The Ride of A Lifetime - Applicable Book Review

 Lessons from Bob 

The end of April was a weird time for many of us in the world. It was the first full month of quarantine, which involved lots of change and disruption to our lives. I had work and leisure trips planned to Boston, back home to Chicago, Las Vegas for work and New Orleans for Jazz Fest, which were all canceled. It was also my birthday month and it felt odd that I couldn't celebrate in New York, like I had envisioned. Despite the seemingly lackluster April, there was one thing I thoroughly enjoyed during the month. That was Bob Iger's book, "The Ride of a Lifetime." The story is about Bob's rise through ABC and Disney; eventually becoming the CEO and growing Disney into the global brand that it is today.

The inside flap of the paperback was all I needed to read for me to understand that this was going to be a special book. A book that I could learn from. I decided I would take notes and highlight some of the major lessons that Bob points out in the book. Too often I read something that really catches my attention, but forget about it just moments later.

As people, we are constantly moving forward at 100mph. The idea of stopping what we are doing and taking notes may even sound ludicrous. In quarantine, I have begun to make more of a concerted effort to "slow down" my days that seem to blend together and zoom past. This starts with morning mindfulness and meditation a few times a week. I've included yoga and long-distance running as hobbies that help me clear my head and ease my many thoughts. I hope that long term I begin to build patterns of success much further than my day-to-day "missions" as I like to call them. I hope that these good habits will spill over into my career as a professional as well.

Bob Iger explains that success doesn't come all at once. There wasn't just one big moment that brought him to CEO. It was a culmination of his learnings from his early days at ABC, all the way up to 2019 and the lessons he continues to learn. Through an unprecedented work ethic and relentless vision, Bob put himself to be in position to run for CEO of Disney. During the lengthy interview process, Bob identified three major goals in which he wished to gravitate Disney towards for the next 15 years. These were the commitment to quality, embracing technology (or as he said it, "Innovate or die") and becoming a global brand.

After working for Disney and understanding the in's and out's, he identified major solutions to continue growing the Disney brand. His lessons can be directly applied to how we run our lives. Valuing your work and that commitment to quality is a great way to establish work ethic. Next is the idea of not being afraid to learn about this new era of innovation, but embracing it instead. Lastly, thinking out of the box and dreaming big; Understanding that we can reach unimaginable goals and we just have to work for it.

Iger started his career at ABC on July 1, 1974, as a studio supervisor for ABC Television. I want to note this here, because it's equally important to see where someone with his level of success started. It becomes more relatable and shows that anyone can "start from the bottom" and work their way up. It's the lessons they learn as they grow that separates themselves from the rest. The position he took paid $150 per week and mostly involved production assistant duties.

"The job description was pretty simple: Show up whenever they needed me, for whatever task. Often that meant being at a studio at 4:30 a.m. for "lighting calls" (Iger, 8).

Bob understood that no matter what job you had, it was crucial to put your best foot forward. That means showing up early, saying yes to menial tasks that others might roll their eyes over, and most importantly, staying optimistic. Bob vocalizes that people are motivated by optimism. The flip side is the trickle down effect of pessimism. It is impossible to lead a small team, and certainly a large company, when your leader is pessimistic. Showing relentless optimism creates a whole new ballgame. 

This is one of the many lessons I began to take notice of in just the prologue and first chapter of his book. The prologue brought you right into Bob's mindset during a tragic situation, the Orlando nightclub shootings. Bob comes off as a real person. Someone who would sit with you on a couch, look you in the eyes and have a present and coherent conversation with you. I appreciated the fact that Bob stated that he wanted to wait to write his book, acknowledging that even a man of his success has a lot more to learn.

Chapter one made me immediately envy his ability to successfully wake up early. I had a good run of waking up around 5:30 a.m. multiple times a week while I was living in New York. This allowed me to get a full workout and breakfast before going to work. Since I got home to Chicago, I rarely leave my bed before 8:30 a.m.; Work from home starts at 8:00 a.m..

Bob says, "I’ve always woken early, as far back as I can remember, and cherished those hours to myself before the rest of the world wakes up" (Iger, 3).

Later in the book he details one of his mornings as CEO of Disney. A 4:00 a.m. wake up to prep for a morning show on the East Coast. It airs live at 5:00 am, which is followed by more interviews, meetings and phone calls. I remember thinking to myself that before I even woke up, this man accomplished a whole day's worth of tasks. It's the reason that I am refocusing my energy to go to bed and wake up earlier. Using this time to set up my day for success.

This focus on being highly productive has been evident since I graduated college. I've cut down on watching TV shows, social media and even excess time of just laying in bed thinking about nothing. Quarantine is an opportune time to increase these efforts on bettering myself.

Iger has a very similar mindset when he says, “Whatever shape my life took, I told myself, there wasn’t a chance in the world that I was going to toil in frustration and lack fulfillment" (Iger, 6).

To me this shouts confidence. Confidence that he knows he will accomplish big goals and that failure to do so is not an option. He learned this through a combination of his childhood, but also through his first job at ABC, saying, “Maybe most important, I learned to tolerate the demanding hours and the extreme workload of television production, and that work ethic has stayed with me ever since.”

PAUSE:

I write this post now in pieces. This section is at 6:22 am on a Wednesday morning (May 13th). It is the first successful day I actually got out of bed when my alarm rang at 5:45 am. I made sure to physically rise and have my feet touch the ground. I spent my first half hour researching biotech stocks for a new group/community with my friends where every Wednesday we discuss stocks and the industries around it. I know nothing about stocks, but had the honest conversation with myself that I DO want to learn about how to smartly invest my money. So…I’m slowly learning (You have to start somewhere!).

Now, I will write about Bob for a half hour and then follow that up with an early morning Spanish lesson. The point? Bob Iger consistently put more work in than everyone else. As I previously mentioned, there were days where he would accomplish more between 4:00 and 8:00 a.m. than many people would throughout their entire day. Having time in the morning is a key aspect to this.

“It’s vital to create space in each day to let your thoughts wander beyond your immediate job responsibilities, to turn things over in your mind in a less pressured, more creative way than is possible once the daily triage kicks in "(Iger, 9).

I loved this quote when I read it in chapter one, and I love it now. There is real skill in being able to balance your life and ease your mind from the many tasks that rise each day. Before Coronavirus I focused a lot on waking up early to go to the gym. It was pretty much the only time during the day that would work for a full workout. However, while I am at home, I think it's best that I start waking up early and pushing my mind. The exercise comes throughout the day with my siblings, on the basketball court, runs to Fort Sheridan and much more. This will allow me to get my daily reading, writing, and learning tasks done before the work day starts.

UNPAUSE:

Bob's work ethic has allowed him to push himself beyond normal limits, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He says, “instead it’s about creating an environment in which you refuse to accept mediocrity. You instinctively push back against the urge to say there’s not enough time, or I don’t have the energy, or this requires a difficult conversation I don’t want to have, or any of the other ways we can convince ourselves that “good enough” is good enough" (Iger, 17).

It is this theme that comes into play hundreds of times throughout our lives. Something as simple as a group project in school. Something as complex as bringing your first company from private to public. The best teammate to this notion of pushing yourself to not accept mediocrity, is honesty.

Making difficult decisions is inevitable. For me it was choosing a University, a city to live in to pair with my first job, sometimes it's as simple as what I want to eat for breakfast. When you're leading a company, the responsibility of being a decision maker expands to other people. You no longer are making decisions that only affect yourself. Layoffs and acquisitions are the first two examples that come to mind, but nearly every decision a CEO makes has a trickle down effect of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Bob focuses a lot on this theme of honesty throughout the book, including the importance of owning up to your mistakes when you are wrong.

Bob says,“ In your work, in your life, you’ll be more respected and trusted by the people around you if you honestly own up to your mistakes. It’s impossible not to make them; but it is possible to acknowledge them, learn from them, and set an example that it’s okay to get things wrong sometime" (Iger, 20).

This perfectly aligns with the importance of asking questions and knowing what you don't know. Much of my work is speaking to video professionals who have loads of knowledge on video equipment. After all, they're the ones using it on an everyday basis. Understanding this, I have learned never to pretend to know what I am talking about if I simply do not. Instead, I try to ask the right questions to learn more about that particular topic and pitch in where I do have knowledge. As CEO, Bob handles many more complex situations where he uses honesty to represent what type of leader he is.

When speaking of one of his bosses at ABC, Dennis Swanson, Bob learns that he “was an amiable, funny guy; his energy and optimism were infectious; and, crucially, he knew what he didn’t know" (Iger, 27). Bob was deeply considering leaving ABC Sports when Dennis helped convince him to stay. Bob acknowledges this rare trait in a boss, knowing what he didn't know, saying "We would sit in meetings and something would come up and rather than bluffing his way through it, Dennis would say he didn't know, and then he'd turn on me and others for help" (Iger, 27).

Using your team, using your resources. It's something that so many of us struggle to do. We want to be problem solvers, and we want to boast that we figured it out all by ourselves. It's clear to me that you're going to need people in your life. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a strength. Surrounding yourself with the right people to ask for help is equally important.

For Bob, it was implementing these traits of honesty, optimism, diligence and more into his company. When he took over Disney, it wasn't nearly the brand it is today. They needed an attitude restructuring and Bob was in charge of leading that change.

Bob had learned from Tom and Dan (former bosses) that "true integrity, a sense of knowing who you are and being guided by your own clear sense of right and wrong, is kind of a secret weapon. They trusted in their own instincts, they treated people with respect, and over time the company came to represent the values they lived by" (Iger, 28). Bob was on a mission to have his positivity and optimism trickle down the pipeline as well.

Part of this was an understanding that he was taking on brand new responsibilities that he wasn't necessarily qualified for. Bob says, "They (Tom and Dan) believed in putting people in roles that required more of them than they knew they had in them" (Iger, 32). This was a common theme throughout the book. First it was bosses who trusted in Bob that he would figure out his new roles and learn to grow as a professional. Then it was Bob's turn to trust the workforce that he helped build at Disney. He bestowed that mindset to those around him as well, valuing their work ethic and quality traits over their previous experience in a lesser role. 

At this point in the book, Bob has moved up the chain and is now being offered the job to become the head of ABC Entertainment. The position would require a big risk from New York to Los Angeles. Iger's wife, Susan, says, "Life's an adventure...If you don't choose the adventurous path, then you're not really living" (Iger, 35).

Bob takes the job and is now a real leader. The position allows him to implement the lessons he's learned from all his previous bosses like Roone, Tom and Dan. He has a really non-threatening way of thinking about leadership and mentorship, that I immediately respected and took note of.

“At its essence? Good leadership isn’t about being indispensable; it’s about helping others be prepared to possibly step into your shoes—- giving them access to your own decision making, identifying the skills they need to develop and helping them improve" (Iger, 67).

We look at most leaders and know that they are super protective of their position. Quarterbacks in the NFL are weary of the young and cheaper option on the team. In our history textbooks we’ve learned that kings are famously focused on being overthrown rather than leading their country. And new CEO's don't want to be a placeholder for the next CEO who is being groomed in the background. Iger sees differently, focused on this trickle down effect of leadership and developing an honest brand.

The other part of the way he conducted his business was by efficiency and prioritizing. He rarely wasted time, but he was also intelligent about how he spent his time. “Priorities are the few things that you’re going to spend a lot of time and a lot of capital on. Not only do you undermine their significance by having too many, but nobody is going to remember them all" (100).

I mean isn't that brilliant. We're all trying to do so much out here. We prioritize something so that we can focus on it. But way too often we put too many priorities in the "important folder." Currently, I am half learning Spanish, piano, and sign language, while training for a marathon, taking a stocks class, "crafting my practice" in yoga, and weight training. My head is focused on 100 different things trying to multitask and become a better version of myself.

Bob is able to step away and take a good clear look at the situation. What's most important? They can't all be most important. At this point in time, I just ranked the top 5 most important daily tasks for me. 

Bob truly understood the power of priorities. From a day-to-day stand point and on a broader life standpoint. When beginning to feel the stress of leading Disney, Bob says, “It was a big job and a big title, but it wasn’t my life. My life was with Willow and my boys. All of this strain was ultimately still about a job, and I vowed to myself to try and keep that in perspective" (107).

Man this guy gets it. He doesn't have a big ego. He was never overly greedy. He values family and is most importantly balanced. Balance needs to be a huge focus if you want success.

Through this book Bob identifies nine specific qualities he learned. While there are many more, these are the few that really stuck out to me.

1. People are motivated by optimism. If you lead with optimism, you have the potential to be a great leader, because that optimism will trickle down to everyone you touch.

2. True innovation occurs when people have courage. The balance of being brave enough to take risks and smart enough to know when not to take them.

3. Focus on allocating your time correctly. Allocating your time, energy and resources to the strategies, problems and projects in your life.

4. Being decisive and making timely decisions. Being confident in yourself and trusting the decisions you make.

5. My personal favorite; Curiosity, "never let it stop".

6. Fairness comes first. The importance of having a clear and unbiased mind in decision making and ultimately doing what is right.

7. Thoughtfulness. Having empathy and kindness will ultimately define you.

8. Authenticity. Having the confidence in what you know. and knowing what you don't. Being genuine and honest.

9. Integrity. "The way you do anything is the way you do everything."

Here are some other notable characteristics and behaviors that Bob Iger has encouraged me to implement in my life:

Waking up early. Bob cherishes his mornings where he can add hours to his day and focus on getting what he wants to do done. For me, that will be pushing myself to learn in the mornings, exercise to feel good for the day, eating a full meal and maybe a morning walk to collect thoughts. Bob comes off as reading the newspaper, toast and orange juice on the back porch type of guy.

The next is reading. Whether it's that very same newspaper, or one of the many books he devours, spending time with your head buried into a book is a great priority to maintain if you're always trying to learn more, and who's not trying to learn more?

Time management. This is mightily important if any of us want to go anywhere in our lives. That work and life balance is a necessity. Maintaining productivity in the "life" section is equally important. Taking time to add skills that better yourself and not being complacent with where you're at in your professional career.

Curiosity about technology. More so than being brave about it, just outright learning more and opening your mind up to learn more. I'm not saying you need to be a tech-guru, but understanding the next wave of technology and how it can directly impact your life is very important.

Following through on connections and leads. I NEED TO NETWORK MY FACE OFF! You can never do too much networking. It should also never come off as begging or asking for a favor. It should be a genuine interest to learn from those who have made careers for themselves and an understanding that they have something unique to teach you.

Find something to help you find that groove. Bob had Sinatra who helped him focus. Is mine Neil Young? Whether it's music, meditation, or even a comfy chair, having a safe place that you can come back to again and again will increase productivity and ultimately just that feeling of warmth and goodness.

Refusing to accept mediocrity. Train the brain to push yourself to new limits. Not giving up and always creating new goals. Having the optimism to chase after your dreams. Seeking more opportunity - say yes to a whole lot. Bob talks a lot about the word "shokunin". It means “the endless pursuit of perfection for some greater good.”

Last but not least, the ideas behind "if you approach and engage people with respect and empathy, the seemingly impossible can become real." Kindness and being true to yourself will be key to long term success. Reaching the top of the mountain and having no one to share it with, is just as bad as never climbing the mountain in the first place.

A big thank you to Bob for the endless lessons that I will keep with me as I continue to grow in my professional and personal life. An even bigger thank you for writing a book that was so impactful I just had to write a synopsis on it, as if I was back in the seventh grade writing a book report. And the biggest thank you of them all for helping Disney be a major piece of my life from Pixar to Star Wars and to "infinity and beyond.”