10. The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger

This is the big idea. Best-selling books in15 minutes on Himalaya learning today, we'll be reading the ride of a lifetimelessons learned from 15 years as CEO of the Walt Disney company by Robert Iger.

[00:00:27] In 2005, one of the first callsRobert Iger made after being named CEO of the Walt Disney company was to Stevejobs. Uyghur didn't know jobs particularly well at the time, but jobs wasrunning Pixar, animation studios. Pixar had been a partner of Disney during oneof their most successful periods of producing animated films together, creatingiconic blockbusters, such as toy story cars and fighting Nimo.

[00:00:55] However, over the last fewyears, years John's relationship with Disney had become frayed. The terms ofthe partnership had recently expired and jobs had publicly declared that he'dnever worked with Disney again. On this initial called between Uyghur and jobs,jobs responded to the news of Uyghurs new role with the IC reply.

[00:01:17] Well, that's cool for you.Within six months of that tense call came surprising news. I grew and Disneyhad partnered with jobs and Apple to release some of Disney's most popularshows on iTunes. This news coincided with Apple's announcement of the firstvideo iPod. During the product launch jobs shared the stage with Uyghur.

[00:01:41] Then only a few months latercame even more surprising news. In January, 2006, Disney announced they werepurchasing Pixar and a deal valued at more than $7 billion. It was the culminationof Uyghurs highly intentional courtship of Steve jobs. And Pixar Uyghur knewthat Pixar was on the cutting edge of animation technology and storytelling.

[00:02:05] They were outpacing Disneyanimation. He knew that he needed Pixar to revitalize Disney's core businessand that he needed jobs to agree to the sale as the majority shareholder. Andin spite of a fraught history and broken relationships, I grew made thosethings happen.

[00:02:32] Robert Uyghurs book, the ride ofa lifetime moves through the most devastating, challenging and triumphantperiods of his time at Disney, many of which STEM from Uyghurs experience withPixar and its CEO. Pixar was Uyghurs first acquisition as Disney CEO and theresults for the company were nothing short of amazing as a business decision.

[00:02:54] It warrants praise, but I agree.Doesn't tell the story of this acquisition to bask in his own glory. The storystarts with a confession. He knew Pixar was producing better films than Disney.Everyone at Disney knew this too. And so did the public. So the primarychallenge, wasn't coming up with the idea of acquiring this more successfulcompany.

[00:03:19] The challenge was in executing.The idea to acquire Pixar Disney would have to repair a critically damagedrelationship with a notoriously difficult and proud leader who felt Disney hadtreated his company like a junior assistant instead of a valued collaborator.To pull off this acquisition, Uyghur needed to convince Steve jobs to become acollaborator with Disney.

[00:03:43] Once again, to do that, heneeded honesty and humility, the same qualities it took to acknowledge thatDisney had fallen behind its competitor in the first place. Even during thisfraught time, I agree and jobs did have one shared vision. Both believe thatpeople would soon consume television the way they did music.

[00:04:05] Through their mobile devices.Uyghur used this shared vision to partner with jobs on the launch of the videoiPod. He recognized that this partnership had allowed him to build up a smallmeasure of Goodwill with jobs. So just before the product launch for the videoiPod, I grew some in the courage to call jobs with a new proposition.

[00:04:27] He told him he was interested inbuying Pixar, Eiger, braced himself for rejection, but actually he was met withinterest if, for no other reason than jobs, enjoyed crazy ideas, something elseI knew. It took many small steps to arrive just to this point. But I agree knewhe had to build a relationship around trust and a shared vision.

[00:04:50] If he had any chance of bringingPixar back to Disney, Iger and jobs met to discuss the possibility of theacquisition. That's when I asked jobs, if he could visit Pixar Disney still hadone more film to release with Pixar, but the relationship was so fractured thatno one at Disney had even seen it.

[00:05:10] Communication between thecompanies had simply stumped, but jobs agreed. And I agree soon spent a daymeeting. Pixar's directors, animators, writers, and technologists, and seeingcuts of films that picks our hat in the works in just that day. I grew sawclips of cars Ratatouille up Wally and brave all films that would go on to behuge, critical and financial successes.

[00:05:37] Iger was amazed. Pixar was evenmore impressive than he had imagined his dilemma now was how to convey hisreaction to Jones. If his response was too cool, jobs might be offended.Alternatively, if he responded with too much exhilaration jobs might see it asan opportunity to demand a higher price to resolve this dilemma.

[00:06:01] I reconsidered what he knewabout Steve jobs. He knew that Pixar meant a great deal to him and knew howmuch pride he had in the company. He had helped build. I agree, judged that.Sharing his honest excitement over what jobs had created would improve theirrelationship more than any calculated aloofness would.

[00:06:20] So when Uyghur spoke with jobs,he told him the truth. He described his entire day and told him how much heloved what they were doing. It was a risk, but in Uyghurs opinion, it wasbecause of his willingness to be so candid that jobs was convinced that theycould have a real partnership. When you look at how I recorded Pixar, you cansee how important it was for him.

[00:06:43] Not only to be open, but also tobe humble. When it came to animation, he knew his own company had shortcomingsand that his competitor had significant advantages, but he did not respond tothis imbalance with resentment. Instead he chose to share his genuineadmiration. He was impressed with Pixar and he let jobs know it.

[00:07:05] Other leaders might haveresponded to jobs as hostility with more hostility or gone to war with Pixarrather than going to work with them. But either of those decisions would havebeen driven by pride and likely would have led to a protracted battle fortalent and resources that would have consumed both companies for years.

[00:07:24] I guess humility protected hiscompany against that destructive outcome and helped to build a partnership thatresurrected Disney as a leader in the animation industry

[00:07:39] story of Uyghurs relationshipwith jobs and Pixar. However, it's important not to misunderstand what humilitymeans. Being humble doesn't mean you can't also be competitive or ambitious. Igrew or had been ambitious throughout his career. He always volunteered forassignments even when they were in particularly good ones.

[00:07:59] He actively cultivatedfriendships and sought out mentors, willing to teach him. And he always workedextremely hard in every position he had, even if it was just setting up thestudio lights for a soap opera, his first job, but he was also careful never tolet his ambition lead him to trample, thoughtlessly over others in the pursuitof opportunities.

[00:08:21] Perhaps the clearest example ofUyghurs care with relationships came from his time as COO of Disney workingunder CEO, Michael Eisner Eisner was CEO of Disney from 1984 until 2005. Butthe final few years of his tenure were extremely challenging. In the early twothousands Eisner oversaw several box office flops dealt with a well-publicizedcampaign run by a Disney air seeking his ouster.

[00:08:49] And in 2004, suffered a proxyvote by Disney shareholders that resulted in 43% claiming no confidence in hisleadership. This storm swirling around Eisner created fertile ground toundermine him. I wanted to be CEO of Disney. He could have calculated that ifhe applied pressure through the press, the board or the company, he could haveexpedited Eisner's departure and made his Ascension more than likely.

[00:09:17] But I grew refuse to take thebank. He promised him that if he was going to get the job of CEO, it wasn'tgoing to be through a forced ouster. He helped contrive. He wanted the job tobe the result of his performance. His knowledge and his integrity. It may notseem easy to strike this balance of ambition with humility and cooperation.

[00:09:38] The important lesson, Uyghurstresses, however, is that these qualities are not mutually exclusive. In fact,those who are willing to acknowledge their mistakes, work with theircolleagues, support their teams and share their successes are more likely torealize their ambitious goals.

[00:09:59] Another experience Uyghur offersas an important lesson came about three years after Disney's purchase a Pixar.I and his team had formulated a list of companies they believed wouldcompliment the Disney portfolio at the top of the list was Marvelentertainment. Marvel was not as obvious a fit as Pixar had been for one, therewas no history between the companies.

[00:10:22] Secondly Marvel's characterswere edgier than Disney's. There was concerns that's super heroes and villainswould tank the family-friendly image. Disney had carefully crafted over theyears. Conversely, Marvel fans might not want their universe to be controlledby the Mickey mouse company. Finally, it would take an incredible amount ofmoney to acquire what another entertainment executive derisively described as alibrary of comic book characters.

[00:10:51] But as I grew sought, theopportunity was greater than the risk. So after several months of negotiation,they closed on the purchase of Marvel. The acquisition of Marvel turned out tobe an incredible success. The 20 films Disney has since released under theMarvel banner have averaged over $1 billion each at the box office and haveinspired everything from new theme park rides to original shows on Disneystreaming service.

[00:11:17] But the most poignant lessonwasn't related to these financial successes, it came from the courage. It tookto revolutionize the action hero genre by overturning its racial biases. WhenDisney acquired Marvel, there was a glaring lack of diversity. The films Marvelhad produced were built around white male characters as the Marvel team put itstarkly to Uyghur women and black superheroes do not drive sales at the boxoffice.

[00:11:46] I agree, however disagreed. Hebelieved this person held by some at Marvel, both perpetuated incorrect bigotedviews, while also sacrificing the opportunity to expand their audience and addmore successful films to their bottom line. The Disney team cycled through theMarvel universe to identify diverse characters, they could introduce into theirown films.

[00:12:09] The character black Panther wasabout to be written into the film. Captain America, civil war Disney believedhis story with Chadwick Boseman. As the lead provided the perfect opportunityto overturn the myth that people wouldn't want to see a black superhero. Andthey were proved spectacularly, right?

[00:12:28] Not only did the film blackPanther received immense critical praise, but it also became the second highestgrossing film. In 2018, president Obama reached out to Uyghur to tell him howimportant he thought the film was. Oprah Winfrey wrote Uyghur, a note, callingthe film a phenomenon in every way, adding that she became emotional thinkingabout all the black children who would grow up with that film forever.

[00:12:53] The film became a culturaltouchstone and spark new conversations around portrayals of race in Hollywood.I agree. And his team could have maintained the Marvel playbook after theacquisition. They had spent billions of dollars for the company and had earlyfinancial successes with the iron man and Thor films.

[00:13:12] If they had wanted nothing morethan a safe return on their investments, they knew how to get it. But ratherthan continuing to plumb the Marvel property for easy wins, that would satisfyinvestors and Disney's board. I agree. And his team were determined to dosomething that was also innovative, challenging, and progressive.

[00:13:31] They wanted to prove that ablack superhero could draw in an audience and be just as popular and inspiringas a white superhero. I grew does not offer up a synthesized self-assessment ofhis efforts to develop black Panther like he does for most of his stories,perhaps to avoid the impression that he's casting himself as a white savior,but at the end of his book where he collects its lessons together, he doeswrite about the importance of leading from a position of courage, rather thanfear and of avoiding the inclination to protect old business models.

[00:14:04] Robert Uyghurs decisions haveimpacted hundreds of millions of people from how they vacation, to what moviesthey see to, how their 401ks perform through his book. These decisions havealso become opportunities for many people to learn. We get to see how importantit is to develop open relationships.

[00:14:23] How data can inform instinct,how humility can co-exist with ambition and how decency and integrity canmaintain preeminence, even in the highest circles of power. The right of alifetime is the personal account of Robert Iger, but it's a universal storybecause it deals with the same values and challenges that many people andindustries face.

[00:14:47] Episode was co-produced byHimalaya and campfire. If you want to use this book at your company to buildskills and culture, you need a new way to host your corporate book club. Visit.Get campfire.com to learn more.