Disney Book Review: The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger

Happy New Year! I love all of the wonderful new possibilities wrapped up in the simple act of flipping the calendar. Don’t you? Perhaps the January themes of fresh starts and inspired self improvement had something to do with my choice for my first read of 2020. Well, that and the fact that it just became available at the end of last year. The book is entitled The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of The Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger. Today’s post offers a review of Iger’s new book.

Overview

The Ride of a Lifetime covers Robert Iger’s remarkable 45 year career with ABC and Disney. We learn first hand details about his numerous jobs, proudest and saddest moments and the colorful cast of characters he encountered along the way. The first half of the book covers his early “learning” days at ABC through his final, albeit stormy, ascension to the top of Disney. The second “leading” section, shares considerable detail around his work as Disney’s CEO. Examples include the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and 20th Century Fox as well as the opening of Disneyland Shanghai and the creation of Disney+.

The Ride of a Lifetime is more than just a memoir, however. Iger uses the backdrop of his whirlwind career and remarkable experiences to emphasize what he calls his ten guiding principles. He shares the importance of optimism, courage, and focus among other desirable traits. All ten are listed at the beginning of the book and reiterated more thoroughly in the appendix. On the pages in between, Iger thoughtfully weaves the principles into specific anecdotes and experiences. The overall result is more inspired storytelling then text book.

Review

Overall, I enjoyed The Ride of a Lifetime. (How could you not with a title like that?) As a Disney fan, it’s always interesting to me to read the business details behind the company’s never ending evolution. A few years ago I read Disney War by James Stewart which covers the history of Iger’s predecessor Michael Eisner. Although Iger gently rebukes some of Stewart’s book, The Ride of a Lifetime offers new insights from Eisner’s era and then fills in the rest of Disney’s adventures to the present.

Second, Iger’s principles within the book are extremely relatable. He talks about the somewhat simplistic ideas of fairness, curiosity and decisiveness. We also hear about the importance of integrity and humility. If you’ve ever worked within a corporate setting, or you’ve worked with anyone else on anything period, you’ll probably relate too. Sometimes the simplest principles are surpisingly difficult to practice in reality. Iger sheds light on this tricky balance with direct examples and insightful commentary.

I particularly appreciated the time Iger spent on the importance of empathy. The book opens with Iger’s perspective on managing two different tragedies in Orlando the same week he was in China to open Disneyland Shanghai. It was a thoughtful way to offer us our own emotional insight on Iger’s high profile (high stress?!?) position.

The subject matter itself is another thing to like about The Ride of a Lifetime. Iger covers Disney fan favorites like theme park openings and Disney animation. The latter part of the book takes a slightly more dramatic tone as it covers Disney’s mega acquisitions for additional content and technology. We also learn about slightly lesser known subjects, like Iger’s presidential considerations or his last minute decision to not acquire Twitter. All were fascinating and encouraged me to swallow up the quick 224 page book within a weekend.

Final Thoughts

Robert Iger’s book The Ride of a Lifetime is an interesting read about the Disney CEO’s 45 year career with ABC and Disney. It’s more than just a memoir, however, it shares valuable lessons learned along the way. Many of these lessons are relatable to us, even if our own accomplishments seem lower profile by comparison. Iger’s book emphasizes optimism, courage, focus and fairness, just to name a few. Pretty good ideas to carry into the new calendar year, don’t you think?

Add a little magic to your world!