Nov 13, 2019
Dan Cockerell is a former Disney Executive, and spent 22
magical years at Walt Disney World in a wide variety of management
roles - rising to Vice President of the Magic Kingdom. He shares
critical leadership lessons he learned at Disney, and why it was
important to always be accessible and available to his team. He
also shares how to keep your staff accountable while also
supporting the company’s mission, vision and values.
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Key Takeaways
[1:35] After graduating with a
degree in political science, Dan took on a job at Disney parking
cars and slowly worked his way up into management roles. Throughout
his 22 years at Disney, he had 19 jobs.
[7:35] Leaders know
instinctively what they have to do, but just like why we eat junk
food or do not work out regularly, it’s not always the easiest path
to take.
[9:50] Leaders are extremely
busy people. Dan offers some advice on how you can manage your time
better and stop focusing solely on the urgent tasks but also on the
important ones too.
[16:45] How do you hold someone
accountable while living out your company’s mission? You recognize
and reward good work from your team and use their actions as
examples to inspire and educate everybody else.
[24:05] Remember to give your
team permission to give you pushback or to disagree with you.
Diversity of thought is critical to an organization’s
success.
[27:05] Dan shares his gap
theory and how you can utilize knowledge and determination to
bridge the gap you have on all of your goals.
[32:15] Embrace change and be
adaptable. Change is accelerating at an exponential pace. Get your
team on board with the process as quickly as you can so that the
change is not going to be a big shock to them.
[38:25] Dan shares some fun and
memorable moments about working at Disney and why it was such a
magical and special place.
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Quotable Quotes
- “Don’t mistake simple for easy.”
- “Culture is built by behaviors.”
- “You
have to give people permission to push back on the boss, or bring
up an idea, or disagree.”
- “You
always have a blindspot.”
- “It’s
not the strongest or fastest who survive, it’s those who can adapt
most quickly.”
DanCockerell.com
Disney
The Eisenhower Matrix
Junior Achievement
Thank You for Being Late: An
Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of
Accelerations,
by Thomas
Friedman
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