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

This episode of Creating Disney Magic is a bit different than usual.  Rather than focus on a single topic, we do a series of rapid-fire questions.  In this episode, I answer the following questions: What is your biggest leadership failure and how did you cope with it? What is a tip for not getting burnt out while working a full-time job while also building your own small business? What advice can you give when it comes to coaching employees on accountability? What is the greatest career risk you ever took? What are my most gratifying moments as former Chairman of the Board of Heart of Florida United Way? What imagineer did you enjoy working with? If there is only one lesson you hear in all of my answers, I want you to remember you have to take the risk or have the regret.   

Early in my career, I was so driven to successful I worked six days each week. I went to work early in the morning and came home late at night.  I didn't see my wife or son enough. Together with my wife Priscilla, we came up with a plan that would allow me to spend all of my time on my one day off with my son, Daniel.  As I got promoted and traveled often for Marriott, I would talk to my son every night while I was gone. When I would arrive home on Friday from a week on the road, I took Priscilla out to dinner. It was a priority above anything else when I came home.  If your job requires you to be away from home, here are some tips to make sure your family remains a top priority: Use Facetime and other technology to keep in touch with family.  While you are home, drop your hobbies. No golf, no beers in the garage with your buddies...make your family your hobby.  Make sure you are paying attention to each other. You want to pick up on it when your spouse if beginning to feel stressed or depressed.  Do things o

Having difficult conversations is one of the toughest aspects of being a leader.  Terminating someone, in my opinion, is the hardest thing. But having difficult conversations is second, and avoiding these conversations can often lead to having to terminate someone.  If you can't make hard decisions or have hard conversations, don't become a parent and don't become a manager. Most managers are not living up to their responsibility of having the tough conversations. Tough conversations are about a variety of topics; performance, attitude, coming to work on time, poor communication,  all are topics that are difficult to talk to people about. And so many managers avoid having the conversations they should have. The power you hold in your hands as a leader is tremendous. Depending on how you role model, how you develop, and how you handle difficult conversations can determine if an employee becomes good or if they become great. Avoiding tough conversations is hurting people who look to you to help them succeed.  B

When I am looking to hire someone, I don't care where you went to school or what your grades were. To some degree, I don't care about your technical knowledge.  I am more concerned about who you are. Have you experienced a hardship? Did you overcome it? Experience and exposure you get from adversity can be worth more than getting a degree or improving your technical skills.  Who you are is what I, and other leaders, are looking at. Do you keep promises? Can you let your ego go? Can you work with and for others? Are you curious? Do you read? Persistence will get my attention. Have you found yourself in a hole and managed to dig yourself out?  The three most important leadership qualities can't be learned in school.  Curiosity Humility A Drive to Improve Don't underestimate curiosity. Curiosity causes you to think differently. When you think differently, you act differently.  Ask more questions. Read more books. Get more experience and exposure. And then do something with it.  Knowing stuff is easy. Doing stuff

Many people have a job they would consider a dream job, but they never go for it.  And if they do, they wonder how hard they should pursue it.  There can be more than one way to get your dream job. Sometimes you need to take a job just to get in the door. Are you willing to take a gamble on yourself? Take a lower job so you can show them how good you are. Or, know specifically what you are going after and find out what you need to do.  Most hard things take time. You have to invest in yourself to figure out where you need to improve and work on it. Stick with it. And be willing to take a risk. It won't fall in your lap. You have to be willing to take a risk. People underestimate what they can achieve. Too often, I hear people reference their background, education, parents, the city they live in, or a number of other reasons they can't pursue their dream job. None of that matters. Don't sell yourself short. You can accomplish it if you set your mind to it and become deliberate. Focus on what you want and figur

After 27 years with Disney, including becoming the Vice President of the Magic Kingdom, my son Daniel retired to pursue his own speaking and consulting career. At Disney, Dan had a wonderful career and a job most people would love to have. Yet, he left to pursue his dream and to be able to help more organizations. Many people would say Dan took a big risk.  As Dan says, "The future is not going to be clear, but you have to move forward with confidence that it is going to work out." He knew his experience from Disney would allow him to help more people if he struck out on his own.  Now, Dan focuses on helping companies develop a culture that is a positive experience for employees. Culture is like the weather in the way it impacts people. But you have the ability to influence the weather in your kingdom. Come rain or shine, you have to show up as a leader and create the right environment for other people.  Dan has just launched his own podcast, Come Rain or Shine. You can find it on iTunes, or wherever you list

The secrets to creating a good resume may not be what you think.  It is not design that matters. Or keywords. Getting people to know you, the person is what matters.  Too often, people consider a complete resume to be a chronological list of the jobs you have had. If you do this, you are going about it all wrong.  Want to find out if your resume stands out from the crowd? Show your resume to people you know and ask for their feedback. Also, show your resume to companies. Don't apply for a job, just ask if they would consider giving you feedback on your resume and insights into what they look for. If you don't have enough experience or the right experience, you need to include a letter to show a potential employer what they will not see on a resume. Are you persistent? Give examples to show how you stick to it, keep your promises, and you do what you say you are going to do. Find a way to show what makes you different and how you can benefit the organization. Use the letter as an opportunity to convince an org

The secret to understanding how you can operate your business better, serve customers better, and better support your staff is right in front of you. All you have to do is ask. Asking employees how you can do better is a powerful way to infuse new ideas into your organization. When I was with Disney, I would do this often. I would meet 10 or 12 front line cast members to find out what is going on with them. Meeting with employees will uncover information you can get no other way. They know something you don’t know. They know a lot more than you about the jobs they do. Listen to them and help them do their jobs better. Everybody is an expert in something. Ask employees to look out for things they should tell you. Once you get everyone involved in helping you run the business, it is amazing. We all like to give our opinion about the work we do. Give people the chance to offer their opinion and insight. Here are 3 questions to ask employees: What should we stop doing? What should we start doing? What should we c

Did you know people used to call me Low-Key Lee? Don't make the mistake of thinking your work will stand for itself. People have to know you did the great work.  I made this mistake when I interviewed with Marriott. When I assumed the great work I had done at Hilton would speak for itself. It doesn't work that way. You have to promote yourself. At the time, I didn't know how to promote myself  Low-Key Lee was not the person Marriott wanted to hire. Fortunately for me, someone I worked with at Hilton was now at Marriott and he knew I was the right guy for the job. But had the hiring decision had been made based on my interview, I would have never been hired by Marriott.  The feedback from the interview taught me a lesson. During the rest of career, I did a better job at promoting myself and the work I have done.  Make sure you know what you believe about management and leadership. When you are around your boss, give your opinion based on what you believe. It is a way to promote yourself, show what you can do,

One of the most effective ways to create new opportunities is to meet new people.  Meet people and keep in touch because you never know what could pop up later. If you don't know people they can't help you. If you don't know people you can't help them.  I meet as many people as I can. It doesn't matter who they are or where they are from. Don't expect anything from the people you meet. Just enjoy meeting them and enjoying the diversity of conversation. But, sometimes opportunities arise that wouldn't have been available unless you had met the right person. Sometimes an opportunity arises right away. Sometimes it is ten years later. As an example, Lee Sheldon from the United Kingdom makes a brief appearance on this episode of Creating Disney Magic. Lee explains how him reaching out to me led to us teaming up to do a live event in London. I first met Jody Maberry when he asked me to be a guest on his Park Leaders podcast. Back then, I didn't even know what a podcast was. And now we have published more than 200

On the 200th episode of Creating Disney Magic, we examine the Guest Experience Cycle. Disney implements the Guest Experience Cycle to make sure guest have the best vacation of their lives.  Anticipation - Anticipate what your guests will expect so you can work on those items before the guest arrives. Arrival - What will the experience be like when your guest arrives? Whether a guest arrives in person, on the internet, or by phone what will the experience be like for them? Experience - Think through what the entire experience of the guest will be like. A guest will have many experiences during their time with you, not just a single experience. Each one of these experiences should be thought out by you in advance and planned. Departure - You have one more opportunity to make a guest feel good. What will you do with it? Don't let a guest leave without doing one more thing to make them feel special. Savor - If you have anticipated and planned an excellent experience for a guest, they will savor the visit. Your go

If you want to make a difference in your organization, you will have the most impact if you lead by example. On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, we talk about 3 different situations, including leading by example. Here are the first two: How to handle meeting a celebrity at work.  Be polite and courteous. Say hello and go away. At Disney, you can't bother a celebrity or ask for an autograph. They are there for a private event or to spend time with their family. If you are at work, remember you represent the organization. How to equip staff members to give bad news to customers You have to give staff members not only the training, but the authority to be able to deal with difficult situations. If you are not going to equip them to serve the customer when something goes wrong, then it is best to have a supervisor talk with the customer. Now, let's talk about leading by example. The real story of this episode, though, is a discussion about Phil Gaines. The recently retired Director of South Carolina State P

Often, people ask me about my morning planning time.  I like that question because morning planning has helped me create magic.  So many questions about morning planning time led me to create the Morning Magic Planning Course, which you can find here.  My career at Disney has been well documented on the Creating Disney Magic podcast, but you have to rewind nearly 40 years to discover one of the biggest secrets to my success.  Before I discovered the secret, I was disciplined, but not organized. At work, I kept putting off hard items. I would avoid certain projects and then dread the day when my boss would ask me about it. Then in 1980, I went to a time management seminar.  At this seminar, I learned about time management and morning planning. Since that day, I have spent 15 minutes planning every morning. Morning planning made me a new man. Since that day in 1980, I have been organized, I have kept my promises, I do what I say I am going to do, and people know I am reliable.  Here are the two things that will

People only change for two reasons; crisis or education.  Making a life change because of education is much better, believe me. But too many of us wait until we are smacked in the face to make a change.  Making a change is hard, though. In my personal life, I made a drastic shift after going to a Time Management seminar in 1980. Before then, I worked hard and I worked a lot. Yet, I still missed deadlines and didn't get all my work done. But this 2-day changed everything. It shifted the way I thought. It shifted the way I approached life. The seminar taught me how to do things on purpose. Each day since then has been both full and fulfilling.  There is an example of changing how I operate in my personal life.  At Disney, we made a change in how we operated throughout Walt Disney World when I introduced the Great Leader Strategies.  In both cases, making a change involved 2 steps;  Step One: Deciding to Change Step Two: Taking the action to change Whether you are making a personal change or changing the way an

This week on Creating Disney Magic, I answer two questions about working with co-workers. Working with Co-workers. Two questions both involve working with co-workers. First, how do you handle it if you have information or knowledge that can help co-workers? Someone would only ask this if they have ambition and a steak of leadership. Often, people keep their heads down and do their job without consideration to co-workers, unless it has a negative impact on them. Even so, this can still be delicate. You have to approach this the right way. You have to have the right intention. But if you work it out with your supervisor to help train on a particular process or procedure, not only will you help your co-workers, you will stand out as a leader. The second question is how to be a good follower when you may be more qualified for a supervisory job than the person who was promoted to the job. Here is another delicate situation. In this case, the best thing to do is to forget it. Just be nice, let him figure it out, an

No matter what business you are in, poor service happens because of the general manager. If bathrooms are dirty, don't blame the guy who cleans them. Look at the general manager. If food arrives late at a restaurant and service is lousy, it is not the cooks and servers. It is the general manager. If people stick to doing only what is in their job description, it is because the manager allows it. As a leader, there are three steps to help staff create magic. Set Expectations Enforce expectations Train so staff can meet your expectations Also, consider what plans you have to address any emergencies or unexpected situations come up. For example, what happens at a hotel or restaurant if the kitchen goes out of commission? Or, insert your own what-if situation. If the staff is not prepared, it is because of the general manager. Bottom line; the manager is always responsible for what happens in his or her operation. I am excited to announce our my new partnership with Magical Vacation Planner. If you are going to

This episode was recorded while I was in Italy. The sound quality is not the best because I had to find an internet connection that worked good enough to record.  There is a reason I wanted to make sure we recorded an episode while I was in Italy. I have said before, the best way to gain exposure and exposure is to travel. When you meet people from other countries, you will find out they are as wonderful as your neighbors. Spending time with them will open your eyes to new ideas and new ways of doing the things you are most comfortable with.  Which bring me to the topic of this episode, making old ideas new again.  Disney took an old idea, Minature golf, and made it feel new again. Disney miniature golf courses don't feel like the old boring mini-golf courses you might expect. They are special. They tell a story.  There is a lesson you can learn from a Disney Miniature golf course. You can take anything and make it better. An old idea can be new again if you add your own spin, your own story to it. An old ide

Gossip can spread through an organization quickly, leaving a wake of confusion, rumors, and hurt feelings.  You must deal with gossip quickly and clearly. But it all begins when you hire someone.  Up front, during the onboarding process, explain gossip is not tolerated. Be clear about what you consider to be gossip and rumors and how you will deal with it.  Don't let it end there. Continue to discuss gossip and what you expect. You will have to continue to remind people. Raise your expectations, be clear about what you want, and hold employees to your standard.  Gossip is not the only topic we discuss in this episode of Creating Disney Magic. We recorded this episode on Facebook Live with listeners being able to ask questions. It made for another fun episode, and we talk about gossip, how to receive a compliment, working with volunteers and more. 

What will your legacy be? Have you taken time to consider this? This episode of Creating Disney Magic is the second episode recorded live at Urbain 40 with a group from a live Mastermind meeting. You can hear the first episode here. People who were in the room had the opportunity to ask me questions, which you will hear on the podcast.  One of the questions was about what my legacy will be.  For a long time, I had this all wrong. I thought it was all about Lee Cockerell. But now, I realize I need to be a teacher to leave a legacy. The I do is to help other people have a bigger life. By teaching other people, they will teach what they learn to other people. It spreads. Teaching builds a legacy that lasts a long time. You can't change America, but you can change your family. And you can change your workplace. Start today and you can leave a legacy.  Other topics we discuss on this episode: Advice for women in leadership positions.  Advice for young adults entering the workforce. People who invested in my life w

This episode of Creating Disney Magic was recorded live in Orlando during a private mastermind event.  Twelve people joined me and Jody Maberry to spend the day talking about business and creating magic. During our time together, we turned on the microphones and recorded two episodes of the podcast. Participants of the mastermind were able to ask a question. You can find out more about my live Creating Disney Magic Mastermind events here.  Having the participants of the Mastermind ask me questions live added a fun element to this episode of the show.  Here are some highlights of what we talk about in this episode.  Look for attitude, not skill. Great attitude and passion are the elements of a high potential person. Skill can be taught.  Do you have the attitude to put up with a guest when they are upset because they have spent too much money, rain has ruined their day, or they are stressed out? Don't underestimate the influence you have on people. It matters how you talk to people. It matters what you say to