Lead like Iger
Four leadership lessons from Disney’s Bob Iger
Four leadership lessons from Disney’s Bob Iger
Bob Iger, perhaps one of the most strategic CEOs the Walt Disney Company has ever had, released his leadership memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons learned from 15 years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company prior to the pandemic.
Here are the top four leadership skills he talks about which any manager can immediately begin implementing.
Success is built around trust
Prior to Iger being named CEO of Disney, the company was riddled with trust problems stemming from then CEO Michael Eisner’s paranoid personality. Eisner, who had at one point been the hottest studio head in town, watched as his image and grasp of the company diminished with the very public dismissal of Jeffrey Katzenberg, and then shortly after, Michael Ovitz.
When Iger took over as CEO, he knew that he would need to once again instill a culture of trust across the Disney brand. He writes in the book that one of the key universal ideas to running a company is to “encourage risk taking and creativity” and that it is achieved through “building a culture of trust.”
It makes sense, therefore, that in order for Iger to take over Disney and restore Disney’s image, both inside and outside the organization, trust needed to be the bedrock of his goal in rebuilding the company and its culture.
Be optimistic, not pessimistic
“Pessimism leads to paranoia, which leads to defensiveness, which leads to risk aversion.”
Iger had experienced the culture of paranoia under Eisner. A change had to be made, and that started with being optimistic that change could be made.
In Iger’s 15 years as CEO, he had made huge strides to compete with up and coming industry leaders such as Netflix. He did this through several key, but unlikely business acquisitions such as Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and, most recently, 20th Century Fox.
But in order to get there, he had to remain optimistic of the outcomes, regardless of how daunting the tasks may have seemed at the outset.
“Optimism sets a different machine in motion. Especially in difficult moments, the people you lead need to feel confident in your ability to focus on what matters, and not to operate from a place of defensiveness and self-preservation. This isn’t about saying things are good when they’re not, and it’s not about conveying some innate faith that, “things will work out.” It’s about believing you and the people around you can steer toward the best outcome, and not communicating the feeling that all is lost if things don’t break your way. The tone you set as a leader has an enormous effect on the people around you. No one wants to follow a pessimist.”
In order to properly set the tone for an organization, a leader must remain optimistic that the tasks at hand can be accomplished and then convey that throughout the process. It is natural that throughout the process there will be growing pains. But willfully ignoring these growing pains and being ignorant to them won’t help a company reach success, but rather, will hinder them from accomplishing the goal at hand.
Bring solutions to the problems
After 15 years as CEO, Iger’s time was not without problems. Rather than focusing on problems such as some that arose with the acquisition of Star Wars, he tried focusing on solutions to the problems at hand, not just the problem itself.
“…as a general rule, I don’t like to lay out problems without offering a plan for addressing them.”
And this is why having a clear understanding of what you need to be working on is so crucial. If an organization does not know how to tackle the problem at hand, it is doomed. An organization’s leadership must therefore strive for innovation and problem-solving abilities often so that when problems arise, they can quickly be tackled.
“People in your organization suffer unnecessary anxiety because they don’t know what they should be focused on. Inefficiency sets in, frustration builds up, morale sinks.”
Clearly communicate your goals and desires
Understanding what needs to be accomplished is one thing, but properly presenting that message to thousands of people means that you as a leader need to be clear and concise with communication about what is expected from a company and its leadership.
“A company’s culture is shaped by a lot of things, but this is one of the most important-you have to convey your priorities clearly and repeatedly. If leaders don’t articulate their priorities clearly, then the people around them don’t know what their own priorities should be.”
Communication perhaps more than anything else is critical to the success or failure of an organization. If staff does not know or understand what is going on, it leads to frustration and paranoia. Iger, having suffered this with Eisner and seeing the ensuing downfall of Disney, knew it critical to be transparent.
When a leader is transparent in their communication and goals, it is easier for all within an organization to understand the direction the organization is going in. Unfortunately, too many leaders continue to lead with an authoritarian cloak-and-dagger style mentality of allowing few to fully grasp the wider-picture. The results are often work environments and cultures that create fear and mistrust not only in upper management, but also in their fellow co-workers.
Being transparent frees employees of an organization to see what the goals are and how they as employees play a part in helping the organization deliver on those goals.
Four-Bullet Summary
First and foremost, build trust within the organization.
Regardless of how daunting a task may seem, remain optimistic that a solution to the problem is right around the corner.
When a problem is discovered, work to find solutions as quick as possible. No one needs the problem continually reiterated.
Be transparent and clearly communicate with your organization about what is taking place. This will create more buy-in from staff as well as lower the chances of paranoia that can swirl when a leader chooses to hide the overarching plans of an organization.
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