Disney stock has risen 51% in the 15 months since Bob Iger took the helm.

The cultural change was almost instantaneous, from a “micromanaging, imperious bullying” CEO to one who says, “The story shouldn’t be about me. It’s about the team.”

Quite a contrast.

Yes, his predecessor, Michael D. Eisner, laid much of the groundwork, but he also created a dysfunction culture of fear and loathing.

Iger turned that around, not by turning over the staff to bring in his own team, but by following the lead of his original mentor, Tom Murphy, founder of CapCities, “You put good people in jobs and give them room to run. You involve yourself in a responsible way, but not to the point where you are usurping their authority. I don’t have the time or concentration—and you could argue maybe even the talent—to do that.”

According to Steve Jobs, Disney’s largest shareholder, “Bob lets [the person] who can handle the job get it done. It’s not [about grabbing] headlines. That’s rare in that town [Hollywood].”

Any boss can do what Iger did, it’s a matter of MAP, not ego.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Business info, Culture, Leadership, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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