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

In the last episode of Creating Disney Magic, we answered the first half of a series of questions from a listener. After listening to every episode of the podcast, a listener wrote in with a series of questions. The first half of the questions were more about success.  You can hear the first episode Here.  In this episode, we answer the rest of the questions, which are more about business.  Here are the questions we answer in this episode; Why do you think most companies don't follow the principles from Creating Magic? How would you handle working for a company you wanted to stay at, but dealing with the direct supervisor is frustrating and challenging? Have you ever received feedback that was not valid? How did we instill the values of hard work and humility in our son when he was young? You will enjoy the entire episode, but one message I want you to take away is to stand up for yourself. You know the work you do. You know what you believe in. Stand up for yourself and stand up for what is right. 

This episode of Creating Disney Magic is a bit different. Let me tell you why; recently someone discovered the podcast and listened to all of the episodes in the catalog.  After listened to well over 150 episodes, he had a list of questions he wanted to ask.  Normally, we answer a single question on an episode. This time, we combined all of the questions into an episode. Or, rather, two episodes. This episode we tackle the questions that are more success related.  When you are around successful people, what are the questions you ask them and why? If you can have dinner with 3 people who would it be? These were fun questions to answer and led to an interesting discussion. Here are the two things I want you to remember from this episode; Use the tools that work for you. An iPhone 10 will not solve your organizational problem any better than an iPhone 5 will. That is why I have used a DayTimer for so many decades. It works for me. It fits my system perfectly.  If you believe in something, just keep going. Don't

Imagine a basketball team where one player decides to stay in the offensive end of the court because it is easier for him. Running up and down the court is hard work. Would the other players allow it? Would the coach allow it? No way! And it should not be allowed in the workplace either.  Yet, it happens all the time. Specifically, it happens as employees are getting close to retirement. People should not "gear down" for retirement. Whether an employee retires in 3 years, 1 year, or 3 months. They have a responsibility to work as hard as ever and produce results.  Some call it Retired on Duty.  If someone is retired on duty, it is a leadership problem. Someone is letting it happen.  Being retired on duty is unethical and unprofessional. If it is happening in your organization you can step in. In fact, you should step in.  You have the opportunity to step in and be an advocate for the right thing.  When you accept someone who has retired on duty, it is a step in making the company worse. Other employees see ho

If your business is struggling, it may be hard to hear this, but here is the candid truth...Your business is as good as you want it to be.  Most business can turn things around in only 2 to 4 weeks.  In this episode of Creating Disney Magic, I use a doctor office as an example of where to begin to turn a business around.  The problem in a doctor's office is the doctor doesn't know what is going on out front. But there is so much involved in a customer's experience than the time they spend with the doctor.  Here are the three steps I would implement right away to change a doctor's office, or any business. Bring everyone together after the office closes and explain how the office will be tomorrow when it opens. Be clear. Be candid.  Write down what you expect for each position and role. Provide processes, procedures, guidelines, and scripts all focusing on creating a better experience for the customer.  Follow up. Ask customers how you are doing. If customers haven't felt the change, there hasn't been a change

When you introduce yourself, or someone asks about you, what do you say? So many people discuss the work they do. This is especially a problem for those of us in the United States.  Be careful about becoming who you work for instead of who you are.  Some people never recover from having a big-ego job. I get it. Those jobs make other people think you matter. Or, that is what you think, anyway. When I retired, people would ask me if it was hard to leave a high position at Disney. No. It wasn't hard to retire, even though I was Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World.  During my career, I never really identified myself with Hilton, Marriott, or Disney. I worked for Lee Cockerell.  People get attached to their job because they work for a high profile company, or have a big position. It leads them to stay too long or keep doing work that doesn't make them happy.  Next time you introduce yourself, remember this...who you are is more important than what you do. 

Remote teams are just a fact of business life now. There is no going back. Whether it comes from telecommuting, an organization spread out geographically or working with employees who work from remote locations, most organizations deal with remote workers. Now, leaders have to understand how to communicate better with people they do not see in person. To discuss this topic, we invited Kevin Eikenberry to join us on Creating Disney Magic. Kevin is the author of the new book, The Long Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership Although remote work has changed the work environment, leadership has not changed. In the book, and on this episode, Kevin talks about how to lead remote teams.  With distance between you and the staff, it becomes harder to check in. We have to be deliberate and intentional. We can't touch the people on our team, but they need to feel like we have had the personal touch with them.

Sometimes you have to ask Why five times to get to the truth.  What you hear at first is not always the truth. Or not the whole truth, anyway.  At first, people put the best story up front. They hope it will be enough and you won't go deeper.  Ask Why. Go deeper. Get down to the truth and get all the details.  If you want to prevent the problem from happening again, you have to understand what happened.  Be relentless. Don't accept what you hear at first. Dig deeper. Ask Why five times to uncover what really happened.  Without the truth, you will not be able to make proper decisions. You asking Why also helps staff think deeper when a problem arises. If you want to learn more, read this Entrepreneur article about asking Why.  

When you are searching for people to add to your staff, you have to have a wide approach.  Don't just post a job opening and hope the right person applies.  Finding the right person starts long before you have a job opening. Having the right contacts and relationships with a wide variety of people can lead you to the right person, so it is a good idea to meet people across different industries and professions.  At Disney World, we would carry a card to give to people we think would be a good fit at Disney.  Focus on getting well known in your community. Have a good relationship with high schools and colleges.  One of the best sources of new employees is right in front of you. Good people bring good people into the organization. If you have good employees already, turn to them to get referrals.  When it comes to hiring the right people, create obstacles in your interview process. Never judge the size of the obstacle. Consider their thinking process and the motivation behind their actions. Carol Quinn is the au

Emergencies are the extreme example of finding out how well you have done in delegating authority.  When you have an emergency you have no time for anyone to wonder what they should do and what responsibility they have. You have to sort it out before you have a problem.  You don't plan what to do in a tornado when you hear the tornado siren.  Think about what could go wrong. Work through the scenarios and determine who will do what task. Part of the planning for handling an emergency is to talk to people so they know what they will be doing. Everyone needs to know their role ahead of time. And don't delegate a responsibility to someone who won't be able to handle it.  Gather your team in a room and discuss different emergencies you could face. If you need inspiration, pull out a recent newspaper and pull headline to talk through it. What would you do if that situation happened to your organization? Anticipate what can happen and then have your team work through the scenario. Reflect what other organizations h

No matter how big or small your organization is, your customers all have the same expectations;  Make me feel special Treat me as an individual Respect me Have knowledgeable employees Now, go through these four expectations with your team and figure out how you can master them. You will have to be deliberate to master these four areas. Discuss each expectation individually and figure out what it means for you and your organization.  If you master these four expectations you will stand out from the competition. Customers will become so loyal they won't even think about going to the competition. 

Have you ever been in a situation at work where it seemed like it was Us versus Them? When you find this situation it often comes in the form of field staff vs. office staff.  The problem comes from the top. This happens because the CEO lets it happen. Or, in a public agency, the Director or CEO equivalent.  Al Weiss used to say there would not be any silos at Disney World. And if there were, someone would not be in their silo anymore because he would remove them.  It is the responsibility of the leader to create a culture where everyone works together, appreciates each other, and realizes everyone has a hard job.  If an organization has let Us vs. Them creep into a culture, one way to address the situation is to have the office staff work in operations. Give people the exposure and experience to understand what happens in other jobs. Once you understand the work other people are doing you will begin to appreciate them more.  When your people begin not working together the focus shifts away from the customer.

When you lose a customer, is it possible to win them back? Yes, it is possible, but don't even try to win a customer back unless you are ready to have them back.  They left you for a reason. Fix the issue that caused them to leave in the first place. Only then, should you try to win a customer back.  And when you know you are ready to have them back, treat them like a VIP (very individual person). If you are in a position to do so, go see him or her in person. Don't settle for sending an email or text message. Definitely, don't wait for them to come to see you. It won't happen. And it is your responsibility to fix it. Own your mistake, face to face.   Once I was an hour late for a speech. Immediately I told my customer I would deduct $5,000 from the speaking fee. They didn't ask for the fee reduction. They didn't expect it. But it was the right thing to do. I didn't serve the customer to the level I should have. It needed to be handled professionally.  Professionals want to take a bad situation and make it ri

Often, people ask me how to stand out in their job.  Perhaps they want to know a secret. Something no one has told them before. But it is no secret. Most people know what to do, but they don't. If you want to stand out, focus on the basics. If you focus on these five things, you will stand out about anyone else you work with; First impressions are important. Be an expert in something Find a way to get better every day. Add value above what is expected of you. Have a great attitude. Be better than everyone else. Get to work early, raise your hand to take on the hard tasks, work when your boss needs you to work, be willing to do long stretches of hard work when it is necessary. To give a simple answer...raise your expectations for your performance. Now try to meet those expectations. Keep expecting more of yourself.  If you want to hear more on this topic, listen to this episode of the Jody Maberry Show. I also contribute some insight on that episode.  In this episode, we mention Magical Vacation Planner. If yo

Want to create a magic environment around you? Start with gratitude.  When you are around someone who is grateful, you can feel it, can't you? I used to think about what I didn't have and complain about it. At some point in my career, I became more grateful for what I do have. You know what, life became more enjoyable.  When you are grateful for what you have, you begin to treat people better. People around you seem to be happier. It is like taking magic with you everywhere you go.  Gratitude is not limited to individuals. Organizations can be grateful, too. At Disney and Marriott, leaders go out of their way to make sure people matter and know they matter. Disney is the cast members. We appreciate them and in turn, cast members appreciate Disney.  Gratitude in your organization begins with you. Even if you are not at the top of the organizational chart, you can intervene and make the environment around you better. 

Too often, when we have a bad employee, we assume we made a great hire and something then went wrong with the employee. The truth is, you made a bad hire.  It is hard to admit, but it is true.  In this episode of Creating Disney Magic, we talk candidly about hiring and firing.  If you want to build a great culture, you have to face the truth about bad hires and put an end to it.  In this episode, we reference Carol Quinn and her book, Don't Hire Anyone Without Me.  To go deeper in this topic, listen to this interview I did with Carol Quinn on the Jody Maberry Show.  If you want to find out more about the upcoming event in Orlando, CLICK HERE. 

Getting fired can feel like a big deal. It can feel like a blow to your confidence and your career.  When I was younger, I took a job I shouldn't have and it led to me getting fired.  It felt awful, of course. But it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. One thing you are concerned about after getting fired is if it has ruined your reputation.  After I was fired, I was hired by Marriott. They did not care I had been fired. Next, I was recruited by Disney. By then, having been fired was a non-issue.  If you have been fired, don't worry about taking the hit. Your career is long. Get up and get back at it.  When you apply for your new job, be honest. Face what happened. More people have been fired than you expect.  When I interview people, it doesn't bother me if someone has been fired or quit a job. 

Walt Disney was a dreamer. Some would say he was unrealistic. Some would say he was unreasonable.  But without his dreams, there would be no Mickey Mouse. No Snow White. No Disneyland or Disney World.  If you have big dreams, people are going to tell you that you can't do it or you are being unrealistic.  Remember, when someone tells you something can't be done, they are talking about their limitations, not yours. Don't listen to them. Take your shot so you don't have regrets later in life.  People who create change don't listen to the negative people. Block them out and find ways to make things happen. 

On this episode of Creating Disney Magic, a listener asks what I think is the biggest opportunity for the service industry.  We've tried everything else, now let's take care of the customer.  No gimmicks. No marketing campaign. No technology. Just people taking care of people.  To make this happen, you have to stop relying on your business strategy and develop a leadership strategy.  In order to take care of the customer, you need the right people. To hire and retain the right people, you need the right leadership.  Leadership is the difference between being average and being great. 

This week I answer two listener questions. Although the details are different, both questions are in the same line of "my boss doesn't listen". Yes, it happens. There are some lousy bosses out there. People are insecure. Insecurity in leadership leads to some bad behavior. If you find yourself in this position it can make your life miserable. And my advice is simple, don't stay where you are not happy.  Of course, it is simple to say and hard to act on. I understand many people are not in a position to do something about it. You have financial obligations. You have a family. You are scared. The job you hate is more secure than not knowing what will happen.  But what are you giving up by staying? If you are not respected and appreciated in the workplace and you stay, you will regret it someday.  Don't tolerate it. Can you imagine retiring after 40 years and realizing what you gave up? It happens every day. Don't let it happen to you, too.

If your organization has not experienced a major disruption in the past couple of years it is coming.  Technology changes so fast, you may not even see the disruption before it hits. Look at what Amazon and Uber did to other businesses in their industry.  The key to being ready for these disruptions is to plan for them. Even if you don't know what the disruption is, you can plan on being disrupted.  Get a group of people from your organization together. Pick a possible disruption. Work through the problem from start to finish. How will it impact your business? Let everyone share as you uncover unintended consequences. Talk about what could cause people to no longer do business with you.  If you anticipate disruption you can prepare for it.  You can download my Morning Magic Planner for Free HERE.