#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A memoir of leadership and success The executive chairman of Disney, Time's 2019 businessperson of the year, shares the ideas and values he embraced during his fifteen years as CEO while reinventing one of the world's most beloved companies and inspiring the people who bring the magic to life.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR

Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company's history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger--think global--and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.

Today, Disney is the largest, most admired media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era.

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including:

- Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming.
- Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity.
- Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale.
- Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them.

This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It's also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology.

"The ideas in this book strike me as universal" Iger writes. "Not just to the aspiring CEOs of the world, but to anyone wanting to feel less fearful, more confidently themselves, as they navigate their professional and even personal lives."

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Product details

Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 0399592091
ISBN-13 : 978-0399592096

Best Sellers Rank: 366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"I expected a book written by the person who has led Disney for decades to be defined by both gripping storytelling and deep leadership wisdom. Bob Iger delivers, and then some! The Ride of a Lifetime is leadership gold--you won't forget the stories or the lessons."--Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead

"Nurturing creativity is less a skill than an art--especially at a company where the brand alone is synonymous with creativity. That's a lot to live up to. Bob Iger has not only lived up to ninety-six years of groundbreaking history but has moved the Disney brand far beyond anyone's expectations, and he has done it with grace and audacity. This book shows you how that's happened."--Steven Spielberg

"People have been waiting years for Bob Iger to share his leadership secrets. Now he has, and they are utterly brilliant. The Ride of a Lifetime is not merely a memoir; it's a personal, all-access session with the wisest CEO you've ever met and a playbook for handling the key challenges of our age: how to drive change, leverage technology, build an enduring culture, and empower people. It's a rippingly good, revelatory read."--Daniel Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code

About the Author

Robert Iger is the executive chairman of The Walt Disney Company and directs the company's creative endeavors. He served as CEO from 2005 to 2020. He previously was president and COO from 2000 to 2005. Iger began his career at ABC in 1974, and as chairman of the ABC Group he oversaw the broadcast television network and station group, managed the cable television properties, and guided the merger between Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., and The Walt Disney Company. Iger officially joined the Disney senior management team in 1996 as chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group and in 1999 was given the additional responsibility of president, Walt Disney International. In that role, Iger expanded Disney's presence outside of the United States, establishing the blueprint for the company's international growth today.

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Ivan Isaacs

Need to read

26 January 2020

Verified Purchase

Great advising on leadership and working a very volatile corporate environment.

Helpful

ddd

Good business biography

31 December 2020

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revealing book on his decision making thought process and values

Helpful

Carina Lim

This will be 1 book I will keep for life

27 December 2020

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Very well written and relatable

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Annie Nguyen

One of the best business books ever! Many valuable leadership lessons!

15 July 2020

In my opinion, it's one of the best business books so far. Rob Iger has worked for the same company for 45 years: 22 years at ABC, 23 years at Disney (after Disney acquired ABC in 1995), and he was the 6th CEO of Walt Disney for 15 years. During the time he was CEO, he focused on 3 main priorities: 1) High quality branded content; 2) Embrace technology to the fullest extent (including launching Disney+, direct to consumer); 3) To become a truly global company. And during his tenure, he has led successful acquisition including Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm (Star Wars), 21st Century Fox. Rob is humble and he offers many valuable leadership lessons. One of the nice quote of his: "Value ability more than experience, and put people in roles that require more of them than they know they have in them." It's a great read!

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Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com

Amazon.com: 928 reviews

Daniel

A magical insight into leadership

24 September 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

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This book is surprisingly candid from the CEO of one of the world's most admired companies. I enjoyed that the book does not preach Bob's lessons, but rather uses clear examples to demonstrate how rational and emotional decision-making should be balanced. As a young professional, I admire the longevity of Bob's career, and this book offered multiple inspirational learnings that I will lean on for years to come.

99 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

The second-half of the book is business school GOLD

29 September 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

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While I read the book cover-to-cover in two sittings, the second-half of Bob Iger's pseudo-memoir is amazing and incredibly fast and entertaining - picking up after he succeeded Michael Eisner. Iger details the sequences of events in acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Fox, and putting together the digital distribution strategy behind ESPN+/Disney+. Really worth the read about the trials and tribulations of deal-making at a massive Fortune 500 multinational corporation.

77 people found this helpful

Stella Carrier

I Got More Than I Bargained For In A Positive Way With the Purchase of this Book

26 September 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I admit that I am both logically and intuitively aware that I am completely and very much outside the target audience for this kindlebook that is The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger especially since I’m aware that it is outside my career destiny to work for Disney. Still, after being exposed to multiple insightful details in this book I realize that one of the multiple reasons I was inspired to look at this kindlebook is for me to help the ambitious side of my spirit /soul understand at least some ideas on what it means to take bolder andor strategically andor wisely calculated career risks/moves. I am still in the process of increasing my boldness and courage. However, reading about the author’s journey on how he balanced courage and self- confidence while taking professional moves that had beneficial long term career results helped increase my knowledge on some ideas to keep in mind to experience career evolution with longevity while still experiencing a sense of adventure to evolve professionally. There are a multiple number of factors that made this kindlebook purchase very much worth it for me (disclosure: I am fortunate to have pre-ordered this kindlebook with money made from my current job around August 19, 2019). Some of the multiple compelling features of the kindlebook; how the author got involved with the Pixar deal and his friendship with the late Steve Jobs, his career milestones with Marvel, the author’s side of the story on Lucasfilm and his connection with the original author of the Star Wars trilogies, brief snippets of some of his political viewpoints, multiple pictures of the author with his wife including a colorful photo image of the author with his wife who is wearing a Yoda dress, and much more.

65 people found this helpful

Halordain

General Management Advice Interwoven in an Interesting Life Story

17 October 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

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The leadership components of this life story are enlightening and applicable.

But what I picked up this book to learn was in-depth insight into managing the creative process, negotiating difficult personalities, and creating a unique creative culture at Disney and subsumed companies. Although the book told a coherent, clear storyline with interesting vignettes, it ultimately glossed over key moments in the general sense, rather than diving deep and mining their emotions. Some examples:

1.) Characters -- A story involves interesting personalities and the dynamics between them. Some of them -- like Steve Jobs -- required no introduction, but others did, and they often popped into Bob Iger's story without the proper introduction or backstory. He spends a lot of time on his father, and later his most successful hires, like Alan Horn, but I wanted to know more about his wife, his closest colleagues, John Lasseter, and his relationship with Disney's lifeblood animators. Give them a name and a face for us! Where do they come frmo, and how did they influence you? The most emotional scene with the most well-painted character -- Roone -- touched me not because Roone was dying, but because of all they had been through together. Roone's relentless pursuit of perfection, and his extravagance in getting there, provided memorable scene after memorable scene, and it was because Bob described his character and their shared journey -- from the early day on-calls to the Olympics to the New Year's 2000 coverage -- so deeply, through so many moments. But then "highly confidential" dynamics like the John Lasseter relationship were handled in a paragraph, with no insight into John's background or their shared experiences. I found myself mixing up all the Toms, Johns, and Michaels as the book went on, because their motivations, character quirks. and backgrounds hadn't set them apart in my mind. Much of what has made Disney such a well-known brand in storytelling is its characters. I expected more complete characters.

2.) Depth -- Disney is, at its heart, a creative company. Their acquisitions, like Pixar and Marvel, are also creative companies. Show us more of the creative side! What makes their artists and animators tick, and how do you manage creative souls into a large corporate culture? The book goes into some of the challenges, but at a high bird's-eye level, rather than in the trenches with the creative minds. It captivated me discussing George Lucas' struggles with creative control, including meetings on the script, but many of the later events came from the media, like interviews, and few were dramatized in-scene. How did Disney animators and creative teams handle the new IP? What were their storytelling strategies? What kinds of challenges cropped up? I don't want to hear that "fans loved it" or that Iron Giant 2 was grossing XX at the box office; what's of interest is the blood, sweat, and tears that go into such a creative endeavor, and how Bob Iger managed a lot of talented egos. bridging the past to the future.

3.) Emotion -- The opening scene -- Disneyland Shanghai's opening and the Pulse shooting and alligator attack -- captivated me because of the difficult phone conversation the author describes, and how his wife supports him through that moment. The final conversation with Roone also elicited feeling, because of what the two had been through, and how close the author described their relationship. The rest of the book didn't deliver those moments on a consistent basis. Descriptions of potentially emotional moments were couched too much in generals and facts, like Steve's confidance of cancer being viewed through the lens of the impending deadline, or John Lasseter's departure. They were described too much in the general sense, as difficult moments, without diving into the specifics of what made they so complicated and emotional. As a result, it was hard to grasp the nature of the inner conflict, and feel the storyteller's emotion. The book had conflicts -- like shareholder votes and phone calls -- but they didn't generate as much emotional payoff in me because they didn't have the buildup, depth, or detail into what was motivating or driving each individual in the battle. It's also hard to relate to people when they haven't received the introduction they deserve, but more than anything, I wanted to feel more emotion rather than a cool "this happened, then that happened" or "that was difficult, but after months of work, we persevered" type of narrative.

46 people found this helpful

Norman W.

Recommended👍

5 December 2019 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

Amazing read! Leadership, compasion, patience, and development. Concepts transferable to all aspects of life. Highly recommend!

44 people found this helpful

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