Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney

by Lee Cockerell

It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic.”

What I remember most about the ordeal is not the terrifying winds or the sleepless nights in the emergency operation center (EOC), where

my team and I had gathered to make plans to ensure the safety of our Guests and fellow Cast Members.* Instead, I remember the dedication of our staff, the precision of our communications, and the smooth way everyone did what he or she was supposed to do even though it’d never been done before. I remember teams of dedicated people tying down chandeliers, stacking tables and chairs and roping them together, and strapping vending carts to the ground. I remember Mickey and Minnie and Cinderella and Goofy cheering up frightened children in the hotel lobbies. Mostly, I remember the five-thousand-plus Cast Members who spent the stormy nights on the property so they could help at any hour and in any way they could, and the countless others who showed up with their sleeves rolled up the minute it was safe to leave their homes.

All the work that my colleagues and I had done to instill strong leadership values throughout the company had clearly paid off. We already knew that our basic principles worked, but it’s easy to think you’re doing well when times are good. The real test comes when a crisis hits, and our response to this one validated everything I had learned and tried diligently to teach others. Thanks to the solid structures and processes we had in place, everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do. More important, each Cast Member was prepared, mentally and emotionally, to let the vision of Disney World govern everything he or she did: treat the Guests as cherished friends, exceed their

what really drives the magic is the extraordinary service. How does Disney maintain that high-quality service? Each of the fifty-nine thousand Cast Members is trained to treat each and every Guest with the utmost care and respect. And they do this consistently because they are treated exactly the same way by the Disney leadership: with the utmost care and respect. If that sounds like a commercial for a fluffy feel-good Disney movie, let me assure you it’s not. It’s a rational, muscular, no-nonsense business strategy.

Products and services can easily be replicated. So if your company’s competitive advantage is based on products and services alone, you are at risk. But if it’s based upon products, services, and quality service, then you’ll have a competitive advantage that’s very difficult to match. And you can get quality service only by creating a caring, respectful, people-centered culture within your company. Take care of your people, and they will take care of your business, not just because they have to but because they want to.

THE DISNEY FORMULA FOR SUCCESS Leadership Cast (Employee) Excellence Guest (Customer) Satisfaction Business Results

Being a leader means doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, in the way it should be done, whether you like it or not, and whether they like it or not. It means making the right things happen by bringing out the best in others. I like to say that good leaders are environmentalists. Their responsibility is to create a sustainable business environment—calm, clear, crisp, and clean, with no pollution, no toxins, no waste—in which everyone flourishes.

The purpose of this book is to offer leaders and potential leaders the same powerful strategies that have worked magic at Disney World and for the clients of the Disney Institute.

“Lee, you can be a fool once or a fool all your life. When you don’t know something, ask questions. Then you’ll be a fool only once.”

Good leaders are humble enough to admit what they don’t know, and great leaders are constantly looking for new information.

I learned to spot great leaders just by watching them and to notice the little things. I saw, for example, that great leaders always focus on others, not on themselves. They hire the right people, train them, trust them, respect them, listen to them, and make sure to be there for them when needed.

you must have committed people at every level who feel involved, appreciated, and proud of what they do. If you treat them well and help them realize their aspirations, they’ll work hard and give you their best.

REMEMBER, EVERYONE IS IMPORTANT

the first and most important leadership principle, inclusion. “Inclusion” is a major buzzword in business today. It’s usually thought of in terms of

ethnic, racial, religious, and gender diversity and filling the workplace with representatives of every demographic category.

But inclusion is not just a matter of hiring policy or of respecting the differences among people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. It’s about engaging and involving your employees and showing them that each one of them is important.

The reason inclusion is so important is simple: When everyone matters and everyone knows he or she matters, employees are happy to come to work, and they’re eager to give you their energy, creativity, and loyalty.

To put it simply, all people want exactly what you want. You want to be included, listened to, respected, and involved, don’t you? You want to be asked your opinion and have it taken seriously. You want to feel valued. And you want to be known as an individual and treated as such. Well, so does everyone else. That’s why great leaders make sure that everyone in the workplace—no matter the rank or position—feels included and no one feels left out.

At Disney we defined our approach to inclusion with the acronym RAVE: respect, appreciate, and value everyone. If you respect, appreciate, and value your employees, the word will get out.

Business leadership is a lot like parenting: Your job is not just to make your employees happy but to create an environment that enables them to excel at what they do. Just as great parents pay attention to everyone in their family, so great leaders pay attention to everyone in their organizations, bolstering his or her self-esteem and self-confidence at every step.

Every worker has different motivations, priorities, preferences, and dreams. Workers hail from different backgrounds and different neighborhoods. To make them feel special, you have to get to know every person. How do you do that? Learn about your employees’ past work experiences, their aspirations, their skills and talents, their short- and long-term goals. Get to know about their personal interests and their families as well.

When I worked at Walt Disney World and had to meet with one of the managers who reported to me, I’d often go to his or her office. Some might expect that since I was the boss, the proper procedure would have been for him or her to come to me. But reversing the protocol gave me the opportunity to get to know each one better and to become familiar with his or her coworkers. You can learn an awful lot about employees from the photos on their desks, the artworks on their walls, and the way they interact with the people around them.

Remember, your inclusive workplace includes you. Too many leaders keep their distance from employees, both physically and emotionally. Believing that they can’t manage well unless they project an image of impervious strength, they hide their humanity, especially their flaws and weaknesses. I promise you, you’ll get a lot more respect if you let people know who you really are.

Never underestimate the power of a simple gesture like saying hello or stopping to chat for a minute or two. And make sure you mean it; if you’re just going through the motions like a glad-handing politician looking for votes, they’ll see right through you. As the old saying goes, “People will not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.”

Great leaders know they don’t know everything. They learn as they go, and they’re confident enough to listen to people at every level of their organizations. As a result, they make better choices and fewer mistakes. They also inspire greater commitment to and more support for their decisions.

Many leaders think it’s a waste of time to listen to the problems of low-level employees. I don’t. I learned over the course of my career that if you take care of all the little issues, big problems are less likely to occur. Because I was available, I could resolve delicate issues quickly, before they escalated, and the company was spared some protracted grievances and legal entanglements.

Always leave blank spaces in your calendar to accommodate the unexpected, because the unexpected is often more important than the expected.

This is great advice.

Good leaders, on the other hand, take the time to let people express their thoughts completely. Yes, this requires patience. Yes, people often ramble on and on out of nervousness and take forever to get to the point. Yes, they often tell you what you already know. But it’s vital to hang in there, because you never know when a glimmer of an idea might shine through. The sentence you tuned out on might hold a crucial fact or reveal an important problem you need to know about. And even if you learn nothing newsworthy, listening to people speak their minds tells them that you care about what they have to say.

Good communication is clear communication. Use ordinary language, and say exactly what you mean.

Make an effort to communicate one-on-one in person whenever you can. Nothing makes people feel more valued than a face-to-face meeting. Second best is a one-on-one phone conversation; if that isn’t possible, try gathering people in small groups.

Be on the lookout for people who feel left out for one reason or another, such as a new employee eating lunch alone in the cafeteria. If someone is being excluded socially, it usually has nothing to do with his or her skills, but the isolation will affect his or her performance.

Design your culture.

The result is what it calls Volvo PRIDE, an acronym for passion, respect, integrity, drive, and energy.

Treat your people as you would want your customers to be treated.

the Four Cast Expectations are essentially the same.

Make me feel special. Treat me as an individual. Respect me. Make me knowledgeable.

Your job as a leader is to figure out what the organization should look like, not just to do your best within the existing design.

The point is, structure is as important to an organization as it is to a building. No matter what industry you’re in, one of your challenges as a leader is to evaluate the structure on an ongoing basis and not to be afraid to break the mold. Remember, a great leader never settles for good enough.

Clear communication is one of a leader’s principal tasks, especially when it comes to responsibility and authority. Keep that concept in mind at all times, and your teams will perform above expectations.

As a leader you are always responsible for the outcome. Too often in business, a leader’s response to things gone wrong is: “Why wasn’t I informed?” or “I delegated that responsibility to Jim.” The fact is, if things go wrong, it’s the leader’s responsibility.

Make every position count. Making sure that every position has genuine value can be difficult, but it’s a challenge that leaders have to face squarely.

When you are forced to let decent people go, treat them the way you would want to be treated in that situation: with dignity. Not only is this the ethical thing to do, but it also sends the right message to the rest of the organization. In my experience, going the extra mile to ease someone’s departure and make the transition easier always pays off, not only in the person’s gratitude but also in the trust and loyalty of the rest of the workforce.

Get as flat as you can.

Overall, a flat structure enhances productivity by streamlining the decision-making process, speeding up follow-through, and optimizing communication. Fewer layers mean fewer mistakes, misunderstandings, mistranslations, and other misses.

If you get wind of grievances about overwork, the culprit might be the organizational structure. Ask yourself these questions, which apply to every type of organization. Is the overall structure getting in the way of productivity? Are departments or teams disorganized? Could they be organized in a better way? Are employees spending time on work that no longer has the value it once did?

Can certain tasks be streamlined or even eliminated? Would employees work more efficiently if they were given more authority? Do employees need training in time management?

Reworking your organizational design might lighten your employees’ workload and make every hour of their time more productive. Simply reviewing the tasks everyone is doing and eliminating those o...

You don’t have to be officially in charge to influence organizational structure. If you have ideas for doing things better, write them up and present them to the person you report to. But don’t come across as a complainer. Deliver your proposal in a professional manner, and focus on the relevant positions and responsibilities, not on the people who do them.

Be prepared to take risks. It has been said that two attitudes toward change can sabotage success. One is: “But this is the way we’ve always done it.” The other is: “But we’ve never done it that way before.” Don’t fall prey to either of these. Always look for a better way to do things, and don’t be afraid of upsetting people. If you have a good idea, give it a chance. Remember, if it doesn’t work out, you can always change it again.