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

by Robert Iger

plenty of valid reasons to be pessimistic, but as a leader you can’t communicate that pessimism to the people around you. It’s ruinous to morale. It saps energy and inspiration. Decisions get made from a protective, defensive posture.

optimism in a leader, especially in challenging times, is so vital.

confident in your ability to focus on what matters, and not to operate from a place of defensiveness and self-preservation.

The tone you set as a leader has an enormous effect on the people around you. No one wants to follow a pessimist.

provide the company and its senior team with a road map. A lot of work is complex and requires intense amounts of focus and energy, but this kind of messaging is fairly simple: This is where we want to be. This is how we’re going to get there. Once those things are laid out simply, so many decisions become easier to make, and the overall anxiety of an entire organization is lowered.

We needed to devote most of our time and capital to the creation of high-quality branded content.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of making the best possible decision.

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

it’s okay to come to me with problems, but also offer possible solutions.)

being present for your people—and making sure they know that you’re available to them—is so important for the morale and effectiveness of a company.

“It’s tradition. Tradition generates so much friction, every step of the way.”

wherever you are along the path, you’re the same person you’ve always been.