Submitted by quenfis on
in
Forums
Has anyone read "Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney" by Lee Cockerell? I am about a quarter of the way through the book and I'm loving it. I have always been a big fan of Disney and their way of performing, and out performing, in the business world. He is also a good story teller as well.
It's been a while since something grabbed me like this book. I'm really liking what he is instructing.
Any other thoughts??
Creating Magic
What are some of the topics that are inspiring you or instilling confidence within the book out of curiosity?
Creating Magic
The thing that I like the most about his teachings is that it is not about the people at the top of the pyramid (exec's, managers, etc.), it's about everyone in the organization, especially those ont he bottom tier. Everyone has the potential to be a great leader, even the cast member who is sweeping the Main Street.
Lee also talks about being an over-agressive manager, and how that backfired for him in so many ways. Too many times I find myself trying to navigate the boat through an iron fist, rather than allowing the associates to spark dialogue and value their opinions. From what I have read so far, this book is helping to teach how valuable the relationship is between each employee. It is about respect, organization, and being professional to each individual at all levels.
It all sounds easy at a glance, but it is a very difficult task to undertake for managers, supervisors, and even executives who don't fully understand how to communicate with their employees and get the best from them on a daily basis. Again, I admire Disney as the top of hospitality. Everytime I am at a Disney theme park, I am constantly aware of how kind each employee is no matter what their role. That says something about their management and leadership in their organization. Just to get a small glimps into how their executives maintain this type of work ethic in their employees is helping me to rethink how to instill those same leadership values in my organization.
Loved this book
I thought this book was one of the best I've come across in regards to developing a company culture of customer service. The book is thorough and provides numerous examples of changes that Disney has made over the years and their impact in regards to company organization and employee training and development. At times it does come across as a bit of a salespitch for the Disney Institute but the book is a great resource regardless. As soon as I finished it, I started reading it again.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I've ordered this book thanks to your suggestion. I appreciated your comment about the over-aggressive manager. Even though this isn't my personality I find that when I gravitate toward this temporarily for one reason or another it never brings the results I want. I find so often that "catching others doing things right" works tremendously. It sounds kindergarten-ish. But it is powerful. For example, I manage a department of 30 health care workers. We must wear name tags at all times. I was an Air Force Nurse in the past so I am accustomed to proper uniform. However, ensuring my staff wear their name tags was a great challenge to me initially. I decided to try focusing on their successes. When I noticed staff wearing their name tag I might say, "thanks for remembering your name tag today". The problem has disappeared over the past several months as a result of this simple intervention!