What can we learn from a manager who won 38 trophies in 26 years? Sir Alex Ferguson talks, in his book, Leading, about the qualities all performers have in common and gives some powerful examples. Each organization or person have much to learn from its book.

1. 3 8 T R O P H I E S I N 2 6 Y E A R S
W H A T C A N W E L E A R N F R O M A M A N A G E R W H O W O N

2. S I R A L E X F E R G U S O N
T H E B E S T Q U O T E S A B O U T P E R F O R M I N G F R O M
B A S E D O N H I S L A T E S T B O O K - L E A D I N G

3. E V E R Y T H I N G
S T A R T S W I T H
T H E R I G H T
P E O P L E
• A big part of running of
successful organization is
being able to convince
people to join you, even it
they can earn more money
elsewhere.

4. A L L
P E R F O R M E R S
H A V E I N
C O M M O N
• Drive
• Discipline
• Preparation (Education)
• Team Work
• Hunger (Ambition)
• Work Rate

5. D R I V E
• For me, drive means a
combination of a willingness
to work hard, emotional
fortitude, enormous powers
of concentration and a
refusal to admit defeat.
• One player’s drive can have
an enormous effect on
team-winning. It is like a
magical potion that can
spread from one person to
another
W H E N B E C K H A M
C A M E T O U S , H E
L I V E D I N D I G S A N D
W O U L D N O T J U S T
T R A I N I N T H E
M O R N I N G S A N D
A F T E R N O O N S , B U T
W O U L D T H E N S H O W
U P I N T H E E V E N I N G
T O T R A I N

6. D I S C I P L I N E
• I placed discipline above all
else and… If I had to repeat
things, I’d do precisely the
same.
• Once you bet farewell to
discipline you say goodbye to
success and set the stage for
anarchy
• In always felt that our
triumphs were an expression
of the consistent application
of discipline.
B E F O R E R O O N E Y H A S
T A K E N T H E F I E L D I N A N Y
G I V E N M A T C H , H E H A S
D E C I D E D W H E R E H E W I L L
P L A C E T H E B A L L I F H E
T A K E S A P E N A L T Y K I C K

7. P R E P A R A T I O N
• If I was starting again as a
manager, the thing I would
focus on the most is a
player’s attitude during the
training sessions. If they
take it seriously and have
the necessary talent and
determination, good things
will happen. If they are
inclined to slack off, they
will never make it on over
the long haul.
G I G G S ,
B E C K H A M ,
R O N A L D O ,
R O O N E Y W O U L D
A L L S T A Y A F T E R
T R A I N I N G T O
P E R F E C T T H E I R
F R E E K I C K S .
T H E Y W O U L D
N O T D I S A P P E A R
A N D W O U L D B E
R E L I G I O U S
S P E N D I N G A N
E X T R A 3 0
M I N U T E S
T R A I N I N G .

8. T E A M W O R K
• Every member of a team has
got to understand that they
are part of a jigsaw puzzle. If
you remove one piece, the
picture doesn’t look right.
• Each player has to
understand the qualities and
strengths of their team-mates.
• Disciplined perseverance
pays for more dividends than
impetuous attempts at
individual heroism.
Y O U C A N N O T B U I L D A
T E A M W I T H B L I T H E F R E E
S P I R I T S . I F Y O U C A N
A S S E M B L E A T E A M W H O
C O N C E N T R A T E I N T E N T L Y
D U R I N G T R A I N I N G A N D
S H O W U P O N T I M E Y O U
A R E A L M O S T H A L F W A Y
T O W I N N I N G A T R O P H Y .

9. H U N G E R
• I have an abiding belief
about the virtues of
tapping the hunger and
drive that can be found in
people who have tough
upbringings.
• Whenever everyone
needed a bit of a boost I’d
always remind players
where they all come from
and the opportunity they
have in their hands
R O O N E Y C O M E S
F R O M A H A R D
N E I G H B O R H O O D
I N L O N D O N
B E C K H A M C A M E
F R O M A S M A L L
H O U S E I N E A S T
L O N D O N A N D H I S
F A T H E R W O R K E D
A S A H E A T I N G
E N G I N E E R .
R O N A L D O
C E R T A I N L Y
K N E W T H A T I T
W A S T O
S T R U G G L E .
G I G G S ' S M O T H E R
N E V E R H A S T H E
M O N E Y T O B U Y
T H E B E S T B O O T S
F O R R Y A N B U T
S H E I N S T I L L E D
I N H I M T H E
C A P A C I T Y F O R
H A R D W O R K

10. W O R K R A T E
• It was no accident that players like
Ronaldo, Beckham, the Neville’s,
Cantona, Scholes, Giggs and
Rooney would all have to be
dragged of the training ground.
They all just had a built-in desire
to excel and improve
• The work ethic is true of the very
best performers. They have a
formidable appetite for work and
extraordinary self-discipline.
• The moment we don’t work harder
of the other team, we’ll not be
Manchester United.
R O N A L D O . H E H A D T H I S
D E S I R E T O B E C O M E T H E
G R E A T E S T P L A Y E R I N T H E
W O R L D A N D W A S
D E T E R M I N A T E T O D O S O

11. The four virtues of the captain:
• A desire to lead on the field
• Be a person whom the
players would respect
• Capable of adapting to
changing circumstances
• Determination and trust to
convey leader’s decisions
A L S O W I T H
M A N A G E R S ,
E V E R Y T H I N G
S T A R T S W I T H
T H E R I G H T
P E O P L E

12. T H E B E S T
M A N A G E R S
• Inspire People
• Set excellence standards
• Shows no complacency
• Focus Fanatically
• Are Decision-Makers
• Internal Sellers
• Take care of the pipeline

13. I N S P I R E
• Much of the leadership is
about extracting the extra 5
per cent of performance that
individuals did not know they
possessed.
• You don’t get the best ot of
people by hitting them with
an iron rod. You do so by
gaining their respect, getting
them accustomed to
triumphs and convincing
them that they capable of
improving their performance.

14. E X C E L
• “At United we expect to win
every game”. Making sure
everyone understood that we
expected to triumph in every
game set an agenda of
excellence.
• Part of the pursuit of
excellence involves
eliminating as many surprises
as possible because life is full
of unexpected.

15. N O
C O MP L A C E N C Y
• Complacency is a disease,
especially for individuals and
organizations that have
enjoyed success.
• Complacency like dry rot or
woodworm because , once
damp gets into the brickwood
or insects into the wood, you
don’t notice the damage until
it is too late.

16. F O C U S
• I start at the five o’clock in the
morning so I’m three hours
ahead of everyone. I’m working
while you are still asleep.
• If you have two people of equal
talent it will be the way in which
they marshal their ability that will
determine their success.
• Learning to concentrate on the
essentials was a skill I acquired
and it was something I was keen
to hammer into the skulls of
other people.

17. D E C I S I O N
M A K I N G
• Effective delegation depends on
the ability to make decisions
• Some people can make
decisions, others cannot. It just
doesn’t work if you allow things
to linger in a state of suspension.
• You have make decisions with
the information at your disposal,
rather than what you wish you
might have. That’s just the way
the world works.

18. I N T E R N A L
S E L L I N G
• Any leader is a salesman and
anyone who aspires to be a
great leader needs to excel at
selling his ideas and
aspirations to others.
• Sometimes you have to
persuade people to do things
they don’t want to do, or to
sell them on the ideas that
they can achieve something
they had not dreamed about.

19. P I P E L I N E
• When you run any
organization, you have to
look as far down the road as
you can
• As the time goes by I have
found that my appetite for,
and appreciation of, youthful
enthusiasm has only grown
• Take care of the good
balance between young and
experienced

20. O N M A N A G I N G
• No war is won unless there
are commanders and
majors who, in the thick of
a fight that is going poorly,
can muster the troops,
galvanize them into
actions and help them defy
the odds.

21. T H E S E C R E T
I N G R E D I E N T
• I slowly came to understand
that my job was to set very
high standards.
• It was to help everyone else
believe they could do things
that they didn’t think they were
capable of. It was to make
everyone understand that the
impossible was possible.
• That’s the difference between
leadership and management.

22. T H E S E C R E T
I N G R E D I E N T
• The most important
element of leadership and
management activity is to
inspire a group of people
to perform at their very
best.

23. T H E L I F E
G O S P E L
• I expect nothing but the
best from my team.

24. W A I T , T H E R E ’ S M O R E …
T H E
O U T S T A N D I N G
L E A D E R S
• Passion
• Perseverance
• Continuous Own
Preparation
• Sharp Organization Skills

25. C A R E T O
P U T T H E
E F F O R T T O
B E C O M E A N
O U T S T A N D I N G
T E A M
M E M B E R , N O
M A T T E R
Y O U R
L E V E L ?