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

Walt Disney World is the world's biggest tourist destination, and one of its largest convention sites. Seventy–percent of its visitors come back for more. It may be twice the size of Manhattan, but it has the lowest employee turnover of any company in the hospitality industry. This book helps to explain how Disney keeps its people happy!

So, who should read this book? Creating Magic will appeal to anyone who wants an inspiring blend of home truths on leadership and practical steps to improve the way their company works. It will also help leaders keep a down–to–earth attitude.

So, listen up if you want to know why the customer does NOT come first, how to stop your people from resisting change, and when we should ask what? rather than who?

The book is divided into thirteen chapters, including a general introduction, a brief biography of the author, and ten chapters on each of the strategies for Creating Magic.

Chapter One is called Making Magic. The author doesn't define 'magic.' But we can gather from the context that he means a product or an experience that's so thrilling, its success seems almost supernatural.

He says teamwork creates this magic, and this chapter promises us we can learn how to create 'magic' in our own offices and homes.

The author takes the saying 'The customer always comes first,' and turns it into 'What makes the customer happy?'

Studies at Disney in the 1980s found that customers were most satisfied when they had positive encounters with staff. This happens because workers – or the Cast, as Disney calls them – have been led to create these quality moments.

The argument is that outstanding leadership brings out the best in employees, which feeds directly into customer satisfaction. That, in turn, makes a successful business. This is not to say that customer satisfaction isn't important – just that it begins with great leadership.

The chapter goes on to describe the transition from an authoritarian approach to leadership, to one that asks for employee feedback.

The author says great leaders are not born, and can be made – with the ten strategies he outlines.

Chapter Two is called The Journey from the Farm to a Magic Kingdom. Many readers will like the rags–to–riches tale behind the book, which charts the author's humble beginnings in Oklahoma to his success on the corporate ladder.

The author didn't study management, and has no academic credentials in business whatsoever. He says his authenticity lies in the fact that he learned 'in the trenches' – and presents an anecdote to illustrate this.

He once had beer thrown in his face after he accused a waiter of causing a customer complaint. He'd failed to check out the waiter's version of the story first. The author says this incident taught him how leaders should always treat everybody with respect – and that includes staff as well as customers.

Chapter Three introduces the first strategy of the book, called Remember Everyone Is Important. All strategy chapters are divided into clear, numbered points, and end with a list of 'Activity Steps.' These steps work as a brief summary of the key points, to help review what you've learned so far.

The author gives us an acronym to help us remember the key attitudes of the first strategy: The acronym is RAVE: R stands for respect, A for appreciation, and V and E for 'Value Everyone.'

The chapter begins with a story from the textile services department at Disney. These are the staff who do the laundry. After completing a seminar, they were invited to play a larger role in decision–making. But they declined, because they thought greater responsibility would mean greater blame and punishment if anything went wrong.

Disney overcame this mistrust of management by including textile services staff in brainstorming sessions, which gave rise to a huge new program. Staff learned about the company's mission, and the impact of the laundry department on guest satisfaction. They became involved in planning, and even went on job swaps in other areas of the company.

A year later, textile services staff were invited again to take more responsibility, and were given the freedom to set their own productivity targets. This time it worked – staff eagerly set high targets, and met them.

The message is that when employees believe they're important, they can bring about changes that management would never be able to imagine.

Other useful tips in this chapter include knowing your team personally – for example, by paying attention to the photographs on their desks. The author also suggests letting your team get to know you – including some of your weaknesses – and giving them your full attention when they have something to say. 'Take care of your people before you take care of your paperwork,' the author says.

Staff satisfaction works in similar ways to customer satisfaction. Guests need to feel special and valued, and staff need to feel important and trusted. The author advises leaders to treat their people as they would want their customers to be treated.

Chapter Four, Break the Mold, starts with an experiment the author undertook, in which he gave chefs freedom that was previously unheard–of in resort culture.

The aim was to make the restaurants in the new Eurodisney really outstanding, and the way he did it was by wiping out a layer of authority. The chefs in the new French resort didn't have to report to a food and beverage director. Getting rid of the middle layer of management helped the chefs reach their true creative potential, and the resort got the desired results.

The message here is that leaders should work out what the organization could look like, rather than just doing the best they can within the existing structure.

This chapter offers a useful list of questions you can use to force yourself to make difficult decisions. For example, under the heading 'Make Every Position Count,' you're invited to ask what would happen if a certain job were eliminated? What would happen if it became part–time, outsourced, or automated?

And how do you overcome employees' natural resistance to change? Well, you can motivate them to welcome it, by giving them incentives to create change themselves, says the author.

The Action Steps at the end of this chapter provide questions you can use to assess whether the structures in your workplace are successful.

The fifth chapter is about hiring new staff, and the strategy is 'Make Your People Your Brand.' The author advises leaders to involve their teams when hiring someone new. He includes some useful questions you can ask in interviews, and urges you not to be afraid of hiring someone you think may be smarter or more talented than you are.

One simple tip when recruiting is to create a detailed job description. If someone is hired to do a job, and they find out later that their role has other functions they weren't told about, this could create resentment and a sense of betrayal. That's no way to keep staff happy.

Another tip is to stay in touch with people who leave your company because they've outgrown their roles. If you had a good working relationship with them, you may well want to work with them again in the future.

The fourth strategy is about training, and is outlined in Chapter Six. Some points the author makes here are staples from business manuals, such as giving people a mission, not just a job, and teaching by example.

He offers another acronym for a set of training tools. This time it's COACH, which stands for Care, Observe, Act, Communicate and Help.

He advises leaders to remind staff to make eye contact and smile, to teach appropriate body language, and show people what to do with their time, and where they should be. And he makes sure staff greet every guest personally, and thank them when they leave.

Other tips are what the author calls 'Take Fives.' These are opportunities to do something spontaneous, for example, rushing to replace a kid's fallen ice cream for free, or writing a special letter from Mickey Mouse to a child who's sick, when she only requested an autograph.

The most useful parts of this chapter are the questions you can ask for your own companies. Can every worker explain your organization's vision? How easy is it for your staff to learn new things? How many people have been promoted under your leadership?

The fifth strategy is about Eliminating Hassles. It begins with an anecdote about an anniversary dinner at the Marriott Hotel that went wrong because the wine didn't arrive until the dessert was served.

Rather than looking for someone to blame, the author dealt with this by asking what the procedure was for serving wine. It turned out the wine cabinet was always locked, and the person with the key wasn't available on that occasion. The author changed the procedure on the spot, and the problem never repeated itself.

Asking what went wrong, rather than who did something wrong, helps avoid a culture of blame, and keeps up staff morale.

Other ways of eliminating hassles are asking your customers for their opinions, learning how things work firsthand, and finding out from staff if they have any solutions to problems they've identified.

The main point made in Chapter Eight, called Learn The Truth, is the importance of getting out of the office and walking around. Walt Disney did this, and so does the author. He gives examples of what he learned when dressed as a guest, instead of in his corporate suit.

And are you prepared to learn the truth by facing tough questions from staff? For example: "Why don't people in my position get paid more?" Sixteen intelligent questions are listed here, followed by the advice that leaders should also seek feedback about themselves.

Chapter Nine, called Burn the Free Fuel, is about appreciating and recognizing your employees. This section is full of anecdotes and examples. A memorable one is when a colleague approached the author and said, "Hey, I hear you've been praising me behind my back!" This goes to show that praise is never wasted.

Other tips are joining in with employee events, remembering the names of staff members, and being sensitive to language. This is why Disney customers are called Guests, which is always written with a capital G, and employees are Cast Members, to highlight their special status.

Another strategy is staying ahead, not only in technology but in all areas of knowledge. The author tells us that reading something that seems to have no bearing on our work may still spark new, relevant ideas.

He also suggests we go out and experience the competition directly. There's no shame in adapting other people's business ideas for your own use. On the contrary, he says those who fail to do this are missing a great opportunity!

There's one example that stretches credibility a little. The author says he needed to know more about his chefs, so he signed on to a French cooking course. Some may think he's taking the detail of his leadership skills a little too far at this point!

The next chapter is on being careful about what you say and do. The author insists that leadership is defined by passion, and good leaders are as passionate about going to work in the morning as they are about getting home at night.

Later on, he says don't lose your sense of humor, and remember to stay humble.

This chapter makes some good points about partnerships. Other useful advice is about finding ways to break the routine for staff, to keep them on their toes.

The last strategy is called Develop Character. By this, the author means being clear about our personal ethics, and what we stand for. You're invited to reply to a series of questions that bring up moral dilemmas. The chapter ends with some buzz words to help drive home desirable values, such as honesty, respect, integrity, courage, and openness.

The final chapter is about change and leadership in the future. The author takes the view that we're moving from an industrial economy to a creative one. Future workers will want to be creative and flexible, and you need to move fast to make sure your organization is people–centered.

The Appendix gives us a list of personal development courses at the Disney Institute.

As the author says, the strategies in this book would work not just for theme parks or world–famous brands, but also for small retailers, and for staff in hospitals and the military. They'd even work for parents.

This book is practical if a little paternalistic. It certainly doesn't break out of the mold of personal development books. But its advice is solid, and many of the Action Steps can be directly applied to your everyday working life. For example, remember to ask yourself more often: "Why do we do it that way?" Many readers may find the author's simple, common–sense attitude refreshing. It's good to be reminded of the basics, such as the importance of learning from your mistakes, and being brave enough to ask questions.

The author thinks every problem in the world can be traced to a leadership failure. This may be a stretch of the imagination not everyone will want to make. But his conclusion is valid: In times of change, the future belongs to people who are quick to learn.

"Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney" by Lee Cockerell is published in hardback by Doubleday.

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