[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Hello, my friend and welcome to this episode of A Call to Leadership. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, your host. So glad you are here on this episode, we are digging right into the brand that is synonymous with the mouse. In fact, I'm wearing my Mickey Mouse shirt. If you're watching on social media, Walt Disney, one of my favorite entrepreneurs who I studied at length in my PhD work, and he's just such a remarkable entrepreneur and leader, not without many fails, and many mistakes and many shortcomings. That's what makes him human. But his philosophy of leadership is philosophy of business resonates.
[00:00:45]
And, in fact, one of the reasons why I want to talk about Walt Disney is because in the last five years, it's been said that Disney has lost its way and just look toward the market and see that disease lost about 20% of its valuation in its stock prices, not good for the Walt Disney Company. And the question is, is it true? Have they lost their way? Did they deviate so far? From what Walt Disney taught as the essence of success for the company? Or is it all hype? Is it part of their amazing plan to continue to dominate the market in entertainment?
[00:01:25]
Well, let's just start with Walt Disney's philosophy of how he ran his business how even grew this company to be so massive, this global giant in the early days, Walt Disney was interested in, of course, the pictures, he was interested in the amusement most importantly, he was interested in the broad audience, the broad consumer. And one of the major aspects of Walt Disney's leadership that was essential to his success is that he had an empirical curiosity, he desired to understand what the people wanted, and how their vision was limited by what was available to them in the marketplace.
[00:02:14]
Take the aspect of the amusement parks, you know, back in Walt Disney's days, especially when his kids were little amusement parks were seedy, they were dirty, they were a little suspect, or as we say, today, SUS. They weren't, what you would imagine is a great place to take your family to. And Walt Disney wanted to change that. And so he spent an ordinate amount of time studying the amusement parks, he would sit outside of the park and observe, observe the people coming in and going out. He would observe the people at the stands waiting in line, he would observe the people getting concessions and foods, and then he would go speak to those people, you would ask them questions about their experience, did they enjoy the experience?
[00:03:03]
Would they have liked to see that was different than what their dollars purchased for them, and he would take his notes, and he would write it all down. And he would begin to author what might be a better future in this environment in this experience, and he would go all over the globe to find the models that he can pull from Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, open-air amusement and entertainment, which he was so drawn to and delighted with that he told his friends, this is a wonderful baseline for some of the things I want to create back in the States. What was most remarkable about Walt Disney's approach was that he had his finger on the pulse of the people.
[00:03:48]
In fact, he desired broad appeal for his end user, not just one segment, but a mass a mass of people. In fact, he says this, quote, we think of the family audience, Mickey Mouse would not have been the success he was, were it not for the broad appeal. We are not just playing for kids. If you took your kids to the movies and left them there to be picked up later, and did not go in yourself. I'd feel unhappy. After all, if you're aiming at the kids, what age would you aim at? Walt Disney's mind was focused on the entire family and not just one family, the broad scope of the American family, what was the pulse of the family?
[00:04:34]
And what did they desire? How did they desire for their culture to be shaped? What was the influence that Walt Disney could bring to them on their television sets and pull them toward a park? What was the connection? What were the shared values? What were the shared principles, broadly speaking, and he was able to tap into that in such a profound way that people had it insatiable desire to interact with his brand that catapulted his brand to the forefront to become the world's leading brand in this segment of entertainment, he knew his customer, he knew what they wanted and needed. And he provided that it sounds so Elementary, doesn't it? It sounds so basic, doesn't it? And sometimes it's not complicated. It's fairly simple.
[00:05:26]
And when we deviate from that, when we deviate from the shared values, and when we deviate from our reputation with those values, what will we lose, we'll lose the people who were walking with us, because wherever we have a vision for them to go, they have to make a decision. Is this where I want to go? Is this the direction? Does it lead to a better future state for me and my family? And if the answer is yes, they're gonna walk with you? And if the answer is no, they won't. And so as we fashion, a vision for the future, whether it's our business, whether it's our families, whether it's in our community, we have to ask the question, do I know what those who will choose to follow me or walk with me?
[00:06:13]
Do I know what they want? Do they, I know what they need? Do I communicate it in such a way that's attractive, worthwhile, and achievable? Then do I take the steps to walk with them to begin to take the action that leads to the impact that I so communicated as part of our vision for and we have to ask those questions in our businesses, in our families, in our communities? And if we don't have a deep connection with our customer, with our client, they are not going to pull out their wallets, they are not going to vote for us with their wallets, they're going to vote for who they share values with. I'm not telling you that Disney's current values are right or wrong, I'm not telling you that they are worthwhile or not worthwhile.
[00:07:01]
What I'm saying is, is that the market has been speaking and saying that it doesn't want to walk as deeply and as connectedly. With the Disney company as they once did. Now, right, wrong, or indifferent. It is what it is you have to make a choice as a company, Walt Disney chose to appeal to the masses and strengthen his brand through that, not every business does that some business was focused on a segment, think of Rolex, think of Tesla, think of different manufacturers who focus on a specific segment, some focus some ways on more of a broader spectrum. And that's what Walt Disney did. But not only that, he studied and studied and studied, he was an insatiable learner.
[00:07:48]
And this study engrossed him to come up with ways to create an experience that was so exceptional that his relationship with each individual who experimented who participated, who experienced his brand was connected to Walt Disney himself, he cared deeply about your experience, he cared deeply about my experience. And he took the kind of action to make the sacrifices to make that experience the highest level of satisfaction, that was possible. He raised the bar, he put out as much money as necessary. He didn't care. In fact, he and his brother had all kinds of problems. Roy, who was the business manager would tell Walt, man, we can't afford this.
[00:08:34]
We can't afford all this technology. You can't afford all this innovation. We can't afford these parks. We can't afford this new way of doing things. And Walt said, we just have to find a way because that is our differentiation strategy. That is our X Factor, we must be ahead, if not one year, three years, five years ahead. And we must connect with our customers so outstandingly that their joy, their joy becomes infectious. That my friend is the model of a leader who is deeply acquainted with the human condition and deeply affected by the results of his own effort to bring about the one thing that he said he was selling. The one thing that he said that he knew very clearly was most important for him in his brand happiness.
[00:09:24]
Do you know what you're selling? can you articulate it in one single word, friend, if you can, wonderful if you can't, I would encourage you to take time and encapsulate that vision of the experience you desire to create, again, whether it's your business, whether it's at home, you want to create an experience at home, I want to create an experience at home that's magical. It's magnificent, that my stakeholders, my family members are excited every day to wake up so that they can experience this if you haven't achieved that. Guess what? It's possible. It starts today. It starts right now, in your business.
[00:09:59]
If that It has not yet manifested itself, what is missing in my customer experience, sometimes what's missing is in my team experience, maybe my team experience is not at the level it needs to be. Maybe my systems are not as effective as they should be made processes need to be streamlined, maybe they need to be more efficient, maybe they need to be clear, maybe my financial model has holes and kinks in it. Maybe my operations is lacking in continuity, and it has to be shored up. Perhaps even my leadership needs to be improved. Maybe I'm too transactional. Maybe I'm not transformational enough. Maybe I need more servant leadership. Maybe there needs to be deeper ethical model.
[00:10:47]
Perhaps even now, I need to release delegate, elevate, automate, and participate in the leadership of this business. Perhaps right now, more than ever, I need to jump back in. Maybe I need to get into the weeds like Walt Disney did, maybe I need to start talking with people, my customer, my team member, maybe I need to get out of the ivory tower, roll up my sleeves, and get dirty. I love doing that. I love getting in the trenches with the troops. I never want to be the general who's up on the hill way in the back safe. I want to be in the battle at the frontline, charging it out so that I can help win that battle. Some people might say, Nate, no way, you're too valuable. You need to be safe. I'm telling you, man, battleships are safe in the harbor.
[00:11:37]
But that's not what they were made for. And for me, I want to be in the mix. There are times when I need to be up on a hill so I can see. And I can observe and create a new tactical plan. But there are times where I need to be right there, shoulder to shoulder, duking it out. Where are you? Have you lost touch with your customer? Have you lost touch with your employee? Or have you embraced them? Do you know them? Are you swayed by the waves of politics and culture? Or are you steadfast and focused on what is most important, no matter what the odds? Take it from a page of Walt Disney and you too may just find your way to the happiest place on earth.
[00:12:26]
Well, my friend, I am so thrilled that you join me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. And before you go to the next episode, especially if you're binge-listening, take a moment I would love to get your honest review right here on your screen. Your feedback is so important. It helps the podcast, it encourages me and it helps me helps me to give you more and more and more value. So, I can't wait to read your review. I can't wait to be with you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah. This is A Call to Leadership.