The Ride of a Lifetime - Robert Iger;  ## Metadata - Author: **Robert Iger;** - Full Title: The Ride of a Lifetime - Category: #books ## Highlights - Optimism. One of the most important qualities of a good leader is optimism, a pragmatic enthusiasm for what can be achieved. Even in the face of difficult choices and less than ideal outcomes, an optimistic leader does not yield to pessimism. Simply put, people are not motivated or energized by pessimists. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9py8rwcdt1vaes2rf68ht)) - Courage. The foundation of risk-taking is courage, and in ever-changing, disrupted businesses, risk-taking is essential, innovation is vital, and true innovation occurs only when people have courage. This is true of acquisitions, investments, and capital allocations, and it particularly applies to creative decisions. Fear of failure destroys creativity. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9qja3dbsbfj7ehjhmj565)) - Focus. Allocating time, energy, and resources to the strategies, problems, and projects that are of highest importance and value is extremely important, and it’s imperative to communicate your priorities clearly and often. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9qwm2123r8sdyfpwhcz36)) - Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can and should be made in a timely way. Leaders must encourage a diversity of opinion balanced with the need to make and implement decisions. Chronic indecision is not only inefficient and counterproductive, but it is deeply corrosive to morale. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9r2xmdpb9qyfzj039cc5b)) - Curiosity. A deep and abiding curiosity enables the discovery of new people, places, and ideas, as well as an awareness and an understanding of the marketplace and its changing dynamics. The path to innovation begins with curiosity. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9rh9c51z0n8jwb69effz5)) - Fairness. Strong leadership embodies the fair and decent treatment of people. Empathy is essential, as is accessibility. People committing honest mistakes deserve second chances, and judging people too harshly generates fear and anxiety, which discourage communication and innovation. Nothing is worse to an organization than a culture of fear. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9rz4aa03556cdt8mhb4pg)) - Thoughtfulness. Thoughtfulness is one of the most underrated elements of good leadership. It is the process of gaining knowledge, so an opinion rendered or decision made is more credible and more likely to be correct. It’s simply about taking the time to develop informed opinions. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9t10tmx68yzg7qxnbrx1m)) - Authenticity. Be genuine. Be honest. Don’t fake anything. Truth and authenticity breed respect and trust. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9tk1cjhz34w5zf143x8r0)) - The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection. This doesn’t mean perfectionism at all costs, but it does mean a refusal to accept mediocrity or make excuses for something being “good enough.” If you believe that something can be made better, put in the effort to do it. If you’re in the business of making things, be in the business of making things great. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9tvp1s2sgvq2phggy0j0r)) - Integrity. Nothing is more important than the quality and integrity of an organization’s people and its product. A company’s success depends on setting high ethical standards for all things, big and small. Another way of saying this is: The way you do anything is the way you do everything. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvk9v553r4c7n3jpk4w07fad)) - Eight months later, Tom came to me again. “I need you in that job,” he said. “I need help running the company.” In September 1994, I became president and COO of Capital Cities/ABC, a year and nine months after becoming president of the network. It was a dizzying and sometimes destabilizing trajectory. I wouldn’t as a rule recommend promoting someone as rapidly as they promoted me, but I will say one more time, because it bears repeating: The way they conveyed their faith in me at every step made all the difference in my success. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvnv9gnbmkraak11je5thr2e)) - Soon after I became Chief Operating Officer, in the spring of 1995, Michael Eisner, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, began making inquiries into a possible acquisition of Cap Cities/ABC. It didn’t go anywhere initially, and right around that time, Tom told me that he was planning to talk with the board about my succeeding him as CEO. That July, we were in Sun Valley, Idaho, for the annual Allen & Company conference. I was standing in a parking lot talking with Tom, and I could see Warren Buffett, our largest shareholder, and Michael Eisner talking nearby. They waved for Tom to come over, and before he walked away, I said, “Do me a favor. If you decide to sell to Michael, give me some warning, okay?” It didn’t take long. A few weeks later, Michael reached out to Tom formally to begin the negotiation for Disney to buy Capital Cities/ABC. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvnvb7hyajq0prtv425kpm1y)) - Jane came in and pitched the idea, which I liked because it could connect us to a younger, less stodgy demographic. I reviewed a business plan that made sense to me and I gave the team the green light. I soon got a call from Tom Staggs, who would later be my CFO and worked then in Strat Planning. Tom was contacting me on behalf of his boss, Larry Murphy, who ran the entire Strategic Planning unit. He sheepishly told me that Larry didn’t allow any of Disney’s businesses to expand, invest, or attempt to start anything new without a thorough analysis by his group. Once they did the analysis, they’d bring their recommendation to Michael. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvnx9tw4h7rpapqef0g0vbvh)) - He was the quintessential agent, and he was used to always being accessible for clients, often dropping everything he was doing in order to be available for them. Those habits did not work for Disney. He wanted to offer people like Tom Clancy, Magic Johnson, Martin Scorsese, and Janet Jackson (and many more) omnibus deals that would span Disney’s businesses. He was constantly pitching these people on what Disney could do for them. Deals like this might sound great in a press release, but they rarely turn out well. They need a senior executive to act as a sponsor, putting in the time and energy necessary to shepherd each aspect of the deal through every business and every initiative. They also send a signal to the talent that they have carte blanche, and at places like Disney, where every idea is carefully vetted, this can be a disaster. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvnxjqyabm9bhqzmkq5qad80)) - 1) We needed to devote most of our time and capital to the creation of high-quality branded content. In an age when more and more “content” was being created and distributed, we needed to bet on the fact that quality will matter more and more. It wasn’t enough to create lots of content; and it wasn’t even enough to create lots of *good* content. With an explosion of choice, consumers needed an ability to make decisions about how to spend their time and money. Great brands would become even more powerful tools for guiding consumer behavior. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jvpz3fzzj6j08by1kn6901q2))