We know that we are in for a ride of a lifetime as soon Mr.Iger recounts the most dramatic phase in the company , which fortunately or unfortunately he had to helm as the 6th CEO of Walt disney. Situation : Opening of the largest Disneyland ever at Shangai, China costing about 6Billion USD , 11 times bigger than the next big disneyland and that took 18 years to build . Iger during that eventful week had to handle the first ever mass shoot out at an orlando night club where few of his employees had visited and also the infamous alligator attack in the orlando disney property the first of its kind - a little boy being the victim. When he describes how he made decisions to ensure a security breach never happened at Disney and how he followed suit on the promise made to the young boy's family : I.e This agony will never befall another family , it genuinely makes you sit up. Disney put several warning signs , billboards and tracked 1000s of the alligators in the Fl property in a matter of days!
Fascinating how he describes the 10 important leadership principles for running a successful business all learned 45 years in Media life and 15 years as Disney CEO :
Fairness
Courage
Optimism
Focus
Decisiveness
Creativity
Thoughtfulness
Authenticity
Relentless Pursuit of Perfection
Integrity
Childhood - Dad military veteran with manic depression always wanted kids to be more successful and powerful something he was not .. constantly urged bob to strive for excellence but not robbing fun at home .Rob barely was lower middle class ND lived barely enough in terms of expenditure.
Rob learnt worldly manners , sales , work ethic by sheer variety of work from scrubbing benches for gums to MCDONALD'S ..he was just an average kid at school. However bouts of hard work in high school instilled ambition and work ethic in him and he lapped up college education . His uncle's recommendation led him to ABC network were he started with menial jobs and rose up to organize stage production an important gig at Madison when Frank Sinatra came led him to network well .. Rob moved up the chain to ABC sports .. He learnt , imbibed several mantras of success from the Sports guru Ruin .. Ruin transformed sports at ABC through his motto ' innovate or die' and he single handedly brought such innovations like satellite broadcast , reverse angle shots , slow motion.
Robert learnt a lot from Ruin among things was always finding a way for excellence and that led him to telecast world ping pong championship fro north Korea. ABC now moved under Tom and Dan of capital city two executives that modelled decentralization , authenticity and no glitz something ruin did not appreciate. Ruin did his magic at ABC news while Rob climbed up to head programming at ABC sports under Dennis another authentic warm generous boss.
Next break was teaming up with Ruin at caligari winter games were despite several events getting cancelled or postponed due to weather, some smart programming and packaging led to roaring success . Rob now noticed by Tom and Dan was made ABC's entertainment mogul at 37.. Rob learnt risk taking and mistakes taught so much more than playing safe ' ode to Ruin'.. he chaired such flops like cop rock but maverick success of twin peaks , America's funny videos led to legendary nypd blues !!Twin Peaks crashed towards second season and Rob sites he brought in operational elements unnecessarily curtailing David Lynch's creative process . He has learnt to put trust on extremely creative people and their process going forward.
Rob now became trusted confidante and when Dan retired took over as ABC president and COO. Divorce with Susan and a critical acquisition of abc from Disney followed . Disney was a global conglomorate under Micheal Esner who was instrumental in several landmark achievements : Making theme parks global, consumer product and franchise , collaboration with Pixar and super hits like Lion king Alaudin but most important of all was the ABC acquisition for a paltry sum of 19.5 billion that had its 'Crown jewel' ESPN a gift that kept on giving amidst Disney's dud era that is 1995- 2000.
Michael Esner made it clear to Rob that he will not be his no.2 (president) and got a CAA super agent Michael Ovitz for that job . Ovitz within a year exposed himself unfit as he was more interested in socializing with celebrities and focused heavily on shows and entertainment on a contact led model which went against extreme vetting and structured policy at Disney . Ovitz did not believe in doing things via process which Disney's culture demanded and he was more ad hoc and fast paced with little regard to 'other people's consensus' or their time. Ovitz and michael expectedly had a fallout with ovitz fired end of 1995 with a hefty 100 million severance package. Rob stepped up from COO to President in the interim and no.2 for Esner till 2000 .
Towards 2000 some members of the Disney board did not appreciate the fall out Michael Esner with Steve Jobs and Pixar entertainment also Esner's increased pessimism towards media business and lack of innovation in technologies and inability to have succession plan paved way for his downfall. Esner first was demoted from Chairman post then in 2004 was made to quit altogether . Robert Iger though not a first choice to the board as they were looking to hire externally appealed enormously to them by coming up with big picture thinking esp. on the immediate and long term future plans for Disney. His emphasis on technology innovation , mobile & streaming , more international exposure particularly building brand in China , India etc was his plan to convince the board. The board did well in thwarting a compelling offer from Comcast to take over Disney which rightfully did not materialize as Disney was a bigger beast than comcast.
Rob Iger had a bad reputation for sticking up for Micheal Esner outside disney and the prevailing sentiment even among board members was that he did not have any new ideas from what Michael offered earlier. However Iger was persistent to try hard and he went through the full grill and interview loops , he got frustrated that the board took forever to decide and even called him for Sunday evening meetings unorthodoxly , Willow his second wife was carrying and Bob went through enormous anxiety in this phase . One day he had an anxiety attack in this phase and thought he was getting a heart attack much like his parents suffered in their own 50s. This episode ensured he will not compromise on quality of life - exercise, sleep or family time , good lesson for anyone sucked into busy life. Bob finally succumbed to his frustrations of waiting on for the Board's confirmation and even walked out of a loop - Ironically he was chosen the new CEO to Disney . This made Bob realize never to take his Ego seriously . Not to indulge in quick fights, anger and bowing down to frustrations. After he became Disney CEO the expectations outside were pretty low and that worked in his favor most ppl thought he was a stop gap choice. Since Rob had nothing to lose he reached out to Steve Jobs in a bid to salvage the Pixar - Disney partnership. Roy Disney' s protracted lawsuit and fight with Micheal esner now in the board left a bad taste in the mouth that needed fixing very quickly. Rob found out that Roy who was now frail yearned actually for respect, recognition from board and the company something he never received from his uncle (Walt) nor anyone else in the board . Rob quickly appealed to this sensitivity and struck a deal with Roy asking him to be Emeritus chairman of Disney without any regular board responsibility and he gets automatic invites to every theme park, hotel opening of Disney amidst some sound financial package . Roy accepted the deal and Michael stopped the bitter war . Peace was restored .
Steve & Pixar : Steve was very tough nut to crack and negotiate . Increasingly everyone in Disney felt their animation was poor and rather distant second to Pixar . Many in the board still harbored delusions of a bygone era and needed a wake up call. Rob showed all of the bad movies disney made including atlantis ,hercules, dinosaur in the same era Pixar churned out Finding nemo , toy story 1 and 2, Bugs life and Monsters' inc the quality disparity was tremendous. Now the convinced board raised two concerns Pixar will be extremely expensive and Steve is too stubborn to sell. Rob through some common intermediaries at Goldman sachs reached out to steve and realized best way to appeal to him was to be brutally honest and take it slow. Initially he struck a monumental deal and partnership to bring several disney original titles to the Itunes portfolio which pleased Steve . Slowly he put a thought that Disney needed long term future and saving and Pixar acquisition was the way forward. Steve entertained this notion though not fully convinced and in his trademark Whiteboarding listed pros and cons (which were numerous including disney's bad culture , lack of ideas and technological innovation amidst many) but the 1 pro which appealed to Steve was Pixar's technological revolution can save Disney and he also realized disney's reach and brand can benefit Pixar. Next step was to convince the two creative leads behind Pixar John Lacerne and Ed (Phd and chief technological officer) . The proposition that the duo could run Disney animation and change it for better appealed to them. Rob counts his first visit to Pixar to see the brilliant creations , creators and wonderful culture first hand was one of the top 10 experiences in his lifetime. Rob was shown initial cut of several works in production - Cars, Wall e , Up, Ratatouille (That rat movie as Michael called it) and was genuinely blown away by the Tech platform and innovations. He decided a brilliant mind like Steve should join the Board of disney and finally after enormous bargains back and forth a hefty sum of 7.4 B deal was agreed. However 30 mins before the deal was struck Steve took Rob for a walk in his garden put his arm around his shoulder and confided he did not have much time as a result of worsening Pancreatic cancer . He wanted to confide in him as this may change his long term thinking and the deal itself. However Rob and disney went through with this and Steve & Rob became great friends personally and professionally. Steve however in his own enigmatic ways ensured Disney did not change the culture or the operations of Pixar . Steve also tried bullying Rob as was his nature in getting 4 board members ousted but Rob's persistence kept him at bay . Also Steve's decaying health helped Rob in keeping him in check . In 2011 Oct when Steve passed away Rob did recount steve's confiding in him and declared that he and steve believed that disney - pixar deal saved both the companies.
Marvel acquisition : Ike the marvel boss was a recluse and Rob felt getting Marvel's Ip despite spiderman being loaned to Sony was enormous value there were over 7000 characters in MCU and Frank the marvel media president had a plan carved out to bring MCU with characters intertwining for almost a decade long vision. Ike relented in selling and Steve's personal overtures bringing Willow to dine with them as a family and his shrewd move to get 'Steve Jobs' approval and help in reaching out to Ike who was a lifelong Jobs admirer worked. Marvel got bought for 4 Billion dollars . Iron Man 2 was released which Jobs called a crap but Rob assured him he was not the audience and it raked in 75 Million at the Box office. In order to empower Frank's vision he ensured Frank reported directly to Disney studios and cut Ike off to run comic publications and other marvel merchandise that turned out to be a brilliant move. He got Alan Horn from Warner Bros and put him in charge of entire Disney studios including marvel and pixar. Alan had a point to prove at 68 and he came with renewed energy . Rob ensured D&I was the norm by bringing in Black panther and captain marvel that became 4th and 10th best marvel grossers of all time. Also Franks' avengers theme esp Endgame became the most popular highest grossing movie ever in history.
Lucas Films : After Pixar and Marvels unequivocal success. Rob went after lucas films fully understanding how emotional star wars was to George Lucas. Lucas appreciated Rob's overtures as he was convinced disney was the only place his legacy can live on esp with great past experiences with Indiana jones series at ABC (Rob was in charge) and glowing review from his close friend Jobs on Pixar acquisition . Pixar was an old Lucas product that he sold to Jobs in the 80s.
Lucas wanted more money than marvel and creative rights over plots for Star wars . Rob gave first but held firmly against second . Cathy was nominated chief producer by lucas and she worked with JJ abrams in the first star wars film which had a quick turnaround time of end 2015 . JJ used most of the same Geos and elements from 2005 Revenge of sith - Lucas did not like it as he expected new terrains and stories however the Box office proved this decision was right as It connected old with new era esp . Fans could relate and lap it up. Rob never brought disney logo to star wars franchise knowing full well how much the fans wanted it to not to be disneyfied. Lucas though bitter at times referred the disney deal like ' Giving away children to white slavers' but came around eventually and acted responsibly as a Disney board member. Rob's ability to navigate ego had another feather in the cap as during the felicitation for the first star wars movie by disney he ensured the first ovation went to George and massaged his ego. Lucas films including industrial lights magic , Engineering, artists etc was bought for 4.05B slightly above Marvel. Disney planned 3-4 more films immediately.
Technical Disruption : In 2016 Rob believed big techs were a threat and disney needed a strong tech platform presence he went after Twitter but developed cold feet rightly realizing how much hate speech, scrutiny, privacy regulations were affecting the platform. He stayed true to Tom's words " Don’t go after Trombone oil , sure a quarter of ppl will use it once a while but do you really want to be a no. 1 Trombone oil seller" powerful words reminding impact as a source for devoting focus and energy. Rob got BAMTech in and declared externally that disney is starting its own streaming service soon to take on Netflix and prime. Rob realized its just a start much needed to be done to take on the behemoths. Just quality content alone was not enough you need robust tech stack that promised innovation, privacy and user interface.
Murdoch & Fox : Rupert Murdoch reached out to Rob thinking Rob was planning to run for 2020 presidency . Rob did in that phase spend time reading a lot about immigration, healthcare etc but willow kept him away from this idea. However in their interaction Murdoch confided fox needed scale and bigger canvas and hinted that disney should try to buy. Though the board of disney were interested in several of fox portfolios notably the non political ones : Hot star in India, Sky , Hulu stakes, 21st century fox and Fox searchlight divisions the cost of such acquisition was daunting . Disney promised 28$ a share and started working with SEC for regulatory clearance . In that time Comcast dropped a bomb once it knew AT&T was buying Time warner by declaring interest in Fox deal with a steep 35$ all cash offer that amounted to 65 Billion plus . Disney and Rob took matters personally went to London and proposed a 38$ / share deal that murdoch and the board agreed and signed , the catch being Disney was far ahead in SEC regulatory clearances and Comcast had a cloud over it. Lachlan Murdoch who harbored taking over the murdoch empire came to terms with reality and accepted increased wealth instead. Disney got several priced possesions including 600 episodes of Simpsons but their crown jewel was 'Hot star' and the Direct to consumer technology which Uday Shankar and team helmed with great pride. Disney used Hot star's technology heavily as it debuted Disney plus in 2019 for a paltry 6.99$ which got 100 million subscribers in record time in a year. Thanks to innovative titles like Mandalorian , falcoln and winter soldier plus all the existing and new disney movies in entirety.
MeToo and unpleasantness : John the creative head of Pixar had to be let go as his name emerged in Me 2 .. Lucky for Rob in 2005 they discontinued partnership with Weinstein and Miramax . However this was the phase Rob did a cultural reset by bringing diverse talent into the company and taking a no nonsense approach for intolerance in social media or day to day conduct . Several executives had to be let go and the company got a clean chit outside. Its diverse star cast in MCU and Star wars got disney several kudos.
Life after disney : Rob tells the readers no matter how good or productive the CEO , they need to leave at the right time to infuse freshness and keep relevance . He plans to leave by 2021 and aims to spend more time with Family and reflecting on legacies and doing things he could not do earlier. Rob summarizes several life lessons in Leadership throughout namely : Innovate or die , Relentless pursuit of perfection : Culture of not accepting good enough , Being decent to everyone , hiring genuinely good people not just ppl good at their jobs, Ensuring dysfunction or fights don’t come at leadership level , Being patient and harness creativity and investing in creators, Understanding and an uncanny ability to let go ppl at the right time by being empathetic but honest . Succession planning is must every single time his ability to split the conglomorate into Parks, consumer merchandise , Technology & distribution and High quality content was an example of a masterstroke. Modelling behavior as a leader - being attentive and working hard leading by example. D&I - no nonsense approach to intolerant behavior, social media and conduct . Looking for diverse talents across the spectrum. Ensuring global reach , innovation are part of the culture .
Personally this book is a 10/10 or 5/5 as it teaches so much leadership through experiences and vignettes rather than being preachy. Disney is a company i admire greatly esp their monumental rise in the last couple of decades through acquisitions , content and Disney+ and their story is naturally a very engrossing read!
