Biographical Study
The Leadership of Walt Disney
Introduction
This biographical study attempts to demonstrate the ways in which Walt Disney’s leadership influenced his followers through his method of leadership and the extent to which his followers influenced his leadership style. This will be demonstrated with reference to relevant leadership theories, whereby section I shall relate the leadership style of Walt Disney with reference to ‘Transformational Leadership’, and more specifically: ‘Idealised Influence’, ‘Inspirational Motivation’, ‘Intellectual Stimulation’ and ‘Individualised Consideration’. Section II considers ‘Path-Goal Theory’ and section III ‘Contingency Theory’. Section IV deals with ‘Team Leadership’ with reference to
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Overall, through ‘Transformational Leadership’, Walt openly communicated his vision into the infrastructure of Disney and instilled values and a sense of purpose among his employees. With a wanted trust and respect for followers, he was able to encourage and challenge traditional methods to harness better, innovative ways to solutions (Flower 1991). Ruling by consensus, his consideration for the individual needs of his followers made him an ideal teacher and coach for his enterprise (Davis 2008).
II. Path-Goal Theory
Walt Disney saw change as a consequence of employee behaviour (Brownell, 2008). If a leader were to be effective, he or she must understand the needs of a member in an organisation. This also included an awareness of motives, personalities, skills, and abilities (See ‘Emotional Intelligence’ in Northouse 2010, p. 23; Brownell, 2008). Path-Goal Theory comprises the motivation of leaders toward subordinates in order that such needs are met and achievement of an organisation’s proposed goal is reached (Northhouse 2010). Walt Disney sustained subordinate involvement and interest through his leadership commitment to employees, as well as his dynamism and enthusiasm (Bryman 1993). After all, “Walt Disney’s greatest creation was not Fantasia, [n]or Snow White, but...his uncanny ability to make people happy” (Collins and
Within the pages of Disney U, a captivating story unfolds describing the development program designed for Disney employees. Many times reading a perfunctory book that is designed to improve one’s skills in leadership is, well, not a delight to read. However, Disney U is able to grab the reader’s attention and guide them through a thought provoking journey of ground breaking leadership tactics, inventive training methods, and creating an engaging environment for an employee.
Mickey Mouse may be an iconic figure. However, history has shown that Walt Disney may have actually been a rat. Building his empire of “The Wonderful World of Disney” does not qualify him to be a captain of industry. By definition, a captain of industry is one with positive integrity. Whereas, a robber baron is motivated by greed. As Disney began his ascent, he was like the Pharaoh in his Prince of Egypt production. Believing the end justified the means, Disney plowed over employees, considering their livelihood as part of collateral damage. Disney was a robber baron with a pernicious temper, who harshly controlled employees, and ruled his cast members by intimidation.
Lee Cockerell was the Executive Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney World for over ten years, but he did not gain this position overnight. He had years of hard work and dedication that lead him to this position. His humble beginnings instilled the value of hard work and basic management skills into his life. He discovered along the way through being an intimidating manager that something in his management style was not working. He evaluated himself and decided to become a better leader. His improved management skills are responsible for his climb up the corporate ladder. In the position as an executive at Walt Disney World, he wrote the strategies that were used to create the Disney Institute program that have created many successes for the company. Upon his retirement, Cockerell decided to share these strategies with other managers and leaders across disciplines so that they might be able to have success as well. He decided to do this by collecting his thoughts, tips, and strategies in a novel called Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney.
The Walt Disney or simply ”Disney” is an American mass media corporation, it was founded be Walt Disney and his brother Roy o Disney in October 16 1923. It is one of the biggest animation industries with it’s hand in live-action film, television and theme park. The company current name was came in 1986 and expanding in different area’s like theater, radio, music, publishing and online media. It is one of the biggest organization which has many product of it’s different sectors. From television to media to theme park to publishing it has many hands. It is the leader in animation industries. Now it is one of the leading organizations with annual revenue of 45 billion. It was Walt’s understanding that coordinating the talents of the people he hired, and pointing them at the direction of his ultimate goal was his most important job. Walt was an innovative and visionary man that used his animation background to co-found, manage, and set the platform for The Walt Disney Company’s future. Disney has five main
Walt Disney was a transformational leader as described as one “who serves to change the status quo by appealing to followers’ values and their sense of higher purpose” (Northouse, 2013). Walt Disney had a vision and did everything that he could to make that vision a reality. Walt Disney had four main transformational leadership characteristics: Vision, rhetorical skills, image and trust building and personalized leadership. Along with these four qualities, Walt Disney also had charisma and inspirational motivation (Northouse,
Throughout history great leaders have helped shape culture (locally and globally). One of the most influential people of all time is Walter Disney. Primarily known for his animation and theme park, Disney also possessed many attributes of a great leader. Disney’s ability to articulate vision,
Imagine yourself as one person trying to totally reinvent the way that families are entertained. I will be talking to you about a farmer that became an animator. A farmer as a visionary leader, impressive. That is the story of Walt Disney. By all rights, Walt Disney was an excellent animator, but he had the self-awareness to know that he could not make his vision a reality on his own. I believe that Walt Disney is a visionary leader and I will show you how he used “Team Building”, “a group organized to work together”, (Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012)(p.2) skills, “Diversity”, “a composite of individuals characteristics, experiences, and abilities”, (Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012)(p.3) skills, and Full Range Leadership Development, “Contingent Reward”, “When the follower fulfills the leader’s expectation, a reward is provide to reinforce the demonstrated positive behavior.”,(Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012),(p.14) skills to inspire people to buy into his vision and motivate others to help him accomplish his vision. I informed you earlier that I believe Walt Disney is a visionary leader, but that doesn’t make him an ethical leader. Through Walt Disney’s violation of “Honest”, “the bottom line is we don’t lie”, (United States Air Force Core Values, 1997), (p.1), “Openness”, “the free flow of
In this paper, we will explore the magical experience of Walt Disney Company through the structure and symbolic frames based on the Bolman and Deal?s individual lens. The structural frame focuses on the architecture of an organization and other features like: rules, regulations, goals, policies, roles, tasks, job designs, job descriptions, technology, chain of command, vertical and horizontal coordinating mechanisms, assessment and reward systems, and many more (Bolman, L., & Deal, T. 2013). The symbolic frame focuses on the culture, meaning, metaphor, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes and inspiration of the organization (Bolman, L., & Deal, T. 2013). On this analysis I will also explain the organization?s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that impact the leadership, partners, employees and community internally and externally.
In the words of Walt Disney, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” The CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger, is a true example of this quote. Robert Iger start with a dream to get to the top of the film entertainment world starting as a young man and work very hard to get to where he is now. Robert has had to deal with companies merging and changes in film industries but as a true CEO he was about to embrace the true work ethic of CEO. However every dreamer has had to deal with challenges, but Robert has used {…} Robert is a true CEO and has a mind for new improvements, and truly embraces the Walt Disney quote in every actions as he works to the
Disney Productions is one of the leading entertainment businesses, bringing tremendous profits not to mention the joy it brings many people. It has not always been this easy for Disney however. It took the mind of one man to bring it to what it is today, and that’s mans name is Walt Disney. Walt Disney’s life was devoted to the arts and entertainment almost from birth. However, Walt’s fortunes and fame didn’t take form until his creation of Mickey Mouse.
Introduction: The Walt Disney Company is on the threshold of a new era. Michael Eisner has stepped down from his position as CEO and turned over the reigns to Robert Iger. A lot of turmoil has been brewing through the company over the last four years; many people are hoping that this change in leadership will put Disney back on the road to success. Issues began around mid-2002; when declining earnings, fleeing shareholders, and
The Disney Corporation is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. (Disney Corporate, 2009). This company did not become one of the leading corporations in the world without hard work, an extreme dedication to the mission and core values of the organization, and the successful application of the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Many internal and external factors may have a direct impact on the four functions of management like: globalization, ethics, and innovation.
Throughout many generations of remarkable feats the late Walt Disney and Steve Jobs are two men who were influential to their eras. Both gentleman had tremendous capabilities that surpassed the average person. Their creativity allowed them to dream big, but even better they made dreams a reality. Walt Disney and Steve Jobs had many things in common, such as aspects of imagination. However, the two men were from different time periods. Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago, while Jobs was born in 1955 in San Francisco. Both men were molded by two different eras, where Disney was generally more formal, wore a suit and had a conservative businessman personality of the 1920’s , while Jobs demonstrated the fast-paced, shirt and jeans, over-optimistic mentality during the dawn of the technology period of the 1960s throughout the 21st century. They also deviated in their different managerial styles, had many diverging ideas about creative endeavors, and also differed in the beliefs of what their esteemed audiences and customers desired and deserved. But, beyond their visionary concepts, both gentlemen shared an aspect that would link them and their legacies into the fabric of American business and culture: Failure. By encountering failures throughout their lives, Disney and Jobs’, were able to cultivate a mentality to push beyond the ordinary. Before Disney’s Mickey Mouse, he would first have to lose the rights to Oswald and his other cartoons. Jobs’ would first encounter failure
Beginning with the pre-2005 context of Disney’s business environment I will show why Eisner’s autocratic style of management was impeding the necessary changes the company needed to survive in light of the issues facing the company. Following on from this analysis I can assess the process of change which the company undertook relating to relevant theories in the strategic change literature. This will allow me to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership during this process and show how CEO Iger was central to the changes which took place, again in accordance with strategic leadership theories. Finally I will attempt to identify how Disney has harnessed its key resources and core competencies throughout the process of strategic change to give itself a
The Walt Disney Company is known throughout the world as a leader in entertainment. The strategies that the Walt Disney Company have used include competitive advantage, a growth strategy, and a renewal strategy. When a person mentions a theme park, Disney is the first park that comes to mind. They were not the first theme park, but they have mastered the art of creating memories for adults and children alike. As a former employee of Disney I can vouch for the amount of effort that goes into