What We Learnt From Ex Disney CEO Bob Iger - The Ride of a Lifetime Quick Book Review Summary - Best Business Books

In this special book review episode, David reviews The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger (Bob Iger). We give a quick summary for anyone who’s busy, as well as some insights for anyone looking to learn from the legend behind Disney+, Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, Star Wars, Fox, Marvel and more.

A lot of our guests recommend this book, including Rachel Wong and Lisa Teh. Listen to the Ride of a Lifetime for free on Audible now through this link, and support our show! Or buy the paperback from Amazon.

Check out our Books Section for more books recommended by our guests

About The Ride of a Lifetime:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A memoir of leadership and success: The executive chairman of Disney, Time’s 2019 businessperson of the year, shares the ideas and values he embraced during his fifteen years as CEO while reinventing one of the world’s most beloved companies and inspiring the people who bring the magic to life.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR

Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. The competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger—think global—and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.

Today, Disney is the largest, most admired media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era.

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including:

• Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming.
• Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity.
• Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale.
• Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them.

“The ideas in this book strike me as universal” Iger writes. “Not just to the aspiring CEOs of the world, but to anyone wanting to feel less fearful, more confidently themselves, as they navigate their professional and even personal lives.”

About Bob Iger

Robert A. Iger (/ˈaɪɡər/; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who was Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020, as well as Chairman of the Board and Executive Chairman. He previously worked as president of ABC Television from 1994 to 1995 and as president and COO of Capital Cities/ABC from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president and COO of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005. (Source: Wikipedia)

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (/ˈdɪzni/),] is an American multinational entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the “Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio”;[4] it also operated under the names “The Walt Disney Studio” and “Walt Disney Productions” before officially changing its name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. The company established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks. (Source: Wikipedia)

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