May 14, 2026 01:34 AM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1128160
EXCERPTS: When Ted Lasso became the coach of last-place AFC Richmond in a popular television show, he jumped in with a can-do coaching style that ignited a team ready for change. Like Lasso, new leaders are more likely than their predecessors to improve motivation and organizational performance — but only if employees already believe change is needed.
However, a change-oriented style is also more likely to backfire for a new leader than for their predecessor. That can happen if organization members are satisfied with the status quo under the previous leader.
So finds new research from David Harrison, associate dean for research and Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Distinguished University Chair in Business Administration at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. “Leaders who come into a position with their own agenda or prior style will only succeed if that style happens to be a fit with the top manager behaviors the employees want to see,” Harrison says.
[...] To succeed at organizational change, a leader needs to hit a sweet spot among three interacting factors, the study finds. Being the new leader on the block. Incumbents are mostly ineffectual in creating change — both positive and negative.
“Employees are just not responsive to them,” Harrison says. “They pay far less attention to the known quantity that is the continuing leader.”
By contrast, “A new leader grabs attention. Employees are looking to that person to signal what they’re all going to do.”
Existing attitudes. Successors have a window of opportunity to create change, but they need to read the room, Harrison says. Their style must align with the behaviors employees want to see. If an organization has been having problems, employees are more likely to be hungry for change, he adds. “What they want to see depends on how well or poorly the organization is doing.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)
EXCERPTS: When Ted Lasso became the coach of last-place AFC Richmond in a popular television show, he jumped in with a can-do coaching style that ignited a team ready for change. Like Lasso, new leaders are more likely than their predecessors to improve motivation and organizational performance — but only if employees already believe change is needed.
However, a change-oriented style is also more likely to backfire for a new leader than for their predecessor. That can happen if organization members are satisfied with the status quo under the previous leader.
So finds new research from David Harrison, associate dean for research and Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Distinguished University Chair in Business Administration at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. “Leaders who come into a position with their own agenda or prior style will only succeed if that style happens to be a fit with the top manager behaviors the employees want to see,” Harrison says.
[...] To succeed at organizational change, a leader needs to hit a sweet spot among three interacting factors, the study finds. Being the new leader on the block. Incumbents are mostly ineffectual in creating change — both positive and negative.
“Employees are just not responsive to them,” Harrison says. “They pay far less attention to the known quantity that is the continuing leader.”
By contrast, “A new leader grabs attention. Employees are looking to that person to signal what they’re all going to do.”
Existing attitudes. Successors have a window of opportunity to create change, but they need to read the room, Harrison says. Their style must align with the behaviors employees want to see. If an organization has been having problems, employees are more likely to be hungry for change, he adds. “What they want to see depends on how well or poorly the organization is doing.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)