The Ride of a Lifetime
Bob Iger
Summary
From one of the best CEOs of the 21st century, Bob Iger reflects on his journey leading Disney as CEO for 15+ years.
Rating: 4/5
Notes
There will always be crises and failures for which you’re never prepared
Innovate or die and there’s no innovation if you operate out of fear of the new or untested
Always fess up to your own mistakes
Know what you don’t know and trust in what you do
Anything that reminds you you’re not the centre of the universe is a good thing
Do your job well, be patient, look for opportunities to grow and make yourself a person your bosses turn to when opportunity arises
As a leader, you have to make sure your priorities are clearly articulated
Control what you can and everything else will sort itself out
Don’t let your ego get in the way of making the best possible decision
If you approach and engage people with respect and empathy, impossible becomes real
Long shots aren’t as usually long as they seem, Be Bold
You need to be willing to take big risks otherwise you’ll never get big reward
Surround yourself with people who are good in addition to being good at what they do
Being present for your people is so important to them
To tell great stories, you need great talent
Value ability more than experience
Be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness
If something doesn’t feel right for you, it won’t be right for you
***
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
***
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