Which football club is your favourite? Anyone who loves football would either love or hate Manchester United. For me, the choice has always been clear.
When I was in primary school in the late-70s, my brother and I would save 20 cents each weekly to buy Majalah Sukan, a sports magazine. Football was our passion, and we closely followed Malaysia national team and the English Premier League (EPL). Among the EPL clubs, Manchester United (MU) stood out as my favourite – a loyalty that endures to this day, despite the club’s struggles in recent decades.
MU’s decline since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 provides more than a cautionary tale for football fans; it offers valuable leadership lessons for organisations across industries. Once the epitome of excellence, the club’s struggles highlight the importance of vision, culture, and accountability in leadership.
These lessons resonate far beyond football, shedding light on the challenges faced by institutions like universities, including my own, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK).
The Importance of Visionary Leadership
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, MU thrived with a clear and compelling vision: to inspire, dominate, and win. Ferguson’s ability to articulate this vision and ensure alignment across the club – from players and staff to executives – was the cornerstone of MU’s success.
However, after his retirement, the club struggled to find a visionary leader to sustain this legacy. A leadership vacuum at the executive level led to disjointed decision-making, with no clear identity or long-term strategy.
Leadership Lesson: A leader must provide a compelling vision that inspires and aligns the organisation. Leaders need to think long-term, ensuring their vision transcends individual tenures and is embedded into the organisation’s DNA.
Stability vs. Short-Term Thinking
Change is unavoidable. It is an inherent part of institutional growth. A critical aspect of leadership is providing stability, especially during transitions. This stability ensures that an organisation remains grounded while adapting to new circumstances, fostering resilience and continuity.
After Ferguson’s departure in 2013, MU cycled through six managers, each with their unique philosophy and approach. This rapid turnover disrupted continuity, leading to fragmented squads and a loss of identity. Each managerial change represented a shift in priorities, resulting in short-term fixes rather than sustainable growth.
Leadership Lesson: Frequent leadership changes can destabilise an organisation, hindering its ability to build momentum. Leaders must invest in stability by fostering a culture that supports long-term planning, even during turbulent periods. Continuity creates a foundation for consistent performance and growth.
Recruitment and Talent Management
Leadership isn’t just about setting a vision; it’s also about assembling the right team to execute it. Over the past decade, MU’s recruitment strategy has been inconsistent and reactive. Big-money signings like Ángel Di María, Alexis Sánchez, and Paul Pogba failed to deliver, not necessarily due to a lack of talent but because they didn’t fit the team’s broader needs. This mirrors a common leadership challenge: hiring based on prestige rather than alignment with long-term goals and values.
Leadership Lesson: Leaders must focus on building teams with complementary skills, aligned with the organisation’s mission. Recruitment should be strategic, ensuring every individual contributes to the collective success. Moreover, leaders must nurture and develop talent, creating an environment where potential is maximised.
Preserving Culture and Values
MU was once synonymous with a winning mentality, resilience, and discipline. Under Ferguson, the club cultivated a culture of excellence that extended beyond the pitch. However, over the past decade, reports of player power, inconsistent work ethics, and a lack of accountability have revealed an erosion of this culture.
Leadership Lesson: Culture is the backbone of any successful organisation. Leaders must actively preserve and adapt their organisation’s values, ensuring they remain relevant in changing environments. A strong culture fosters unity, accountability, and a shared sense of purpose, enabling teams to overcome challenges.
Accountability and Ownership
In leadership, accountability starts at the top. One major criticism of MU’s ownership, the Glazer family, is their detachment from the club’s footballing operations. While effective in managing the financial side of the business, they failed to take responsibility for the club’s declining on-field performance. This lack of accountability trickled down, creating an environment where failures were tolerated.
Leadership Lesson: Effective leaders lead by example, taking responsibility for their decisions and creating a culture of accountability at all levels. Leaders who own their mistakes inspire trust and set a standard for their teams to follow.
Adapting to Competition and Change
The footballing landscape has evolved significantly over the past decade. Rivals like Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea embraced modern tactics, data analytics, and innovative approaches to stay ahead. MU, on the other hand, was slow to adapt, relying on its historical prestige rather than evolving with the times. This resistance to change is a classic leadership pitfall.
Leadership Lesson: Leaders must anticipate and adapt to external changes. Innovation is crucial for staying competitive, and complacency is the enemy of success. Embracing new technologies, strategies, and ideas allows organisations to remain relevant in an ever-changing landscape.
Communication and Unity
One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest strengths was his ability to communicate effectively with players, staff, and the board. He fostered unity across all levels of the club. In contrast, the post-Ferguson era has been marked by a disconnect between ownership, management, and the team. This lack of cohesion contributed to mistrust and inconsistent performances.
Leadership Lesson: Open and effective communication is vital for building trust and ensuring alignment across an organisation. Leaders must listen to their teams, convey expectations clearly, and foster an environment where collaboration thrives.
Resilience During Transitions
Every organisation faces periods of transition, whether due to leadership changes, market shifts, or internal restructuring. MU’s decline highlights the dangers of poor transition management. The club failed to adequately prepare for Ferguson’s departure, resulting in a decade of instability.
Leadership Lesson: Resilience during transitions is critical. Leaders must plan for succession, ensuring the organisation remains stable and focused during times of change. This involves identifying and grooming future leaders while maintaining a clear direction.
Leadership Beyond Football
MU’s struggles over the past decade are not just a football story; they are a cautionary tale for leaders in any field. The club’s decline underscores the importance of visionary leadership, stability, talent management, culture preservation, and adaptability.
The lessons from MU resonate strongly with my experience at UMK. Over the past ten years, UMK has experienced frequent leadership changes and is now awaiting its seventh Vice-Chancellor in a span of 20 years. This mirrors the challenges at MU, where frequent changes bring uncertainty and disrupt continuity. The selection process for leaders in public universities needs to be more rigorous to ensure the right candidates are chosen, as this is critical for the sustainability and long-term success of these institutions. The Ministry of Higher Education must address these issues to foster stability and growth in higher education.
Leadership is not about maintaining the status quo – it’s about driving progress while staying true to an organisation’s core values. Whether managing a football club, a university, or a corporation, the principles remain the same. Strong leadership can turn setbacks into opportunities, while weak leadership can squander even the most abundant resources.
For MU, the path to redemption lies not just in better players or managers but in rebuilding its leadership framework. For leaders everywhere, the club’s journey serves as a powerful reminder: success is built on a foundation of vision, culture, and accountability. Without these, even the mightiest institutions can falter.
Note: Dr Azizi is a professor at the Malaysian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Business (MGSEB), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. He can be contacted at [email protected]
