Many good leaders that I know excel in upholding process year in and year out.  This requires discipline and stamina . . . and even grace.  They make sure past precedence is upheld, and they never lose sight of the people involved in decisions and their consequences.

On the other hand, the top one or two leaders that I know are the ones who are brave enough — and awake at the wheel enough — to break with precedence and tradition from time to time.  They have seen a certain model worked through enough times to recognize when it simply will not do.