Creating Disney Magic: Lessons In Leadership, Management, And Customer Service

Given the disruption COVID-19 brought on the economy and many companies in 2020, there are a lot of people out looking for work right now. This week, we have a listener question on this topic: what recommendations would I give to organizations that are looking to attract and hire top talent in the current economy? If you’re looking for talented employees, now is the time to find them. Once the world gets back to normal, great people will be scooped up very quickly. Don’t wait to hire them or you’ll miss out. To find these people, make sure your company itself is great. Just as your company wants better talent, employees want a better company. Start getting better now by focusing on people, listening and responding to their needs, and developing a strong company culture. There is a lot more flexibility in the workplace today. People have a lot more expertise in working from home and now expect adaptations to be made available. You will attract job seekers by offering them alternative work situations. Pay atten

I recently sent out an email where I said, “The more you say yes at work, the more you’ll have to say no to something at home.” In response, a listener asked if I could talk more about the right balance there. When should we say yes and when should we say no while still being a good employee? Start by thinking about the most important, no-exception items in your life. Once you know these, you’ll know what the non-negotiables are that you cannot say no to. These are the things you must bring to your boss. Straighten all of those things out. If you have to leave early on Wednesdays to volunteer for your son’s football team, tell your boss that. If your daughter has a recital in the middle of the day, give them notice of that. This is a hard conversation to have, but it will build trust with your employer. Your boss will actually benefit more if you have a good situation at home. You won’t be losing sleep thinking about the stress of the job. You’ll bring your best to work every day. In some jobs, the boss will

Recently, Jody and I were on a training call with an organization. One of the attendees asked what I used to look for when I was thinking of promoting somebody. It comes down to the 3 P’s: persistence, passion, and people. Persistence means being an employee that others can count on. It’s finishing the job no matter what. It’s never leaving anything hanging. When we are persistent, others can’t help but notice. We quickly build trust with others because, every time they work with us, things get done. Everyone wants to work with someone like that. Because most of our decisions in life come from our interactions with people, those who are persistent develop strong reputations. They are likely the first to be considered when there is a promotion. The second P is passion. When you are passionate about something, you’d still do it if you weren’t paid. Even when it’s difficult, you still love it and choose to do it over everything else. Passionate employees don’t need to be motivated because they motivate themselve

You can’t lead from your office with your feet on the desk. One of our listeners works under a boss who is likely leading that way. That listener recently asked how to bring up to their manager that their customer service was poor. Ideally, the owner of an organization would have clear expectations for providing feedback. Bosses should make it clear that they are willing to hearing employees’ ideas for how the business can be better. It is the boss’ job to create an environment and culture where employees want to, can, and have the resources, training, and trust to do a great job. If this isn’t the case, the boss may be afraid of the extra work or cost that changes will create for them. They may need training on better customer service or more experience with brave employees telling them what needs to be fixed. Without improving customer service, you will lose out on a variety of things. You may lose customers as there are countless other companies (with better customer service) where they can go to get what

If you’ve worked at a company for any length of time, you’ve probably come up with some ideas for how it could improve. It’s hard when you get excited about something and bring it to your boss, only to have them shut it down. On this episode, we’re answering a listener question about this very subject. This listener explained that when she gives ideas to her boss, he always shoots them down. It’s become such an issue for her that it’s affecting her growth and happiness. She wrote in to ask for better ways to present her new ideas and get her supervisor to be less fearful about trying new things. There are many possible reasons a boss would shut down an idea. It may be that the idea just isn’t good. However, it could also be that the boss doesn’t want to put in the effort. Start with analyzing the ideas you’re bringing. Are you presenting them in enough detail? Are you explaining the end result of the changes you’re presenting? Have you thought through what will happen if you don’t implement this idea? It’s pa

I’ve been very open about my struggle with depression in the past. Though I am doing great now, I still remember what it was like. A listener recently told us that they were just coming out of their own struggle with depression, but were feeling overwhelmed with building back their healthy habits. This is not something that I want to be an expert in, but the truth is that I am. We can’t expect everything to be fixed immediately. We didn’t fall into depression overnight, so we won’t come out of it overnight, either. It’s a process that takes time. However, there are things you can be doing to jumpstart that process. Some of the things that helped me were getting out into the sun, exercising, and spending time with other people. I didn’t always feel like doing these things, but I forced myself. Eventually, they brought healing and made me feel much better. Another helpful practice was scheduling my priorities. Get into your calendar and put the habits in there that you want to start again. Schedule the things t

It’s performance review time for many organizations. Towards the end of a year or the beginning of a new year, many companies will hold these reviews for their employees. They look back on what each one worked on and accomplished over the last year. On this episode, we’re discussing performance reviews from a different perspective than we have before. A listener asked how she, as an individual contributor, could demonstrate and document leadership skills to her supervisors during her performance review. First, you must understand what leadership really is. Don’t overcomplicate it. Leadership is about stepping up, raising your hand, and giving your opinion. It is doing whatever is necessary to make things better in your organization. Leaders take on responsibility and don’t back down from hard things. You have to demonstrate this leadership ability to your supervisors clearly. They’re busy, so they might not notice when you do something great. Don’t be afraid of self-promotion. If you don’t tell people somethi

This week’s episode is a special one. We’re sharing a clip from our conversation with Ron Logan. Ron is retired now, but he was the Executive Vice President of live entertainment for Disney worldwide.  If you have ever experienced live entertainment at any Disney location, Ron had a part in it. Even though he is retired today, his impact is still felt at every Disney park. Ron is a man of attention to detail and creativity. He wouldn’t send anything out unless it was perfect. He even brought some of the shows he produced at Disney to Broadway, which is no easy task to accomplish.  In our conversation, Ron talked about his beginnings with Disney. He started out as a trumpet player on Main Street at Disneyland. This led to him putting whole parades together and eventually coming back to work for Disney full-time.  A lot of Ron’s success resulted from his interactions with his bosses. He had lots of amazing mentors, but he also had some bosses he didn’t like. His secret was to treat them as the hero. If you have

Are you helping or enabling? Do you know the difference between the two? Listener Greg Parsons recently asked us what the difference is. On this episode, we’re breaking it down and explaining how you can tell if you’re helping or enabling. Helping is setting clear expectations and sticking to them. It is teaching somebody how to do something and then letting them go off on their own to do it. When you work with someone to make them responsible, you are helping them. Enabling, on the other hand, is doing something for somebody that they should have done themselves. It is not enforcing the expectations that we have set.  When we enable, we’re giving people permission. We’re telling them that we actually didn’t mean what we said.  In the long run, this hurts them. We need tough love instead. By helping the person take responsibility we are showing them that we care. If you have a problem that’s recurring, you might actually be the problem. By seeing the same behavior over and over again and doing nothing about i

On this week’s episode, we’re answering a question that came to us from Joe Fernandez. He is a Park Ranger and is wondering how to respond well to a crisis. Joe wants to know how he can continue to lead with a positive attitude during times of uncertainty. At Disney, we were prepared for anything. We thought about crises before they happened. You should do the same. Anticipate what could happen and make sure that you’re ready for all of it. Think about what resources you’ll need and which people you will need to go to for help. You can be ready for most things, even if you don’t know the specifics of what will happen. When a crisis does occur, do any follow-up necessary to get back to normal operations. At Disney, everyone who had a piece in dealing with a crisis would sit down afterward. We would reflect on what happened, what went right, and what could have gone better. During a crisis, you don’t have a lot of time to sit and reflect. So make the space to do it after the fact. This will make sure that you r

One important key in time management is realizing that being late is a choice.  Too many of us think it’s a phenomenon. In reality, we can make the choice to be on time or we can make the choice to be late.  When we become that person who is always five minutes late, our reputation is damaged. People start to believe they can’t trust you. You appear unprofessional and impolite to the people who are left waiting. Your lateness starts to become a joke. You are no longer seen as reliable or credible. You’ll get into all kinds of other trouble when you’re late. You could miss flights, let people down, make bad decisions, and miss important information. A listener named Jennifer struggles with this exact problem. She wrote to tell us that she’s heard a lot about what to do with your time, but wants to hear about how to actually get places on time. One key is to become more aware of what’s going on. Know the trends in traffic and the events that happen over and over again.  It may also help to get up earlier and pl

People feel they are the only one until you say it out loud. In a recent training session, I gave this advice when someone asked about communication.  I wanted those leaders and I want all of you to understand that by not speaking up when someone says something you don’t agree with, you’re approving it. This all comes down to communicating effectively as a leader. We need to make sure that we are always clear and honest when we speak with our teams. Anything that could or might happen (whether good or bad) talk about it. Your team wants to know the rules so they won’t get penalized. Train them in those rules and then support them when they follow them. On the flip side, if we don’t practice clarity as a leader, people will assume where you stand. Unless you tell people what you believe, they won’t know for sure. You don’t want them guessing. So communicate your values, the way you work, what you believe in, and anything else you want to be clear about. This applies to all people you communicate with. Whether

Everyone has a story they can tell. If you’re good at anything and have a message that can help people, you can become a speaker. It just takes habit and practice. Listener Steve Ross asked how I knew the time was right to become a keynote speaker. I started by speaking at conventions that came to Disney and eventually started working and traveling with a company for a year. I also did lots of free speaking, which helped me develop the skill more than anything else. Through these experiences, I learned that speaking is like anything else. The more you do it, the more comfortable you get. The more you practice, the better you become. If you have trouble speaking, remember to tell a story and not a speech. People love personal examples from your own life. Use those and other things that you’re passionate about. Any time you have the opportunity to stand up and give your opinion, take it; that’s what speaking is all about. Start getting into the habit of speaking by finding volunteer opportunities. There are so

Team sports are all about learning to rely on others and taking responsibility for your own actions. No matter what each player looks like or where they come from, they all work together to accomplish the goal. Reggie Williams learned this lesson during his 14 years as an NFL star. He experienced incredible hardships, but through the entire process developed resiliency. Many people don’t overcome difficulties in their lives. They get angry, get in trouble, and give up. However, Reggie overcame obstacles many of us couldn’t imagine. He credits this to his upbringing. His parents emphasized the power of education from a young age. He learned to seek the truth, which provided the foundation from which he navigated many adversities in his life. Reggie has spent a lot of his life building bonds that last. In relationships, you receive not only companionship but also a reservoir of truth. If you stop kidding yourself and operate in that truth, you can deal with amazing challenges. When Reggie joined Disney, he lear

Are you required to put in enough time on the job to get respect or have influence? Someone who listens to the Creating Disney Magic said they have been given a responsibility that is higher than their experience. However, they’re confident about their knowledge. Sometimes, they feel like their colleagues don’t take them seriously because they’re underage for their role and asked for tips on how to develop tact, influence, and authority in everyday leadership while being welcoming, caring, and nice. This is a problem all over the world. Young people are entering the workforce while the older generation is in the middle of their careers or on their way out. There is a pervasive mentality that you have to pay your dues before you get your shot. However, the world doesn’t work that way. I didn’t finish college myself but took on highly responsible positions from a young age. I had people from Harvard, Stanford, and other big schools reporting to me. It was clear that they were annoyed, but it wasn’t my fault. Al

Not only does training benefit the employees of a company, but it benefits the company itself, too. As we’ve talked about in previous episodes, when you spend time and money on someone, it shows them that they matter and that you care about them. They understand just how valued they are. Training also builds trust. Your people will say good things about you behind your back when you invest in them. It creates a powerful environment between the two of you, which is contagious. Other employees will pick up on that culture and want to be trained themselves. When employees are properly trained, they take better care of your customers. They do their jobs much better. Training is an investment, but it has a huge payoff later. Employees who are confident and care about the company will earn your money back. They’ll grow and be worth more. When you need to fill a position, one of your trained employees can be promoted and you won’t have to spend the time and money to go out and recruit someone new. Finally, training

In a past episode of Creating Disney Magic, I said it was a mistake to try to live two separate lives; one at home and one at work.  Since we have never discussed it in a full episode, a listener wrote in asking us to talk more about it. So in this episode, we get right into it.  The truth is, you don’t get to live two lives. You have to get everything done in the one life you are given. The way to do this is through time-management. This isn’t a skill that’s only applicable to work. You need to implement good time management at home, too. List out everything you need to do in a planner, then go through and prioritize it. If the two most important things you have to get done today are personal, that’s okay. If you need to finish up a work project after supper, that’s okay, too. Management is all about control. All the stuff you have to do isn’t business or personal--it’s just life. Your personal issues affect your work and vise-versa. So, keep all aspects of your life under control. Additionally, it’s a mist

Many people are struggling with the job search right now, so on this episode of Creating Disney Magic we and a listener question. She asked, “How do I reenter the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom for 17 years?” In this episode, I explain how to sell yourself through your resume, even if you don’t have directly relevant experience for the position for which you’re applying. It’s all about the story you tell with your resume. Take what you’ve done and tell a story with it. Be authentic and truthful, because the employer wants to hear who you are more they want to hear what you’ve done. That’s what people are looking for long-term. So, write about who you are. Write about any experiences you’ve had that have developed leadership, organization, or management traits within you. Write about the things you’ve dealt with as a mom or in whatever situation you’ve previously found yourself in. Most importantly, show them that you’re a good gamble. If you tell them that you’re willing to take on an entry-level ro

Show your employees that you care and in return, you’ll get commitment. When I was at Disney, we gave housekeepers an hour to attend English lessons. We hired local professors to teach these classes. As a result,  the turnover rate for housekeepers dropped down to almost zero. When you’re investing in people, you’re showing them you care. Leadership is about taking care of people. It’s all about showing people they matter. One way to do that is by helping them with their education or training them in some other way. Many people in entry-level jobs underestimate what they can achieve in life. A leader’s job is to build up these employees’ self-confidence and help them know they achieve great things. When you help people get knowledgeable, you change their life. This, in turn, changes their children’s and their grandchildren’s lives. It also enhances the environment of the company and attracts even more great people to it. You may not immediately see it if you’re only looking at the numbers, but showing employe

When we don't have much experience in the field we're working in, or get a big promotion, we can have what some people call Imposter Syndrome.  Imposter syndrome is when you feel like you aren't deserving or good enough for the opportunity, even if your track record might suggest otherwise.  These feelings can be especially prevalent we don’t have much experience in the field in This week’s episode features a question from a listener who is struggling with imposter syndrome. On the episode, we talk about how to overcome imposter syndrome when we’re leading a team with far more experience than us. When I first started working at Disney, I didn’t know anything about the theme park. In fact, I had never even been to Disney World! I wasn’t there to run the parks, though. It was my job to be a leader and let the experts around me run the parks.   The first thing you should do is get everything out of the way upfront. Have a team meeting and have the person who hired you to explain why they chose you for the job. T