What makes a great manager? What are the components that go to make a great leader? Academics at business schools around the globe have expended great effort in trying to answer these questions. A recent case study undertaken at Harvard Business School looks at the most successful football manager in history - Sir Alex Ferguson. Much as it pains me to admit this, but Ferguson is a great manager. You can read what the HBS case study found here. Ferguson also gave a class at HBS, which was apparently very compelling (click here). Thankfully none of the MBA students received the infamous 'hairdryer' treatment from Fergie! My hope is that there will be a similar HBS case study on Brendan Rogers in 2038. I can but dream!
Michael Aldous and I had our book The CEO: The Rise and Fall of Britain's Captains of Industry published a few weeks ago. You can find out more about it and buy it at Cambridge University Press's website . It is also available at Amazon , Waterstones , and Barnes & Noble . The CEO has already been reviewed in The Sunday Times , The Observer and Financial Times .