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

Innovation doesn’t get in the way of structure. Innovation helps create structure. Your organization needs to have policies, procedures, and standards within your organization in order to protect your employees and prevent disaster. Once we figure out the best way to do something, we must do it that way and make sure everyone in the organization knows we do it that way. Structure won’t lead to micromanagement if you’ve hired the right people. If you can rely on your team, they will follow the policies and procedures you’ve put in place. Anything can get better. If leadership wants to improve something and has the drive to do so, it can be improved. Structure won't lead to less innovation.  Instead, when you get the right policies and procedures in place, they will create more freedom. They take away the questions and in that way create more innovation. On this episode, we talk about why structure is so important in organizations and how to make sure it doesn’t impede innovation. To learn more about adding str

On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, I answer two listener questions. Both about looking for or starting new jobs.  Here are some tips; Applying for jobs online is tough. It is better to know someone. Be recommendable and have someone who can recommend you.  Use a resume as a way for people to find out who you are, not just what you have done.  My career didn't take off until my mid-forties. By the time I had an opportunity with Disney, I was ready. Don't be afraid to start over or make a big shift in your 30s or 40s.  One thing valuable to employers is experience, which you have after you have worked for a while.  Your greatest assets are your attitude, and what other people are saying about you.  Be flexible, volunteer for assignments, work the tough shifts, keep learning, have a great attitude, and stick out like a sore thumb. Get a reputation where people notice you and are talking about you.  To get more career advice and training you won't find anywhere else, join us in the Cockerell Academy.     

On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, I want to talk about the importance of continuous training for leaders and employees. When should you redo formal training? The training interval will vary depending on what field you’re in. For example, if you are in the medical field, you would need to stay current on pathogens, policy, and procedures for illness and infections. Where if you are in the food industry, then staying current on food handling, proper cleaning procedures, and food safety would be paramount. It would also be necessary to redo training after a leave of absence since policies and procedures can often change rapidly. Why should you train continuously? If not trained and retrained, people will shortcut and not apply the formal training the way it was intended, the consequences of this could be deadly. Great leaders continuously train themselves and then coach their staff so they can all be the best example of safety, customer service, and leadership possible. When we continuously coach the tea

On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, we have an anonymous listener question that strikes a chord with a lot of people including myself.  “What do you do when someone takes credit for your ideas?”  It is really tough when someone takes an idea you shared, possibly in confidence with them, and presents it as their own idea. What this really indicates is that the person, claiming it as their own idea, is insecure in some way. Insecurity could come from a number of reasons like fear of being passed over for promotion, trying to impress the boss, feeling out of place or it could be because they don’t care who they step on in order to move up. Depending on the underlying reason the way you handle it will vary. This may be as simple as talking to them in private and letting them know that as a team we share ideas without claiming credit by the individual person. It could also be something they are not aware they are even doing and when brought to their attention they will stop doing it immediately. There are al

I am excited to announce the launch of The Cockerell Academy. The Cockerell Academy is the best thing I have ever created. It is full of courses on leadership, management, customer service, and culture. When you enroll, you will get instant access to six courses: Time Management Magic Morning Magic Planning Career Magic 30 Career Success for Students Perfect Day for Your Customers World Class Customer Service (based on my book, The Customer Rules) All of my courses will be inside the Cockerell Academy and you will have access to every one of them. Plus, you will have access to the Phronesis Vault. Every month, I will add new content to the Vault, including articles, podcasts, videos, and exclusive interviews with some of my favorite people in business. Over time, the Vault will grow to become the most valuable part of the Cockerell Academy. And this is just the start. Over the next few months, I will add more courses. Already, we are working on three new courses: Better Decisions, Diversity and Inclusion, and

On this episode, I’ll answer two reader questions on  “How to Manage Your Mood”. The first question is from John Sparks.  John asks “How did you grow to control your thoughts and reactions? How do you catch and manage your moods?” Here are my best tips for managing, catching, and controlling moods. -When I am feeling good I can control my behavior, thoughts, and mood much easier. -I always preach “Don’t underestimate the influence you have on people.” This is very applicable to the world today. -I think about it often so that it has become a part of how I control myself. Nothing good comes from having a bad attitude. -While I have the ability to be upset, the positive feedback from being positive is a part of what keeps me focused on how I respond. -Attitude and behavior can be controlled if I think about it. -When a failure happens I ask, “Why and what can I do about it?” so that it doesn’t happen again. -I can still be honest and firm without degrading people. -If I am nice, polite, and helpful people want

When it comes to hiring, always hold out for the right person.  Play the long game. Don't hire someone who is not the right person just so you can fill a position.  If you don't have great people you won't become a great organization. Being excellent is hard. And you need the right people to be excellent.  Sure, it can become frustrating to deal with the extra work that comes from an empty position. But hiring the wrong person will create even more work. 

Dan Cockerell returns to Creating Disney Magic to talk about his new book, How's the Culture in Your Kingdom. Four stages to building a healthy culture; Leading Self, Leading Teams, Leading an Organization, Leading Change. A leader understands they have to take care of themself before they can take care of other people. Taking care of yourself is probably the hardest thing a leader has to do. Dan explains there is more to taking care of yourself than physical fitness. You also need to tend to your mental and moral fitness, too. How you take care of yourself flows into how you lead a team. Few organizations have a leadership strategy. How's the Culture in Your Kingdom will help you develop a deliberate strategy for leadership. Don't leave leadership to be a byproduct of the work you are doing. Be deliberate about building a culture. It's all about people. In this episode, Dan will walk you through how to develop a clear leadership strategy. Don't miss out on the new book, How's the Culture In Your Kingdom.

Most organizations make two big mistakes with their website.  First, we are confusing people about what we sell. People should be able to look at your website for five seconds and be able to know what you sell, how it will make their life better, and what do you need to do to buy it.  When you tell people what you are selling, they tend to buy it.  Some of the confusion we create comes from the curse of knowledge. We know so much about our product, we project our knowledge onto the customer.  The second mistake we make with our website, is we talk too much about ourselves. Instead, you want to talk about the customer and the customer's problem. People don't read your website to find out about you, they are reading to find out how you can solve their problem.  "Don't be the hero, be the guide." - Donald Miller. You can talk about yourself as long as you are talking about empathy, "I feel your pain", and authority, "I have the expertise to get your out of your problem." When we express empathy and authority, pe

When it comes to marketing, most businesses guess.  Donald Miller wrote Marketing Made Simple to help businesses create marketing that actually works. The book will give you a step by step guide on what to do to connect with customers.  Story is the hidden language we all speak. If you don't use stories in your marketing, you will not connect with people.  You are in business to solved a problem. If you don't solve a problem and transform people, you've got no story and no business.  Marketing Made Simple breaks down marketing into this simple plan: Creating a landing page in a specific way with specific language. Have a lead generator that makes people want to give up their email address. Send some emails to build trust and offer free value. Close the deal with a sales campaign after you have built trust. Between Donald's last two books, Building a StoryBrand and Marketing Made Simple, you can implement a simple, clear marketing plan to get more leads and earn more customers.  To learn more, visit StoryBra

The 300th episode of Creating Disney Magic.  After recording 300 episodes over 6 years, here are the biggest things I have learned: The power of hearing your voice. Nothing else can compare to people hearing your voice.  Keeping episodes short have allowed us to deliver content quickly.  Listener questions have allowed me to know what people are thinking and what topics are important.  A Podcast can help you learn more about yourself and polish the way you talk about what you believe.  This episode includes a few special messages from people with congratulations on reaching 300 episodes.  One thing I want you to remember is don't underestimate the power of your voice. We all need to stand up and speak out loud about what we believe in. 

People who make good choices get ahead in life.  To make good choices, you need to understand your values. Take time to figure out what you stand for and what you stand against.  It is easy to make the wrong decision. It is tough to be brave and step in and help someone who doesn't have the same influence you don't have.  In the long term, it will pay off to stand up for what you believe in and do what is right. Making an easy decision may benefit you in the moment, but there is no benefit later. In fact, it will hurt you down the road. If not with other people, you will erode your confidence in yourself.  We all have influence. If you speak up you never know who is listening. If you take the right action you never know the impact it will have on the people watching. 

When you learn something new, it is only entertainment if you don't use it.  On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, Chris Jaskiewicz joins us to explain how he used what he learned to improve his organization.  Chris is the President and CEO of Icon Park in Orlando.  Icon Park was the first attraction in Orlando to open as the city began open again after the Covid-19 lockdown. Chris explains how they used story, not facts, to present the case why Icon was ready to open again.  Chris also explains how he used what he learned from me to improve his organization. With the improvements to Icon Park, they have been acknowledged by Forbes and USA Today.  Whether you learn from me or someone else, you need to find a way to use the new information to improve. Don't go through the motions and then claim you are better. Apply what you learn and actually get better.

When I was the Executive Vice President at Walt Disney World, I treasured my team coming to me with their opinion. They did not think of me as the big bad boss. They knew I was open to hearing their opinions.  I told them to keep me out of trouble and not let me make stupid decisions.  This attitude flowed up, too. Often, I would tell Al Weiss, my boss, what I needed to get work done.  Part of your responsibility as a leader is to do the right thing. Telling your boss what you know is the right thing. If you know something and don't share it with your boss, that is on you. You are not in your job to get along and get to retirement alive.  Too often, people are scared to speak up and let their boss know what they thing. If this is you, you are likely overrating the chance of getting in trouble with your boss.  If you don't have an environment where you can share your opinion with your boss, consider if it is the right place for you. When you hold back, it begins to have an impact on you when you don't get to t

When I was Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World, Operations and entertainment sometimes had a conflict. The live shows were tremendous, but at times the cost was concerning. There was an entire operation to run, but live entertainment was a big piece of what people enjoy at the parks.  There are times when two department's priorities conflict with each other.  The key is you both have to have a mindset that you are going to work it out. Get a team together to find a way to make it work. When the right experts are in the room, you can work out the details and come out feeling both sides get what they need.  If you go in with the attitude you are going to win, everyone will lose. You won't look for a solution, you will just try to win.  There is no upside to winning when both sides are reaching for the same goal of serving the customer.  When you have a good attitude, you can avoid most of the problems.  Once you get people in the defensive mode, it can be difficult to get them out of being defensive. 

When you make a bad decision, the first thing you can do is apologize.  Don't hope people forget about it. They won't. If you have done something inappropriate, it can be difficult to get over. But if you take action on a decision and it doesn't go well, face it head-on and admit what happened.  When you get feedback from someone about a bad decision or how you are perceived, the first step is to believe it. You can't change until you accept the feedback you get.  To avoid making mistakes, seek counsel as you work through and towards big decisions. Have relationships with people who work with you so you can ask questions and get their advice. Seeking help, and taking your time, will lead to making fewer bad decisions.  Often, bad decisions come from making the decision in isolation.  In difficult situations, our desire to make people happy can also lead us to make the wrong decision.  It is better to hurt someone's feelings now rather than hurt their career later because you didn't give them candid feedback. 

When I was at Disney, cast member surveys brought to my attention some perceived me as playing favorites. It was like a gut punch to get the information. But you know what? They were right. When I reflected on the feedback, I realized I did Immediately, I change my behavior. I sat next to different people. I sought out different opinions.  Over the next couple of years, my scores improved.  The key to employee surveys is to change your behavior to change the ratings.  Don't get defensive. If you do, employees will never tell you anything again.  The purpose of feedback is for you to get better.  Employees and customers know everything you need to know to get better.  As a leader, your job is to give your team the resources and support to take care of the customer. It is not about you. It is about your team.  If you want more accurate employee surveys, follow these guidelines.  Don't ask for feedback unless you want the truth. If you just want employees to tell you that you are doing a great job, you are doing

At every business, you are going to disappoint some customers.  On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, we answer a listener question about customers getting upset or disappointed.  The question is about how the narrative told at a historical president's home causes disappointment and tension with visitors. Sometimes they don't treat staff well when they get upset.  From this situation, there are some things you can learn to use in situations with difficult subject matter. Be committed to telling the truth. Stick with the facts, whether people like them or not. Although the subject matter may be unique to the location, all organizations deal with disappointed and upset customers.  If a customer gets so negative it impacts the experience of other customers, you have to step in. Start with empathy, and see what you can do to help the situation. If needed, escalate your response to remove the customer.  Always remain professional. Keep cool. The upset customer does not know you. It is not personal.   

When you have a tough day at work, you have to find a way to let it go before you get home.  If you are a pain in the neck at home, your family won't want to see you after a workday.  I have been there myself.  My wife, Priscilla, once asked me if I could try making a little magic at home. When my son was 14, he suggested I sit in the hot tub when I get home because everything was fine before I got there.  I needed those reminders. If you let this go on too long, it becomes hard to recover.  You have to be able to lead yourself before you can lead anyone else, whether at home or work.  When you have a tough day at work, you have to find a way to let it go before you get home.  Routine relaxes me. When I was EVP of Walt Disney World, my routine was to workout at the gym between leaving work and arriving home.  Exercise makes you feel better. When you feel better, you act better.  Find an intermission before you arrive home. Maybe a commute is enough of a break if you use it the right way.  Be deliberate. Consi

During the Coronavirus Pandemic, many businesses have had to shut down temporarily. As businesses begin to reopen, we have the opportunity to do it the right way.  Don't just open the doors and expect customers to return.  Approach reopening your business like it an entirely new product. Check everything carefully. Talk to your staff for ideas. Start calling customers and ask what concerns they have about reopening.  Customers are individuals and they may have different concerns. You may not be able to address all of them, but if you don't find out what your customers are concerned about you will not be able to address any of them.  As you prepare to reopen our business, customers and employees know everything you need to know before you open the doors again.   Don't reopen your business based on what you want. Open your business on what they want. Check all of your customer's concerns and consider how you have addressed them.  If you are uncertain, go in favor of the customer. In this case, when in doubt, go