Disney, Leadership and You

Overview

Disney, Leadership and You by J. Jeff Kober is now available on Amazon. For those who have been touched by the world of Disney, this volume offers not only an inside look of how leaders at Disney create the magic, but how you can apply those principles and ideas to your own organization.

Over the years, the Walt Disney Company has emerged as the most successful entertainment corporation around the globe. This book looks at the leaders who have led this enterprise to greatness. You’ll study the experiences of Walt and Roy Disney on down the years to Disney’s current CEO, Bob Iger. Disney, Leadership and You shares the tales and personal leadership stories of nearly 100 remarkable animators, Imagineers, and Cast Members.

*This statue of Walt and Mickey Mouse is entitled “Partners”. There is a leadership story behind it. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.*

Included are tales from Walt’s first efforts to bring Mickey Mouse to the screen to the animated, live-action and television studio works of today. We examine leadership stories that made Disneyland the “Happiest Place on Earth”,” and turned Florida swamps into the “Vacation Kingdom of the World”. Disney, Leadership and You showcases lessons learned from Disney parks in Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai. From Pixar to Lucas, from Mickey Mouse watches to The Disney Cruise Line, stories of individual leadership offer threads of insight to showcase an amazing tapestry of what leadership is really about.

*Enchanted Storybook Castle at Shanghai Disneyland is the largest of all Disney castles–emblematic of how enormous the leadership challenges of the entire Walt Disney*
*Company can be. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.*

How The Book Is Outlined

There are four sections in Disney, Leadership and You. The first defines leadership as not just being in charge, but in being an influence on others. The next two major sections of the book outline two key facets of providing that influential leadership, first by making results happen, and second, by working effectively with others. These two aspects of results and relationships become the heart of the book emphasizing concepts under each with stories, examples, and ideas. The last section brings it all together with case studies and inspiration for moving forward as a leader.

Within the book title, Disney Leadership and You, lies the promise that the concepts taught will allow you as the reader to find specific ways to improve your skills. In an effort to facilitate your quest, we have included questions at the end of each chapter to serve as opportunities for personal reflection. Disney, Leadership and You will amplify your efforts to take your organization to the next level.

Disney, Leadership and You. Those three things are what this book is about.

About the Author

As an author, J. Jeff Kober has spent nearly five decades studying the topic of Disney. That included his former years as a leader at The Disney Institute, where he brought many of these same ideas to public and private sector clients who came from all over the world to learn best practices at Disney. Since leaving Disney, Jeff has brought those same ideas to scores of other organizations, big and small in an effort to help them achieve excellence.Disney, Leadership and You is a work that has been years in the making and reflects real thought leadership for today’s management realities.