Robert Iger

The CEO of Disney, one of TIME's most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life.

Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

The Ride of a Lifetime

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 TIME Magazine's Businessperson of the Year 2019 _____________________________ The CEO of Disney, one of Time’s most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger—think global—and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets. Fourteen years later, Disney is the largest, most respected media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era. In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he’s learned while running Disney and leading its 200,000 employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including: Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming. Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity. Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale. Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them. This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It’s also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology. “The ideas in this book strike me as universal” Iger writes. “Not just to the aspiring CEOs of the world, but to anyone wanting to feel less fearful, more confidently themselves, as they navigate their professional and even personal lives.”

Lessons in Creative Leadership from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Cassandra Tang

If you’re in the business of making something, be in the business of making something great.

No matter who we become or what we accomplish, we still feel that we’re essentially the kid we were at some simpler time long ago. Somehow that’s the trick of leadership, too, I think, to hold on to that awareness of yourself even as the world tells you how powerful and important you are.

Surround yourself with people who are good in addition to being good at what they do.

Pixar needs to be Pixar. If we don’t protect the culture you’ve created, we’ll be destroying the thing that makes you valuable.

Those hours aren’t for everyone, but however you find the time, it’s vital to create space in each day to let your thoughts wander beyond your immediate job responsibilities, to turn things over in your mind in a less pressured, more creative way than is possible once the daily triage kicks in.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 TIME Magazine's Businessperson of the Year 2019 _____________________________ The CEO of Disney, one of Time's most influential people of 2019, shares the ideas and values he embraced to reinvent one of the most beloved companies in the world and inspire the people who bring the magic to life. Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was intense, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company's history. His vision came down to three clear ideas- Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger-think global-and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets. Fourteen years later, Disney is the largest, most respected media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era. In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he's learned while running Disney and leading its 200,000 employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including- Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming. Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity. Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale. Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them. This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It's also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology. "The ideas in this book strike me as universal" Iger writes. "Not just to the aspiring CEOs of the world, but to anyone wanting to feel less fearful, more confidently themselves, as they navigate their professional and even personal lives."

Piet Terheyden

Most deals are personal. This is even more true if you’re negotiating with someone over something he or she has created. You have to know what you want out of any deal, but to get there you also need be aware of what’s at stake for the other person.

When hiring, try to surround yourself with people who are good in addition to being good at what they do. Genuine decency—an instinct for fairness and openness and mutual respect—is a rarer commodity in business than it should be, and you should look for it in the people you hire and nurture it in the people who work for you.

Value ability more than experience, and put people in roles that require more of them than they know they have in them.

True integrity—a sense of knowing who you are and being guided by your own clear sense of right and wrong—is a kind of secret leadership weapon. If you trust your own instincts and treat people with respect, the company will come to represent the values you live by.

The dynamics between a CEO and the next person in line for his or her job are often fraught, though. We all want to believe we’re irreplaceable. The trick is to be self-aware enough that you don’t cling to the notion that you are the only person who can do this job. At its essence, good leadership isn’t about being indispensable; it’s about helping others be prepared to possibly step into your shoes—giving them access to your own decision making, identifying the skills they need to develop and helping them improve, and, as I’ve had to do, sometimes being honest with them about why they’re not ready for the next step up.

I wouldn’t as a rule recommend promoting someone as rapidly as they promoted me, but I will say one more time, because it bears repeating: The way they conveyed their faith in me at every step made all the difference in my success.

There’s nothing less confidence-inspiring than a person faking a knowledge they don’t possess. True authority and true leadership come from knowing who you are and not pretending to be anything else.

Incredibly inspiring read with plenty of insights and takeaways, a book everyone should read once. 

Timeo Williams

Mr. Iger's take on working at Disney, his gradual rise to the top of Disney, his relationship with other employees and people and the core values that allow Disney to be where it is today.

Steve Jobs and Bob Iger's relationship detailed in this book really hit a button - and brought back the memories and personality that made him who he was. 

If there's two things to take from this book, its the lesson of relationships and innovation. Both require additional principals under the surface to be done and Bob goes into those details in this book.

4 stars as a Disney fan. Your mileage may vary.

Brooke Lonegan

Amazing leadership lessons, will probably go back and read it often.

Heiki Riesenkampf

Bob Iger is a bit of an iconic CEO of the last few decades. I skimmed the book a second time after he took back the CEO role at Disney. Half of the book covered his way up and half of it covered all the deals he had done at Disney. It's a great story about climbing the corporate ladder. He must be one of the best M&A folks that I have read about. A solid read.

Jeffrey Jose

It shouldnt come as no surprise that the Disney CEO is a good storyteller. The book chronicles Bob Igor's career from his time at ABC thru his very tenure at Disney as its CEO. The first part of the book is stories leading upto him becoming Disney CEO and second half covers his acquisitions - Pixar, Marvel, Lucas Film, 21 Century Fox and Twitter (which was unsuccessful).

It isnt often you find a CEO truly embrace disruption and an acknowledgement that change needs to happen, fast, at their company.

John Lopiano Jr.

For a guy who didn’t have to be so honest and forthcoming, he really comes across as sincere. Some great stories and lessons for leaders. He didn’t really sugarcoat anything either. When he’s wrong, he says that. I also love his deep dive into his relationship with Steve Jobs. This was a really great and quick read.

“A relentless pursuit of perfection for some greater good”

“If you approach and engage people with respect and empathy, the seemingly impossible can become real.”

“If something doesn't feel right to you, then it's probably not right for you”

Keven Wang

I have not been able to put this book down. Page by page is like a case study in business school. Lots of knowledge shared by one of the Greatest CEOs of our time

Caash

Seems a little bit rosie. A bit to clean, nothing in there render me unfit to run Disney. so really not a business book rather a anecdotical try at diary

I expected more valuable lessons and usable insights about leading a company (as the title and introduction of the book suggests). Instead, it’s packed with detailed conversations and feels like a stretched-out biography with suit-wearing men fighting over hierarchies and pointing fingers. Maybe just not for me.

linda

Favorite book I've read this fall. Perfect way to wrap up the year.

Daniel Bower

I love reading books about Hollywood. There is always this great tension between the creative force of writers and directors and cut throat world of agents, ratings and general deal making.

Bob Iger’s book has all of this in spades. The first half is dedicated to his rise to the top and his relationships with senior folks at ABC and later Disney. This is enjoyable for sure, but it’s the second half where it really kicks into gear. After taking the job of CEO at a pretty rocky moment for Disney, Iger goes on a run of acquisitions that will end up in corporate history books: Pixar, Marvel, Lucas Film and then 20th Century Fox. The latter of which is clearly the inspiration for the third season of Succession.

Iger tries to impart some values for leadership, but these are kind of sandwiched into the introduction and appendix without a huge amount of thought. Better to just ignore them, and enjoy the ride.

Ben Burns

This was OK! Bob Iger has a lot of wise leadership lessons to share. Most of them will sound like platitudes, but every once in a while one will resonate with your own experience and crystallize something for you. That was my experience, at least.

I do wish the book covered more of the details: challenges he faced, failures and not just successes, tradeoffs between work life and home life, and the story of how he got onto a leadership track in the early days. One second it sounds like he's an intern, and the next, he's in charge of his old boss. How did that happen, exactly? How much of that was due to luck, vs. hard work, vs. personal sacrifice, vs. smart decisions? And once he becomes CEO, he just skips from one acquisition story to the next -- juicy stories, for sure, but I wanted to learn more about what it means to run Disney, day to day.

Caroline Lewicki

Part business guide, part self-help book, all memoir...Bob Iger's book is really incredible. As someone who worked for the Walt Disney Company during his time as CEO, it's interesting to hear some of his perspective on events that were taking place. The beginning of the book draws you in and is incredibly emotional, and it stays interesting throughout. If you're a Disney fan, this is a must read.

Kohana

I would read more non-fiction books, if they were like this one.

Hooman Askari

No useful information in this book. The first half is the classic tale of a bunch of old white men fighting for a chair. The second half was blah!

John Balek

At the beginning of this year I finished reading James B. Stewart's "Disneywar" and enjoyed it thoroughly. While reading it I learned that Bob Iger had put out this book. While I knew this wasn't going to be a true "direct sequel" to the events covered in "Disneywar" I was still intrigued in reading it. When Bob Iger announced his retirement from the CEO position at Disney my interest in reading this book was renewed as it would be the comprehensive book on his time as CEO. 

This book definitely doesn't go into the detail that "Disneywar" does, in fact it goes out of its way to diss "Disneywar". Obviously, with Iger being the author of this book there will be some clear bias and revising of this era of Disney but it definitely felt lacking in comparison to what I got out of "Disneywar". This book is relatively short and devotes half its page length to the events that led to Iger becoming CEO. While it was interesting to get Iger's perspective on these events it is a narrative I was already familiar with. 

The second half of this book covers the more contemporary actions of Disney, although in brief detail. It was interesting to learn the background of all of Disney's Iger era acquisitions but the information provided was so minimal that it really didn't offer any great insight that you couldn't have gotten elsewhere. The leadership and business lessons Iger details throughout the book are rather generic and could probably be found in any CEO/Entrepreneur's memoir. If you are interested in Disney/the entertainment industry you can find something in this book but there are much more interesting reads on the subject.

Shantesh Patil

A lesson in leadership that reads like a corporate thriller. Finished this in one sitting.

The Ride of a Lifetime Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

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