There are five key career planning lessons for corporate treasurers in the very public sacking and demise of David Moyes, the manager of Manchester United, one of the world’s most famous football clubs:

1. never agree to takeover from a legend, e.g Jack Immelt at General Electric took over a decade to convince shareholders it didn’t matter he was not Jack Welch
2. if you must takeover from a legend, make sure they are not around to watch you, e.g. the corporate treasurer being promoted to CFO means that the next corporate treasurer’s life will be hell/impossible
3. if your success depends on the quality of your team, and the quality of the team depends on how much the company is prepared to maintain it, don’t take the job where management are bent on squeezing costs regardless
4. it will take time to convince the treasury team that you are the right man for the job, make sure you achieve at least one of your key performance indicator within first year
5. if you cannot rely on the CFO’s and the board’s patience, make sure you have a golden parachute in place.

It is quite simple: DO NOT TAKEOVER FROM A LEGEND, it just cannot work. Unless …… you too are a legend and can ‘walk the walk’.