The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert IgerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Oduvijek me zanimalo kako izgleda karijera nekoga tko vodi neku ogromnu multinacionalnu kompaniju. Dosta tih informacija sam dobio kroz ovu knjigu, ali ne i sve što sam tražio. Poprilično otvoreno piše o svom životnom putu do mjesta Disney CEO. Oprezan je kada govori o ljudima s kojima je radio, pazi na to da ih previše ne "ocrni" i u tome uspijeva. Zadržava profesionalan pristup koji je vjerujem koristio i sa svojim podređenima u svakodnevici.
Robert je krenuo kao običan radnik na televiziji koji je vrlo vjerojatno motao kablove po studiju da bi se popeo do najvišeg mjesta. Volio bih da je malo više objasnio šta je to po njemu što ga ja izdvojilo da ostvari takvu karijeru. Volio bih da je ponudio osobnu analizu svog uspjeha kako bi onda mogli izvući neke lekcije šta možemo iskoristiti u svom životu. On je napisao korake kako su se događali jedni za drugim, i davao je dosta detalja ali nije rekao zašto je to baš on bio opcija za svako unaprijeđenje. Možda je bio radišan? Marljiv? Pažljiv? Dobar menadžer?
Do ove knjige nisam bio ni svjestan koliko je Disney moćna kompanije, pa ustvari može se reći da je Robert napravio takvom u zadnjih 15ak godina sa akviziranjem Pixara, Foxa i sličnih kompanija.
Možda to nije mjesto u ovakvoj knjizi ali je trebao objasniti kako je moguće da Disney može akvizirati firme koje koštaju desetke milijardi dolara? Kako se to isfinancira? Kolika je zarada da se isplati toliki ulog? Možda s ovim pitanjima otkrivam koliko sam nespreman za ovu knjigu jer nemam potrebno iskustvo da bih je u potpunosti razumio. No svejedno sam zadovoljan i drago mi je da sam je pročitao.
Ispod su neke od kvaliteta koje pravi lider mora imati, po mišljenju Robera Igera:
Optimizam.
Hrabrost.
Odlučnost.
Znatiželja.
Poštenje.
Pažljivost.
Autentičnost.
Neumorno traženje savršenstva.
Integritet.
Zanimljivo je vidjeti kako ga je otac usmjeravao i od malih nogu učio da bude produktivan. Kaže da bi znao proći kraj njegove sobe i provjeriti šta radi da se uvjeri da provodi vrijeme produktivno. Koliko roditelja to radi danas? Ne kažem da moraju maltretirati djecu ali buljenje u mobitel po par sati dnevno mu sigurno neće olakšati budućnost.
He would sometimes check in on his way past my room to make sure I was “spending time productively,” as he put it. That meant reading or doing homework or being engaged in something that would “better” me in some way.
Svi smo odgojeni da se brinemo za sebe, ali često se brinemo oko stvari koje su van naše kontrole ili se nikada i ne dogode. I Robertovi roditelji su bili slični kao i moji. Drago mi je bilo pročitati da je i on prepoznao pogrešne navike koje je ispravio kod sebe.
My parents were worriers. There was a sense with both of them that something bad would soon be coming down the pike. I don’t know how much of it is a fluke of genetics and how much is a learned reaction to their anxiety, but I’ve always been the opposite of that.
Dobro je početi sa dna jer te to nauči dosta toga. Nauči te da budeš strpljiviji, zahvalniji, produktivniji, itd.
At fifteen, I got a job as the summer janitor in my school district. It involved cleaning every heater in every classroom, then moving on to the bottom of every desk, making sure they were gum-free when the school year started. Cleaning gum from the bottoms of a thousand desks can build character, or at least a tolerance for monotony, or something….
I Robert je još jedan od uspješnih ljudi koji se ustaje prije svih kako bi prakticirao neke navike za koje inače ne bi imao vremena. Još samo jedna potvrda koliko je Miracle Morning korisna navika za svakoga. Ako to rade skoro svi uspješni ljudi i tvrde da ima ogroman učinak na njih, zašto i ti to ne pokušaš?
To this day, I wake nearly every morning at four-fifteen, though now I do it for selfish reasons: to have time to think and read and exercise before the demands of the day take over.
Svi koji rade i griješe. Odlika velikih lidera je da imaju hrabrost to i priznati što ih onda čini još snažnijima. Takve odlike cijene radne kolege.
In my early days, I thought there was only one lesson in this story, the obvious one about the importance of taking responsibility when you screw up. That’s true, and it’s significant. In your work, in your life, you’ll be more respected and trusted by the people around you if you honestly own up to your mistakes. It’s impossible not to make them; but it is possible to acknowledge them, learn from them, and set an example that it’s okay to get things wrong sometimes.
Jedan od boljih dijelova ove knjige je kada Robert govori o svojim bivšim šefovima koji su, iako škrti, bili pravedni i sposobni. Znali su postaviti prave ljude na odgovorna mjesta i onda su im vjerovali. Nešto što zvuči nemoguće za firme na Balkanu gdje se vlasnik mora pitati za svaku sitnicu iz svakog odjela firme.
Their business strategy was fairly simple. They were hypervigilant about controlling costs, and they believed in a decentralized corporate structure. Meaning: They didn’t think every key decision should be made by the two of them or by a small group of strategists in corporate headquarters. They hired people who were smart and decent and hardworking, they put those people in positions of big responsibility, and they gave them the support and autonomy needed to do the job. They were also tremendously generous with their time and always accessible. Because of this, executives working for them always had a clear sense of what their priorities were, and their focus enabled us all to be focused, too.
...Tom and Dan were the perfect bosses in this regard. They would talk about valuing ability more than experience, and they believed in putting people in roles that required more of them than they knew they had in them. It wasn’t that experience wasn’t important, but they “bet on brains,” as they put it, and trusted that things would work out if they put talented people in positions where they could grow, even if they were in unfamiliar territory.
Kada čitam knjige obično imam unutarnje debate s autorom, kao i sa ovim sljedećim citatom. "True authority and true leadership come from knowing who you are and not pretending to be anything else." Postoje navike kojih se trebamo riješiti, zato i postoje savjeti kao na primjer "Fake it, till you make it." Možda nemam trenutno samopouzdanje ali ako se uvjerim da imam, eventualno ću ga kroz glumu i razviti.
Robertov mentor u mladosti je rekao da mora biti inovativan ili će umrijeti. Jer svijet se stalno mijenja pa se mora prilagođavati novim situacijama kako bi se održao na prvom mjestu ili napredovao još. Nisu se nešto posebno slagali, ali sam siguran da ga je Roone oblikovao i naučio dosta trikova koje je kasnije u životu iskoristio.
It was the Roone lesson all over again: Innovate or die.
Puno je lekcija koje se mogu iskoristiti u svakodnevnom životu. Jedna od njih je da budemo pažljivi prilikom kritike jer moramo znati da je netko u to uložio neki trud i sigurno je osjetljiv na to.
When I am asked to provide insights and offer critiques, I’m exceedingly mindful of how much the creators have poured themselves into the project and how much is at stake for them.
U poslu se ne igra na sigurno, nego treba riskirati kako bi ostvario puni potencijal. Lako je biti osoba koja dobije To-do listu i onda samo to odradi. Treba imati hrabrosti i mudrosti odrediti šta će biti na toj To-do listi.
I didn’t want to be in the business of playing it safe. I wanted to be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness.
Na puno mjesta Robert pokazuje svoju empatiju i osjećaj prema svakom čovjeku. To vrlo vjerojatno proizlazi iz toga jer je i sam bio na dnu.
...credit is being directed toward me. It manifests itself in strange ways. I’m often in meetings with someone from outside the company and that person will look only at me, even though I’m surrounded by colleagues at the table. I don’t know if other CEOs feel this way, but it’s embarrassing to me, and in those moments I make a point of directing praise and attention to my coworkers. Similarly, when I’m the one attending a meeting with a group outside of Disney, I make sure to connect and speak with every person at the table. It’s a small gesture, but I remember how it felt to be the overlooked sidekick, and anything that reminds you that you’re not the center of the universe is a good thing.
Glavna rečenica i misao koju sam izvukao iz ove knjige nalazi se u ovom citatu ispod. Fokusiraj se na stvari koje su korisne i ne troši vrijeme na usko područje koje ti ne može osigurati profitabilnost. Ovu rečenicu sam iskoristio i u svom poslu i još jednom potvrdio, uz Paretov princip, koji je ispravan način rada.
“Avoid getting into the business of manufacturing trombone oil. You may become the greatest trombone-oil manufacturer in the world, but in the end, the world only consumes a few quarts of trombone oil a year!”
Koliko se ljudi može poistovjetiti s citatom ispod. Svi znamo koliko se kod nas gubi vremena na sastanke i besmislene razgovore kojima je jedina svrha da šef pokaže da je šef.
Managing your own time and respecting others’ time is one of the most vital things to do as a manager, and he was horrendous at it.
...I once watched him give an interview in the lobby of a hotel and say to the reporter, “You see those lamps over there? I chose them.” It’s a bad look for a CEO. (I should confess that I’ve caught myself—or have been caught—doing the same thing a few times. Zenia Mucha has said to me, in a way only she can: “Bob, you know you did that, but the world doesn’t need to know, so shut up!”)
Jedan moj prijatelj bi rekao "Puno je groblje nezamjenjivih.", tako slično misli i Robert. Nismo nezamjenjivi i trebamo sve raditi kako bi netko bi sutra sposoban preuzeti naše mjesto, a ne da mi budemo jedini koji tu poziciju znamo raditi.
We all want to believe we’re irreplaceable. The trick is to be self-aware enough that you don’t cling to the notion that you are the only person who can do this job.
Ne smijemo biti pesimistični kao lideri jer to je toksično za atmosferu. Treba imati pouzdanje u svoje ljude da će odraditi najbolje stvari i tako ih voditi i motivirati.
Michael had plenty of valid reasons to be pessimistic, but as a leader you can’t communicate that pessimism to the people around you. It’s ruinous to morale. It saps energy and inspiration. Decisions get made from a protective, defensive posture.
...No one could have handled the stress that Michael was under perfectly, but optimism in a leader, especially in challenging times, is so vital. Pessimism leads to paranoia, which leads to defensiveness, which leads to risk aversion.
Ljudi moraju imati jasne upute. Ciljevi moraju biti jednostavni i svima jasni.
If leaders don’t articulate their priorities clearly, then the people around them don’t know what their own priorities should be.
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