The Ride of a Lifetime

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares experiences and leadership lessons from his 15 years as CEO of Disney and previous roles at ABC. I’ve always been taken aback by the pure scale of risk-taking required to make a large company stay relevant through rapid industry change. During Iger’s time as CEO Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox to become a truly global media and entertainment conglomorate. It increased its stake of BAMTech, which enabled it to accelerate the launch of Disney+, a bold move that cannibalized existing revenue streams. The sheer scale and swiftness of these moves is something to marvel at. Throughout the book, Iger drops some useful leadership wisdom: being authentic, having humility, leading with honesty and sincerity, treating people with respect and taking responsibility if you screw up in work and in life; all principles I will continue to strive towards as a leader.