Lessons Learned From Iger Pt 1

(This article is basically just part of my self-study for improving myself as a leader. Read on if you're working on your leadership skills too!)

As I step into this new phase of my career, I find myself stretching for new context.

After graduating, the book that got me started in building my business was the 4-hour workweek. It was helpful for getting things started and setting up a business while keeping a healthy family balance.

In it, Tim Ferris talks about building a machine (your business) and then letting it run efficiently without messing with it too much.

But as the machines grow and get more complex and involve more people, I feel that there are skills and new contexts that I need to expose myself to.

So I picked up The Ride of A Lifetime by Robert Iger.

I've only read halfway, but there are already so many insights I've picked up on.

First, Iger shows us the behind-the-scenes of Disney when Michael Isner was CEO. The approach that Michael takes is very different than what Tim wrote in 4-hour workweek (of course Tim was just describing how to build a lifestyle business--not how to run a continuously evolving major company).

Even though it was a colossal business, Michael would still see to little details to ensure things were perfect.

Iger also tells of one of his early bosses, Roone, who would often demand that the team re-do everything even on the day right before the production was scheduled to air. He showed how Roone would never accept "good enough." Although, Iger admits that Roone was not particularly good at balancing his perfectionism with maintaining good team morale.

There is a common theme among the leaders that Iger describes and what he also ascribes to is the relentless pursuit of perfection.

That, as a leader of people, you cannot simply let the machine run.

You need to see to the details and, even if they are "good enough", re-envision how they might be the very best they can be.

One should ask themselves,

"How can we strive for greatness?"

He cites the Netflix show Jiro Dreams of Sushi as an example of how we should be approaching our work.

Another thing that was helpful for me is Iger's diligent attention to time management--both for himself and in regard to others. He strikes me as someone who has a very reliable routine, sticks to the appointments he sets, shows up early, and also makes himself immediately available when duty calls.

Bob Iger is not working a 4-hour workweek. Instead, it seems that he has made it his priority to be 1,000% reliable for the company that he works for. This is an admirable trait--although it can also be difficult to maintain a stable home life when you prioritize business opportunities so highly (as he mentions in regard to his divorce).

The two mentors/bosses that he mentions as great role models for the CEO role were Tom Murphey and Dan Burke. They were big into cultivating company culture. Through 'corny traditions' they slowly influenced culture in very positive ways when they acquired ABC.

This is how Iger describes them: 1) always being warm and available 2) looking for ways for Iger to grow and then clearing a pathway for him to climb 3) being very frugal and focused on revenue growth 4) they hired great people and gave them autonomy to do their work without meddling.

It is important to mention that Warren Buffet himself mentions that these guys were the greatest managers he had ever met, and he personally financed their acquisition of ABC.

Tom and Dan do have sort of a hands-off approach in the CEO role. They focused on culture, finance, and strategy. This may have worked well for them because they had so many different business entities to manage.

Whereas Michael Isner (CEO) and Roone (not CEO) (and even Iger) seem to have a more Micro-managy approach.

Iger writes that Isner liked to say, "Micromanaging is Underrated." And that Iger tended to agree with that sentiment. This was a surprise to me because common wisdom tells us to stay far away from micromanaging.

Tom and Dan had business strategy to conduct and they did it well. But the others mentioned, had creative processes to oversee. They were focused on the product (movies, tv shows, theme parks) and all the details had to be perfect.

I'm just getting to the part of the book where Iger will become the CEO of Disney. I'm looking forward to getting insight into what type of CEO he is.