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

Taking time to celebrate milestones is an important part of any organizations culture.  With that, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate episode 250 of Creating Disney Magic.  Over the past 5 years, with each episode approximately 15 minutes long, we have produced more than 62 hours of lessons in leadership, management and customer service. If you have listened to the episodes, with only 15 minutes once per week, you have accumulated a lot of information. Perhaps more information than if you took a university course on leadership. It doesn't take much to make a big difference.  Another lesson from creating 250 episodes, is if you get started you can create something special. But you have to get started, put in the time to do the work and you can become an expert. When Jody Maberry and I started this podcast we didn't know where it would go or what it would become.  Here is the most important lesson from this episode, you need to take the time to celebrate milestones. Everyone likes to be recognized and c

Some people don't get the development they need at home. Working with you is the first opportunity they have to learn how to be professional and get ahead in life.  We all have ability and potential if developed properly. But not everyone gets the development they need to be successful.  As a leader, your responsibility goes beyond technical training. Upfront, let them know what matters. Be clear. Then teach them how to be great.  Developing employees helps your customers, but it also flows out into their personal life.  One of the most satisfying things in your life is the impact you have on other people.  Be a teacher. Not a boss. 

If you want to get your message out, you have to do the work.  Don't count on people hearing your message until you put it directly in front of them.  Sometimes you have part-time staff who aren't always around. Or staff on different shifts.  Use technology to make sure all staff members hear the same message no matter what time they work. Or, move around meeting times. If you want to figure it out, you will figure it out.  Don't worry about annoying staff by getting your message out so often. Worry more about making sure you are clear.  Write out what you expect, why you do what you do, and what employees can expect.  If you want to get your message out, you will have to say it over and over. When you feel like you are saying it too much, people are just now beginning to pay attention. You have to get the message to staff on different shifts and in different ways. 

When I brought on a new employee at Disney, I would have a 2-hour conversation with them, but we would not talk about work.  A corporate feeling meeting can leave a new employee feeling unsettled. A one on one meeting to find out more about them as a person sets them at ease and welcomes them to the company. Having a  conversation without talking about work gives a new employee a positive onboarding experience.  During our talk, I  wanted to get to know them; their background, family, kids, and jobs they have had in the past. I would let them know I expect them to take care of their family before they take care of work.  People need to know what they can expect when trying to juggle personal life and work life.  The better you get to know people, the better you can work together.     

More than ever, it is important to get some of your team out of the office for team building exercises. People are running so fast we don't have time to settle down and think about what to do long term.  Getting out of the office and into a new environment allows your team to bond without the distraction and routine of the office.  When teams have fun, they do better work. When teams have fun away from the office, they can discover new ideas.  Best ideas don't usually happen in the office. Ideas come away from the office when we are out of the business that surrounds us at work.  To explore the idea of offsite team building exercises, Teddy Cheek, marketing and brand director for The Escape Game, joins us on this episode of Creating Disney Magic.  Corporations and organizations use Escape Rooms as a team building exercise. Teddy has seen first hand the impact of offsite team building exercises and how effective it can be.  Sitting in an office is not very creative. Get off-site away from the phone and email. 

At Disney World we use four keys to make decisions.  The four keys help people understand how to make decisions.  Here are the four keys: Safety - Is the decision you are about to make going to be safe? Courtesy - Disney is famous for being friendly and clean. Any cast member you meet will go out of their way to take care of you.  Show - Are we ready to put on a great show? Is the area clean? Are the props in the right place? Are the cast members prepared? Efficiency - When you are in business you have to be efficient. Always look for a better way. Can we do it quicker? Does someone else have a better way? If you implement these four keys you will make solid decisions in your organization.  On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, we take the four keys and show how to implement them for a corner drug store. You don't have to be Disney World to implement the four keys. 

Your legacy is the only thing you can take with you and leave behind.  As I get older, I think about what I have contributed to the world. More than anything, I want to be remembered as a teacher.  If you have experience and knowledge, there is no upside in keeping it to yourself. Give it away.  The proof of what your legacy is will be what people say when you are not in front of them. Do you do what you say you will do? Do you make a difference? Can people approach you? If you do the right things people will notice.  In this episode of Creating Disney Magic, I talk about what it takes to leave a legacy.  Do a little more than people expect and before long people will begin recommending you.  It is never too early to begin to build a legacy. No matter what your job is, you can begin to build a reputation for being curious, hard-working., and dependable. The way you act and your appearance shape how other people view you. People notice when someone is different.  It is also never too early to begin to build a

On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, I answer several listener questions.  How does taking care of customers and employees reduce risk? When you treat people right and are sincere it creates an environment and culture where guests want to help you. Guests will report issues before they are real problems because they like your company and want to help.  Is there a difference in running meetings with volunteers versus meetings with employees? Including volunteers makes them feel part of what is going on in the organization. When people are included, they are committed. This is true for anyone, whether they are a volunteer or on the payroll.  What ride or show did I enjoy at Disney World? I enjoyed Rockin' Roller Coaster because it woke me up.  What advice do I have for people dissatisfied with their job? At Disney, we spend time and money making sure we hire the right people. Most cast members are satisfied with their jobs. But most people are not satisfied with their jobs. Usually, this is because of the

It's not magic that makes it work, it's the way we work that makes it magic.  And we are able to create the magic with our work through clarity.  Here is the secret about clarity people aren't talking about...If you are not clear, people will begin doing what is clear for them. People fill in the blanks and do what they either want to do or what they think they should do.  When you want your brand to be consistent and reliable, there isn't room for employees to make up their mind on what to do.  Being clear means having hard discussions and making hard decisions. Clarity isn't easy, but it is always worth it.  Clarity means knowing in your own mind what you want. And then communicating to other people what it is. Clarity is not easy.  But the end result of clarity is magic. Clarity is why Disney World is such a wonderful place. Guest have one experience at Disney, not a series of experiences that are different. Communication is the key to clarity. The more clarity you have, and the more you hold people accoun

Walking through your operation every day, especially the beginning of the day, is the best way to know what is going on.  When I ran a hotel, I walked the entire hotel every morning. By 7 am, I was aware of every issue and had checked in with most employees. Again, around lunch time and before I let for the day I would walk the operation again. Every employee saw me each day.  Lee Cockerell was part of the scenery in the hotel because people were so used to seeing me.  But what if your team is spread out geographically and it is not possible to walk the operation? Begin with the phone. Have a short phone call with each member of your team every day.  Or, put them on the screen. Use Skype or Zoom.  Forget you are in a different location.  Keep notes to make sure you cover every item you want to talk about.  For messages that are not individual, you can use a podcast to put messages out to your entire team.  If you want to communicate and stay connected to your team, you can. If you don't want to, you can alway

Delegation is hard. But if you want to get more done, you have to delegate work to other people.  Often, we don't delegate because we think we can do it better than other people.  As a leader, you should be doing bigger things. If a small project takes you 30 minutes, then you misspent 30 minutes you could have used doing something only you could have been doing.  Your time needs to be used wisely. If you have hired people to do work, let them do the work.  Take the time up front to give clarity of what you expect and it will go well. Tell the outcome you want, but don't tell people how to do it.  Give people the responsibility and do the work and the authority to make decisions.  As a leader, it is your responsibility to develop other leaders. When you delegate, you help other people develop. 

Magic happens when you get people in a room together. We recorded this episode one day after one of my Creating Magic Mastermind events. People usually come to these events to spend time with me, but the real magic happens because of everyone else in the room. When you can hear from other people on how they solve and resolve problems it gives you a different perspective. When you leave the room, you will see your own problems differently. All we know is what we do. And maybe what we read. But when you get in a room with a group of people who have different approaches, different viewpoints, you walk out with a new spark.   Forget about meetings you know from work. You need enough time to get comfortable and work through a problem. Spending an hour with a group of people isn't enough time to make a difference. There is magic in Masterminds. Find a way to get involved in meetings like this. Come join me for a Creating Magic Mastermind. Or get colleagues, co-workers or like-minded people in your community togethe

This episode was recorded live at the Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World.  Being back at the Contemporary Resort reminded me of some fun stories from my time as Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World. Including opening the California Grill.  The success of California Grill came from the recipe used to open it. I hired a great chef and a great restaurant manager and let them do their job. And they did a great job.  Chefs are artists. You can't mess with them. Let them do their work. A happy chef makes great food.  You can use the same formula in any business. Give people responsibility and authority. And then let them do their job.  Work with the team. Don't make them work for you. Don't tell them what to do. Your role as a leader is a bodyguard. Put the right people in the right role and protect them from bureaucracy.

When people come to a hotel, they want their room. They don't want to get to know the staff.  How do you balance top-notch service and getting people to their room as quick as possible? There is a way to give customers what they want and still take the time to make a connection.   When you have time, and it doesn't impact the service for other guests, go ahead and take the time for a conversation and make the guest feel special.  How can we identify and realize what the customer really wants? Pay attention to people. Read off of your customer to help them get what they really want. Then find a way to give them a little more. Something extra to make a connection.  Housekeepers from Disney get invited to weddings from guests at Disney. Guests get so connected to housekeepers and other hotel staff they form long term, life long friendships.  Making a connection with a customer can make the difference between a one-time customer and a lifelong customer. 

I started my hospitality career in 1964 working at a Hilton Hotel. This episode was recorded in Hilton in Yakima, WA.  In 1973, I begin working for Marriott.  When I started my career with Marriott, many of my friends thought I was crazy to take a job with such a small company. "That company is never going to be anything", they said. Now, Marriott is the largest hotel company in the world with 6,500 hotels. When I joined them in 1973, they had only 32 hotels.  With only 32 hotels, Bill Marriott used to stop by the hotel often back then. When you walked with Mr. Marriott through a hotel, he would show you how you can do better. He was a gentleman and he made all of us feel special.  You don't have to be Bill Marriott to make people feel special.  You don't have to be a VIP to treat other people like they are important.   Start a conversation. Ask questions. Show people they are doing a good job. Give them tips on how to do better. 

Don't stay where you are not appreciated. Good pay and health benefits can make you feel comfortable enough to get stuck in a place you don't want to be. Even if the pay is good, over time you will become unsatisfied. I would never stay where someone did not respect me and treat me well. More than once, I have left a job because I did not like how I was treated. If you are not appreciated where you are, it is time to go someplace new. Continue to do a good job while you look around. Take your time to find a new opportunity. For me, it is simple. Move on if you are not loved. But can you take the risk of making a big move? Becoming stuck in a job you don't love is a risk, too. Most people are not happy with what they are doing. But that doesn't have to be you. Take the risk. Don't get stuck where you don't want to be. Don't stay where you are not appreciated.

If you want to have success, be healthy, and happy, one of the most important things you can do is learn how to manage your time.  In this episode, we look and four insights to help you understand time and the impact it can have on your life.  It doesn't matter what you know if you can't get the job done.  Knowledge is useless unless you can execute on what you know.  People don't know you are disorganized they just think you don't care.  If you don't get back to people, or do what you say you are going to do, people will fill in the blanks. And they won't realize you have trouble managing your time. They will think you don't care. Or they aren't important.  Time is not on your side. When you are young, life goes by slowly. But don't be lulled into thinking there is plenty of time.  You spend money and you spend time but you will never get your time back.  Money comes and goes. And you can get it back. But the way you spend your time will impact the rest of your life. Do you get as much value in your time as

Attack the problem, not the person.  Often, an incident comes from a poor procedure or lack of clarity.  At Disney, we dig all the way down and find out why this happened, not focus on blaming the person. Even when there was an accident, we didn't focus on the person. We wanted to know what caused the accident. What really happened? When you blame the person you rarely solve the problem.  If you want to find the real problem, be a detective.  Talk to the person. Visit the scene. Review your policies. Talk to other team members to see if they think there is a policy or procedure that lead to the incident.  In time, you will create an environment where people know you will attack the problem or process and not the person. Then people will be more willing to tell you upfront what caused a problem.  You may find the problem is clarity in training or policies. Uncovering this will allow you to fix the root of the problem.   

Training and developing staff is one of the most important things for your organization to do. But how can you train your staff when you have a limited budget? First, discuss the situation with your staff. Let the know there are tight cost constraints, but you still want to train and develop them. Ask them what they think about the situation. Ask them for ideas. If you do, they are going to offer some ideas you would never come up with on your own.  Next, explain that training and development is also their responsibility, not just yours.  Sure, it would be great if you had the money and time to send everyone through 60 hours of training, but it doesn't often work that way. Here are some ways you can still train your staff with a limited budget; -Don't focus on 1 or 2-hour chunks of time. Divide training into smaller segments.  -Spend 10 minutes before the business opens covering an important topic.  -Walk the floor and look for opportunities to show and tell.  -Create a document with your expectations so ever

If you are getting bad service in a restaurant, the problem is the General Manager, not the waiter.  If you see dirty bathrooms, don't blame the guy who cleans them, the problem is the General Manager.  If you find problems showing up like this in your organization, poor service or lack of attention to details, you either need more clarity on what you expect, better training, or you need to fire people who can't meet expectations.  The leader sets the tone, expectations, and how the show we put on every day will be executed.  But too often, the manager doesn't even know what is going on because he doesn't check. He doesn't have a checklist to make sure processes are followed. He doesn't check bathrooms to make sure they are cleaned. Let me tell you if a manager doesn't check on standards people will know. When the manager doesn't check employees will not follow through.  If you want to know the truth about what happens in your organization, check when people don't expect you to be there. This is how you can f