The Wisdom of Walt Quotes

“Walt Disney: An American Original, “a man gave birth to a mouse. The mouse built the man an empire.”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Our best leaders recognize that leadership has nothing to do with position or power. Your followers want to know where you are going to take them. Casting a compelling vision is critical to your success. Your followers need a reason to go where you are going. Leadership is not about managing things as they are today. Leadership is about transforming reality into your vision for a better tomorrow.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Your first step to success is to do exactly what Walt did. Nothing. Take a Saturday and sit. Take a Sunday to think. Take a weekend to DREAM. I believe every successful person needs a park bench—that personal place where we can plan, set goals, and allow our imaginations to run wild. Your park bench is any place where you can begin to envision a bigger and better tomorrow.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“for all leaders must have vision for themselves to make it apparent to others.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“narrative,”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“This bench belongs to those who believe they can change their lives and change their worlds by changing their thinking.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Too bad you can’t earn a Ph.D. in dreaming!”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“must never stop dreaming.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“He didn’t begin with perfection. He simply began with start.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“before perfection (assuming perfection is even possible), you must first have process.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“I am an academician with a Ph.D. who works in higher education, so my head swells naturally.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Doritos were invented here, in Disneyland, in the 1960s.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Focus is about saying no.” — Steve Jobs”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“When we focus, we are saying “Yes” to what we think is important and “No” to what we choose to make irrelevant.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“We are distracted from distractions by distractions.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Focus is power.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worry won’t make it any better.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“at one point, nearly everyone predicted it would fail.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?’ ‘He did see it,’ Vance replied simply. ‘That’s why it’s here.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“You value your thoughts by giving yourself time to think.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Our best leaders recognize that leadership has nothing to do with position or power.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“The best gift a leader can give to his life, his family, and his organization is vision.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“every successful person needs a park bench—”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Your first step to success is to do exactly what Walt did. Nothing. Take a Saturday and sit. Take a Sunday to think.”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Dreams, like children, don’t raise themselves. Like”
― Jeffrey A. Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities” — Benjamin E. Mays”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“Fear is the boss you fight before taking your life to the next level.” — Author Stephen Guise”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“DisneyInstitute.com,”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone

“If you want to change your world—if you want to lead a better life— then I implore you to listen and trust your “Walter” ego. Get good with your second self. Allow it to be your true and trusted friend.”
― Jeffrey Barnes, The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland): Success Strategies for Everyone