Walt Disney : A Visionary And Ethical Leader

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

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.

Walt Disney once said, “It’s not the magic that makes it work, it’s the work that makes the magic.” (Capodagli & Jackson, 2007). Walt Disney was truly a visionary and ethical leader that used his talents as a transformational leader and artist to dream up a world that has stood the test of time for nearly 90 years. In this paper I will explain why he was both a visionary and ethical leader. It will show that he used inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation to further his clear and easy to follow vision, inspire his personnel, and leverage their creativity. It will also show why I believe Walt Disney fit into the traits of an ethical leader by valuing his team members and creating an environment of mutual trust and respect. Then I will tell you how I have used the same transformational leadership behaviors to lead my people, have made sure not to fall into an ethical trap and take credit for the work others do. All leaders could learn something from Walt’s visionary leadership.

The way I plan on presenting this paper to you, is in three main paragraphs. The first paragraph will talk about the Code of Ethics of Disney and what is in them. The second paragraph will state what Walt Disney’s Corporate

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,

Walt Disney was a very influential man to the entertainment industry. He made animation a whole new type of entertainment. Although Walt went through many struggles and problems, he pushed on and eventually saw results for all his hard work. Many hardships got in Disney’s way such as unsupportive parents and even bankruptcy; Walt pushed on through, always creating, working hard, and persevering to accomplish his dream.

Walter Elias Disney also known as Walt Disney is known for his imagination that changed the world. He is an inspiring person who is known for never giving up and always dreaming. He created the well-known character Mickey Mouse and he was the founder of Walt Disney Corporation. Although of al the challenged in his life, he went to Hollywood to pursue his dream, and he became very successful. Walt Disney changed the entertainment industry by creating his own business of cartoon animation. He never stopped believing and kept taking a countless of risky decisions until he got what he wants. Walt Disney has shown many different leadership styles, but in the end of the day he was the definition of an effective leader.

     Along with his serious Down to earth side Disney also lived part of his life in the realms of fantasy and imagination. His great love of fantasy and the great lack of family entertainment in America inspired Walt to build a theme park of his own. All of America thought that this time Disney had really gone crazy. As Disney once said about the reactions to his ideas for a park "Almost everyone warned us that Disneyland would be a Hollywood spectacular - a spectacular failure. But they were thinking about an amusement park, and we believe in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

There are plenty of hotbed issues on how the Disney corporation’s sociological and socio political ideologies are embedded into their products and how they affect children, but very few ask why Disney would place hidden ideologies in their movies/shows. What reasons would Disney have to program children with outdated morals while trying desperately to uphold a model image of innocence? What practices has the disney corporation practiced that some would consider immoral or even illegal? To answer these questions the following issues must be explored in more depth: The history and actions of Disney from its inceptions to the present,Walt’s strict “moral” code along with the legacy he left behind, the policies of Disneyland

The standard morals of the country were undergoing a transformation. Walt Disney recognized this and sought to provide an outlet for those longing for the ethics from the days of yore.

Walt Disney was a leader who exemplified many leadership capacities throughout his 43-year Hollywood career. He demonstrated a strong moral purpose and worked hard to make a difference in the lives of everyone who had interactions with Walt Disney Productions. His moral convictions were instilled in him by his parents at a young age. Walt was always striving to make people happy. His first priority was always to his family. Although he struggled to balance work and family at times, he was always there for his wife and daughters. Walt also had

This paper will assess the corporate culture of Walt Disney, addressing the background of the organization, training and teaching, stories, legends and myths associated with the company, philosophy, values, mission statement and the organizational goals of the company.

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,

As a business leader and a decision maker, Walter Disney developed a comprehensive approach, which considered a multitude of variables to making final calls. He as such welcomed feedback, and even strengthened the corporate culture at the company so that the employees were encouraged to provide their feedback to the managers, and as such support the decision making