The Ride of a Lifetime (我生命中的一段歷險)

 Robert Iger, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Random House, 2019.

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.”

艾格先生 (Mr. Iger) 擔任迪士尼執行長 (Disney CEO) 的三個重點，好的內容、擁抱技術、和全球化。前面兩個都是資訊技術，例如購併三個技術導向的內容公司，第二個則是串流平台，以播放迪士尼的內容。資訊技術真的大大地顛覆了我們的世界。

當然，他的高 EQ 也是重點。 迪士尼前任執行長和賈伯斯 (Steve Jobs) 鬧翻，他竟然有辦法說服賈伯斯賣公司給他，還和他成為好朋友，也請賈伯斯說服漫威 (Marvel) 的老闆珀爾馬特 (Ike Perlmutter) 賣公司。賈伯斯非常討厭動漫，但是，他把艾格當朋友，所以還是打電話給珀爾馬特。賈伯斯在矽谷科技人的心目中應該有非常高的地位，珀爾馬特接到賈伯斯的電話，非常的開心和不可置信。

艾格收購皮克斯動畫工作室 (Pixar Animation Studios) 之後，不僅給其高階主管  John Lasseter 和Edwin Catmull  高度的自主權，還請他們擔任華特迪士尼動畫工作室 (Walt Disney Animation Studios) 的主管，在業界樹立了口碑，也使得後來的收購事業較為順暢。

附錄總結其經驗和做法。