What impact do managers have on successful implementation of organisational change? A model is suggested to assess the strength of managers to initiate and implement organisational change and development. The model rests on leadership theories and factors that describe and explain various change aspects of managers’ behaviour. It is assumed that managers who have a change‐centred leadership style, who are intuitive combined with power motivation and see urgent demands for change and development, have an optimal capacity for implementing major changes in their organisations. This model has been tested on a sample of 153 vicars, each facing a radically new situation. The Church of Sweden was disestablished this year breaking a structure, which has lasted for 500 years. As expected, very few of the vicars (as managers) exhibited change and development related behaviour described by the model. In fact, only one percent of the vicars appears to have maximum capacity to implement organisational changes. Whether the model can predict successful implementation of major organisational change remains to be tested.