Customer Reviews

Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a corporate human resources director, I really enjoyed reading this book. "Creating Magic", is a common sense approach to leadership that will help those in need to improve on the job, indeed in their personal lives too. The strategies and great WDW stories make this a very "usable" book that also happens to be a fun and insightful read.

"Creating magic" is the bounding of various stories that teach us a lesson about leadership and management. The stories drive home the point that leadership is not about the leader but rather the people that are being lead, molded and guided in their respective careers.

While I recommend this book in that it pursues leadership excellence. However, I cannot rate it 5 stars as Creating Magic does not contain any novel or new techniques. That is, the lessons of the book have already been digested by most of those in the managerial profession. If you are seeking an excellent reminder of these values then the book will meet your goal. If you are looking for the novel and new approaches to leadership, you will not find it here. I also suggest High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of Wingtips with Spurs

Lee Cockerell should be bigger than Blanchard and Covey combined. Lee is light-years past theory. He is straight-forward, no-nonsense, wise. Every great leader should read this book, or miss an incredible opportunity to see Disney from an executive mind-set, with tons of practical, how-to's for any leader, in any organization.

Creating the Magic is a nice light read. It seemed to me like there were more stories about Marriott in the book than I would have expected. I would have liked more stories about Disney World. I think more discussion of the unintended consequences of change would be helpful. Often times books like this champion change and overlook the unintended consequences of change. Creating Magic does give a little nod to the consequences of change when it recommends you be compassionate when you let someone know they are losing their job because you think you have a better way of doing things. On the other hand, implementing strategies like Fast Pass at Disney World are declared great successes without any discussion of the negative impact Fast Pass had on guest flow at the theme parks. Have you ever noticed Fast Pass has not been expanded and has even been rolled back? The author clearly improved many things at Disney World. However, I would have appreciated a more balanced evaluation of some of the strategies.

Most of us judge ourselves based on our intentions. The people around us judge us based upon our behaviors. As leaders, we must make sure that our behaviors support our intentions. This is one of the many lessons I've learned from Walt Disney World, a legendary culture created and sustained under the exemplary leadership of Lee Cockerell, WDW's former Executive VP of Operations. In "Creating Magic," Lee Cockerell explains how to make that kind of loving, caring, respectful leadership a practical reality. Lee shows leaders in all walks of life how to operationalize a culture of caring in every sphere of influence. "Creating Magic" is the most inspiring and the most practical book on leadership I have ever read.

Lee Cockerell, by his own admission, wasn't a very easy person to work with. After getting whacked on the head a few times with various office supply products, wielded by unhappy co-workers, he got the message: Lighten up. It's a message many people currently engaged in "business" (including more than a few CEOs) need to heed. Watch out, that next clipboard may have your name on it.

Sometimes it takes a good smack on the head by a clipboard, or a swift kick in the pants, to make us understand that we need to get along with people in order to succeed. That's such a simple concept, but one that so often is dismissed by so many, especially the higher up the corporate ladder they climb.

Fortunately, Lee Cockerell got the message, loud and clear. The rest is contemporary American business history. He went on to great accomplishments with the Disney empire, simply by learning how to effectively engage with people; especially those working under him.

For anyone looking for the most basic & wonderfully "common sense" approach to leadership, look no further than this terrific book. Read it, and you too, may create some magic.

This is both the story of author Lee Cockerell's career, particularly the Disney phase and the leadership strategies he and others developed for the Disney Institute, a learning and development centre for current and future leaders (initially for Disney employees, but now also for public students).

The first two chapters are real page-turners. I couldn't wait to read the next episode in Cockerell's personal development as a manager and leader. His writing is personal, humble and most importantly, illuminating. The stories of the mistakes he made as a manager and how he developed strategies to avoid them in the future, would be particularly useful for any new or even experienced manager.

The following three quotes in the early part of the book stood out for me. They perhaps best illustrate Cockerell's thoughts on leadership and provide a flavour of Cockerell's philosophy:

"No one ever explained to me the difference between managing and leading. I wish someone had; it would have spared me a lot of anguish."

"Despite the amazing variety of human beings out there, all everyone wants is to feel special, to be treated with respect, and to be seen as an individual."

" . . . managerial skills are absolutely essential for getting results, but they are not enough to drive excellence. Excellence requires common sense leadership."

The remainder of the book goes on to outline the 10 leadership strategies on which the Disney Institute learning is based and which presumably, Disney managers apply.

So, the book is in two parts - personal story-telling and advocating the best way to lead.

I found the second part much slower than the first. Each chapter starts with an explanation of one of the 10 strategies and proceeds through a list of practical suggestions for implementing the strategy. For the most part, there are plenty of examples to illustrate. However, as with any book that has "7 habits ...", "10 steps to ...", "101 ways to ..." one has to be in the appropriate state of readiness to appreciate and/or apply these. I can see why the book is used extensively as a resource and study text at the Disney Institute.

Overall, I liked this book for two reasons. Firstly, it is practical with plenty of real life examples to illustrate the "how to" (or "how not to"). Secondly, it is written by someone who has spent his entire work life managing, not by a so called management guru. It was a shame therefore that for me, this credibility was tarnished just a little by the blatant ad for the Disney Institute in the last couple of pages - I was already sold!

I'd recommend this book for new and not so new managers to use as both a personal motivator and a "how to" develop essential leadership skills. Should you buy the book as a learning tool, my suggestion would be to read the first couple of chapters straight away, then focus on one of the 10 leadership strategies, each spread over an extended period.

Bob Selden, author What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers

Absolutely an amazing book. Lee has such an insight into what works in a leadership position and what won't. I have already begun to utilize his suggestions with great success. Even if you are not in a position of leadership, this will help build your sense of self, and is great for business and Disney fans alike!!

Finally, someone has demystified the social complexities that created a reputation of legendary service at Walt Disney World. Creating Magic promises 10 common-sense leadership strategies, but delivers much more by deconstructing each strategy into specific tips and action steps. Mr. Cockerell brings refreshing honesty in detailing how past mistakes led him to the principles in the book. Creating Magic contains strategies that are transferrable to any industry. Anyone who can internalize and implement the contents should enjoy improved business results and a higher sense of purpose at work.

Overall, Mr. Cockerell's book provides straightforward and common sense lessons for creating better companies, better employees, and a better you. I appreciate the frank and honest approach taken in the book. The author discusses his successes and failures evenly, even when his mistakes led to physical retribution from his employees! Considering the hospitality industry's complex operational and HR issues, I can appreciate his recommendations that are easily implementable yet powerful ways to improve a business.

One issue I have with the book, while not directly relevant to the overall subject, is not discussing in enough detail the importance of developing a company's long-term strategy for success. Anecdotally, I have heard that Disney has a large number of fresh out of business school MBAs that are more concerned about short term profits and cost control than maintaining high quality standards and preserving long-term brand identity. I would be interested to get the author's reaction to this challenge, which he surely must have dealt with during Eisner's last years as CEO. While the author must consider his relationship with his former employer, it would have been interesting to get his reaction to a sore subject that many would argue has challenged the long-term success of Disney's brand.

I hope Mr. Cockerell considers writing more life and business lessons in a future book. I will be among those to purchase a copy!

If you are in operations (and doing a great job at it), this book might seem to have nothing new. But if you are a functional leader (marketing, finance, etc) that wants to cross over into an operational/general management role, this book is a fantastic view into what it takes to be an effective and inspirational senior leader of an operating unit (in Lee's case an entire 'world'). I would highly recommend it.