Today, I speak with the ever insightful and knowledgeable Lee Cockerell, who was an Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World Resorts. He is now retired and got his first book published, called Creating Magic. Believe it or not, he is using many social media tools, including his own blog and Twitter! My friend Greg Rollett has supported him on a blog and podcast series as well. In the below interview you will learn how to create magic as a manager. The main take-away is that every employee is important (each one is the voice of the brand).
Lee, from your executive position with Disney, how have you created magic with the people around you and how can managers do the same?
“First and foremost, “Remember, Everyone is important.” Manage your work and lead your people.”
- 1) Make people feel special.
- 2) Treat people as individuals.
- 3) Show respect to everyone.
- 4) Train and develop your team members. Training and development are different. Anyone can train you but only someone who really cares about you can develop you.
You have 10 practical strategies you share in your book. Would you care to highlight your favorites?
My favorite two are Strategy 1 and Strategy 7:
- Strategy 1 is, remember, everyone is Important. If you get this one right everything else falls into place and your team become committed instead of just interested in their jobs.
- Strategy 7 is. Burn the Free Fuel. The is all about appreciation, recognition and encouragement. We all miss many opportunities in life to do this better at work, at home and in every other part of our life. It is the fuel that drives human performance. We all want to matter. It is a leaders responsibility to make sure their team members know they matter.
Can you name a few “magical” companies and people that exist in business today?
I like Costco, Mayo Clinic, Wells Fargo, Riverside Company, and Price Waterhouse Coopers and my favorite is a little private restaurant here in Orlando called Le Coq Au Vin, run by a man and his wife. They have been there for 25 years and they make everyone feel special and they cook great food. My wife and I celebrate every important occasion there. There are many more but these are some that I have worked with and have seen that they have a strong people and leadership focus as well as a strong business product strategy.
How do you make your people your brand?
Through excellent leadership where every employee feels like they matter, where they are made to feel special, treated as individuals, respected, and trained and developed so they can have a brighter future. It simply comes down to great leaders creating an excellent environment for their fellow employees. When you do this the employees take care of the customer because they want to instead of because they have to and strong business results follow. The people who come into contact with the customer are your brand.
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How have you build your personal brand over time and what lessons have you learned along the way?
I learned that you have to be careful what you say and do to be a great role-model and to remember, everyone is important. The first half of my career I was a great manager and not a great leader. I got things done by intimidation and using my position and authority to make people perform. After a couple of career disappointments because I was too aggressive I learned that I had to learn to become a great manager and a great leader. For a long time I did not know the difference. I went to classes on leadership, I studied great leaders and slowly but surely I learned to manager the details of the business and to lead the people by inspiring them to believe in themselves and trusting them to do the right thing.
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Lee Cockerell was the Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort for over 10 years. He is the author of Creating Magic. He continues to speak and teach in leadership and professional development on behalf of Disney Institute. A popular keynote speaker, he frequently addresses Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, educational institutions and non-profits across the country. One of Lee’s major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies which continues on as the primary resource for developing the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World.
