Tag: Bob Iger

Admittedly, before reading this book, I already had vested interest in Disney. I am fascinated by the transformation that the company has been going through and I own its stock in my humble portfolio. Nonetheless, it is one of those books that I have read with more focus than I have others.

The book offers interesting insights into the transformation Disney had to go through to revive its Animations and fend off the disruption in the Entertainment industry. Through the words of Bob Iger, the delicacy of M&A negotiations is put on display, including prices paid for companies, the process to get the sellers to sell and the politics that come with acquisitions. To a fan of business strategies and technology, it’s fascinating to read.

One of the things I like about the book is the relationship between Bob Iger and the late great Steve Jobs. Bob repeatedly mentioned his admiration and love for Steve, even long after the late co-founder of Apple died. If you live your live so well that people fondly remember you long after you die and that you change lives while you live, it’s a life magnificently lived. Almost 10 years since his death, Steve is still an inspiration to me.

Bob’s account is an example of how patience and hard work can be rewarding in the long run. He used to be a guy grabbing coffee for Frank Sinatra. In his 50s and 60s, he ran one of the most iconic and influential companies in the world. He also gives away his leadership lessons which I will quote below.

All in all, if you are looking for an easy and good read, you won’t be disappointed with this one.

Decades after I stopped working for Roone, I watched a documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about a master sushi chef from Tokyo named Jiro Ono, whose restaurant has three Michelin stars and is one of the most sought-after reservations in the world. In the film, he is his late eighties and still trying to perfect his art. He is described by some as being the living embodiment of the Japanese word shokunin, which is “the endless pursuit of perfection for some greater good”

When Iron Man 2 came out, Steve took his son to see it and called me the next day. “I took Reed to see Iron Man 2 last night” he said “It sucked”

“Well thank you. It’s done about $75 million in business. It’s going to do a huge number this weekend. I don’t take your criticism lightly, Steve, but it’s a success and you’re not the audience” (I knew Iron Man 2 was nobody’s ida of an Oscar winner, but I just couldn’t let him feel he was right all of the time

Later, after we’d closed the deal, Ike told me that he’d still had his doubts and the call from Steve made a big difference to him. “He said you were true to your word” Ike said. I was grateful that Steve was willing to do it as a friend, really, more than as the most influential member of our board. Every one in a while, I would say to him, “I have to ask you this, you’re our largest shareholder” and he would always respond, “You can’t think of me as that. That’s insulting. I’m just a good friend”

After the funeral, Laurene came up to me and said, “I’ve never told my side of that story.” She described Steve coming home that night. “We had dinner and then the kids left the dinner table, and I said to Steve, ‘So did you tell him?’ ‘I told him’. And I said, ‘Can we trust him?’ ” we were standing there with Steve’s grave behind us, and Laurene, who’d just buried her husband, gave me a gift that I’ve thought about nearly every day since. I’ve certainly thought of Steve every day. “I asked him if we could trust you” Laurene said. “And Steve said, ‘I love that guy’ “

No matter who 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. The moment you start to believe it all too much, the moment you look yourself in the mirror and see a title emblazoned on your forehead, you’ve lost your way. That may be the hardest but also the most necessary lesson to keep in mind, that wherever you are along the path, you’re the same person you’ve always been

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

“Avoid getting into the business of manufacturing trombone oil. You may become the greatest trombone-oil manufacturer in the world, but in the end, the world only consumes a few quarts of trombone oil a year!” He was telling me not to invest in small projects that would sap my and the company’s resources and not give much back.

At its essence, good leadership isn’t about being indispensable; it’s about helping others be prepared to step into your shoes – giving them access to your own decision-making, identifying the skills they need to develop and helping them improve, and sometimes being honest with them about why they’re not ready for the next step up

Technological advancements will eventually make older business models obsolete. You can either bemoan that and try with all your might to protect the status quo, or you can work hard to understand and embrace it with more enthusiasm and creativity than your competitors.