Friday’s Change Reflection Quote - Leadership of Change® - Change Leaders Make Data-Driven Decisions
- Peter F Gallagher
- May 16
- 5 min read
Updated: May 19
🎓 Leadership Learning!
On May 16, 1990, United Kingdom Agriculture Minister John Gummer staged a dramatic and controversial media moment and attempted to feed a beefburger to his four-year-old daughter, Cordelia, at the height of rising concern over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease. The image of Gummer coaxing his hesitant daughter to eat the burger at a Suffolk harbour became a defining symbol of the BSE crisis that engulfed British agriculture and food policy in the 1990s. This orchestrated photo opportunity was intended to reassure a nervous British public that beef was safe to consume despite mounting evidence linking BSE to a fatal human brain condition called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The context is significant. BSE was first identified in British cattle in 1986, and by 1990, public anxiety had escalated as scientists began exploring potential connections between the cattle disease and human health risks. Despite growing concerns, the government insisted that British beef remained completely safe for human consumption. Gummer's public relations exercise with his young daughter was meant to demonstrate his absolute confidence in this position. What made the moment particularly striking was the use of a vulnerable child to convey a political message about food safety. Reports from the event note that Cordelia appeared hesitant to eat the burger, with some accounts suggesting she ultimately refused, though Gummer himself consumed his portion with apparent confidence. The BBC and other major news outlets captured the scene, which was subsequently broadcast across the nation. The historical significance of this event cannot be overstated. Just six years later, in March 1996, the British government would make a complete reversal of position, acknowledging a probable link between BSE and vCJD. By this time, cases of the human disease were emerging, predominantly in young people, leading to 177 deaths in the UK. The European Union imposed a worldwide ban on British beef exports that would last for ten years, devastating the £520 million export industry and requiring the slaughter of 4.4 million cattle.
✅ Change Leadership Lessons: This iconic moment of crisis mismanagement offers profound lessons for modern change leadership. This unfolding emergency offers critical insights into how leaders must respond transparently and ethically during times of growing public concern. Leaders of change must recognise that making absolute safety claims without sufficient evidence inevitably damages public trust beyond the immediate crisis situation. They should embrace transparent acknowledgment of uncertainty rather than projecting unfounded confidence that could later be contradicted by emerging facts. Change leaders need to carefully balance organisational economic interests with stakeholder safety concerns, particularly when scientific evidence continues to evolve. They should avoid using vulnerable stakeholders for political demonstrations as this approach often backfires and undermines the core message being conveyed. Leaders of change must understand that short-term reassurance strategies frequently cause catastrophic long-term consequences by delaying necessary protective measures. Change Leaders Make Data-Driven Decisions.
“Successful change demands leaders who balance transparency with action, acknowledging uncertainty while protecting stakeholders through evidence-based decisions rather than reassuring rhetoric.”
👉 Application - Change Leadership Responsibility 2 - Model the New Way: A fundamental responsibility of leaders in driving organisational change is to Model the New Way. The BSE crisis demonstrates how actions speak louder than words when leaders promote new directions. Modelling the new way is the one key task leaders of change do not need props for, nor should they delegate this to others. For change to be credible, visible alignment between words and actions is essential. At the heart of modelling the new way lies leading with integrity, an indispensable quality for any leader of change. Integrity forms the foundation of trust, which underpins every successful transformation. A leader must act with honesty, especially when change brings discomfort or loss. Employees are far more likely to follow when they believe the leader is being truthful, even when the message is difficult. Moral leadership requires standing for what is right, even when it means opposing popular opinion or prioritisation of profit over safety. This is particularly relevant when navigating conflicting stakeholder expectations. Finally, credibility must be earned through consistent behaviour that reinforces the change message. When leaders are believable, employees are more willing to engage. In the Leadership of Change®, modelling the new way is not symbolic, it is a daily discipline. It ensures the change is not just spoken but seen.
Final Thoughts: A fundamental responsibility of leaders in driving organisational change is to Model the New Way with integrity. Modelling the new way is the one key task leaders of change do not need props for, nor should they delegate this to others.
Peter F. Gallagher consults, speaks, and writes on Leadership of Change®. He works exclusively with boards, CEOs, and senior leadership teams to prepare and align them to effectively and proactively lead their organisations through change and transformation.
For insights on navigating organisational change, feel free to reach out at Peter.gallagher@a2B.consulting.
#LeadershipofChange #Leadership #ChangeLeadership #Integrity #GlobalGurus #ChangeManagement #NelsonMandela and #Reconciliation
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
He works exclusively with boards, CEOs, and senior leadership teams to prepare and align them to effectively and proactively lead their organisations through change and transformation.
For insights on navigating organisational change, feel free to reach out at Peter.gallagher@a2B.consulting or schedule a free consultation
Peter F. Gallagher is a leadership guru, change management global thought leader, organisational change authority, international corporate conference speaker, 15X author, and C-level change leadership coach.
Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (2024-2023-2022-2021-2020) by Thinkers360.
Listed #15 in the “Top 30” for Global Gurus Leadership (2024) by Global Gurus.
Ranked #1 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Business Strategy (2022) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #6 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Leadership (April 2024) by Thinkers360.
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