Anyone who has had extensive contact with Disney’s wide range of entertainment products knows that there is a common theme in all of them. The Disney brand has been a part of the Disney product culture for a long time, and most of this culture was developed by its founder, Walt Disney. Like most people whose businesses have thrived for decades, its founder was extremely talented in many areas.
Probably the first quality you’d think of Walt Disney is his ability to innovate, and that’s pretty obvious. But one that really intrigued me is his leadership ability. He was not one to praise, as he felt that the work his people produced should be praised enough because it was well done. But he had a way of getting a little more out of people. For example, if someone presented him with a project, he would note that it was interesting, but then he would say something like “now what if …”. His people would leave more inspired than when he entered.
He was always looking for people to take risks. This culture never pigeonholed anyone, but their philosophy was that you never know what talents a person has if they are never given a chance. He wasn’t particularly interested in the certification that an employee brought to Disney. He was more interested in people who could learn to do things for themselves.
That quality of taking an idea and making it even better was a great leadership skill. He had an amazing way of concentrating on solving problems, rather than playing with the problem. And as mentioned above, he wasn’t one of the high praise, as his employees typically find out if he likes his second-hand idea of someone else.
It’s probably safe to say that Walt Disney was by no means a financially capable person. He had other people to do that. He was more interested in the experience of the audience. He fully knew who his audience was and how to talk to them, and as great innovators throughout history, he anticipated their needs before the audience. The motto was “do something people like”.
It is always interesting to be able to look inside the heads of people who achieved great things. Of course, there are many different management styles, but it seems to me that Walt Disney was the leader that you would really like to work for. And his legacy and all forms of entertainment will likely live on forever.