
From the youthful exuberance of the “Busby Babes” in the 1950s to the swagger
and pomp of Best, Charlton and Law in their prime, the club has developed a
“United way”. Ferguson, a self-confessed sporting gambler, stuck to those principles.
However, while Moyes spoke about a strong youth policy and the club’s fine
reputation for attacking football, his actions and strategies did not match his
words.
7) Manage the management’s communication
Moyes had no choice but to take the microphone after every
defeat – the broadcasting contracts governing British Premier League football
stipulate that the team managers are interviewed after every game. Moyes,
following a master media manipulator in Ferguson, could not be expected to have
his predecessor’s touch in this department. Honest and decent in his public
utterances, he nonetheless needed support from his backroom staff and senior
players and directors. The club’s media team could have taken a much more
active role in protecting Moyes, presenting a collective front and showing
support to a manager who was always going to have a tricky first year in
following a legend.
8) Be decisive. Know when it’s the right time to stop the
rot.
Prior to Moyes’s departure, United had a reputation for giving
managers time to build teams, in contrast to some of the rapid firings seen at
other top teams in the UK and Europe. Yet, it was clear that Moyes had lost the
dressing room, while his comments after the team’s final performance under his
management demonstrated that he didn’t have the long-term vision required.
9) Don’t let the news leak
Once the decision is made, make the announcement. Some of
the momentum gained from the decisiveness United’s owners showed with their
judgment that enough was enough was lost by widespread reports the day before
that made Moyes’ sacking the worst-kept secret in British football. Nearly all
Britain’s national newspapers led their sports pages with the news that Moyes
was to be sacked, before it had been announced. While United’s listing on the
New York Stock Exchange governs the timing of price-sensitive news, the leaking
of the dismissal led to speculation about compensation, replacements and club
strategy, when the focus could have been on a new beginning.
10) Have a credible new plan.
When an instant fix is neither credible nor desirable, at
least have a plan, a process and steady temporary leadership. Appointing Ryan
Giggs, United’s most decorated player in the club’s history, to take charge on
a temporary basis, restores some respect to the fallen champions. Giggs is
adored by fans, respected by the players and hugely liked by the sports media.
With so much of the past leadership having departed, his is an obvious
temporary appointment to try to arrest the team’s slide and provide some
stability. Few companies, however, are likely to have somebody with his
attributes waiting ready in the wings.
David Moyes is clearly an early candidate for Most De-Energizing leader of 2014.
David Moyes is clearly an early candidate for Most De-Energizing leader of 2014.
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