Author: Robert Iger
In June 2016, I made my fortieth trip to China in eighteen years, my eleventh in the past sixteen months.
I tend to approach bad news a problem that can be worked through and solved, something I can have control over rather than something happening to me. But I’m also all too aware of the symbolic power of Disney as a target, and the one thing that weighs heavily on me is the knowledge that no matter how vigilant we are, we can’t prepare for everything.
I struggled to smile and go on with the show. It was a stark example of the truth that what people see on the outside often doesn’t reflect what’s happening on the inside.
- If you’re in the business of making things, be in the buisness of making things great
- The way you do anything is the way you do everything
- Embrace change rather than to live in denial of it
- Taking time to develop informed opinions - thoughtfulness
I didn’t have a clear idea of what “success” meant, no specific vision of being wealthy or powerful, but I was determined not to live a life of disappointment. 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.
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.
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 many other ways we can convince ourselves that “good enough” is good enough.
To be motivated by the good and not be too personally wounded by the bad
Knowing who you are and being guided by your own clear sense of right and wrong.
What’s the problem I need to solve? Does this the solution make sense? If I’m feeling some doubt why? Am I doing this for sound reasons for am I motivated by something personal?
It’s one of those moments, I imagine, when it’s hard to know who exactly you are without this attachment and title and role that has defined you for so long.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strongman stumbles, or where the doer of the deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat in blood.
Oprah to Iger on Black Panther - It makes me tear up to think that little black children will grow up with that forever.
About disruption - Tradition generates so much friction, every step of the way.
Disney businesses - physical goods and entertainment + Content groups + tech groups - that’s what a modern media company should look like
Last line - Wherever you are along the path, you’re the same person you’ve always been.