A Ride of a Lifetime Reads Like Walking Along Squeaky Clean Main Street in Disney Land
A Ride of a Lifetime is Bob Iger’s autobiography as a CEO of Walt Disney corporation. It hits the expected high notes of his career: a career that took him from ABC television to Disney, and during which he oversaw the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. As a business book, it obligatorily spells out Bob Iger’s ten leadership principles. Although they were a bit generic: be optimistic, strive for excellence, focus, have high integrity, etc.
One of the surprises reading the book was his close relationship with Steve Jobs, after the acquisition of Pixar.
ChatGPT summarizes the book as
“Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company” is a memoir by Bob Iger, the former CEO of Walt Disney. In the book, Iger reflects on his journey leading one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies. He shares stories of challenges and successes, detailing key decisions and their consequences, including the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. He also covers his philosophy on leadership, innovation, and corporate culture, offering insights into the strategies that helped him steer Disney through rapid technological changes in the media industry. The book is both a personal account of Iger’s tenure and a broader exploration of the challenges facing businesses in the 21st century.
The book, released in 2019, comes across as a prelude to a potential presidential run. That run may never come now that Bob came out of retirement and returned to Disney at the age of 71, replacing his successor Bob Chapek. The book reads like walking along squeaky clean main street in Disneyland: an optimistic story with little controversy or true conflict. There were a few tough times nevertheless, such as the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando or the death of a toddler at DisneyWorld. Of course, as an autobiography, you can expect some of the unflattering parts will be left out. Especially, if, while writing it, you may be contemplating a run for the US presidency.
I wish there was a bit background about what didn’t go so well in his career. ChatGPT reminds me of several controversies he faced during his tenure as CEO of Walt Disney, that didn’t come up in the book: executive pay, ESPN layoffs, political donations, treatment of James Gunn (the fired director of the Guardians of the Galaxy). I am not necessarily looking for a backstory on every controversie. I was looking for his experiences as a leader or executive when things were more messy, periods of uncertainty or when he doubted himself.
Bob does explain how he approaches every challenge as a problem or puzzle to solve. Yet, his puzzle solving comes across as a perfect trajectory: and then I did this, and, while I didn’t think it would not necessarily work, it did. Sprinkle some Disney Magic and voila.
Regardless, I loved reading the book. His writing and verbal communication style in interviews is simple, precise, and clear. I like his style. It is also a style befitting a statesman and US president.
