Julian Letizia

Journalism 405

March 22, 16

Leadership Essay

Bob Iger
CEO of Disney
Biography
Robert A. Iger is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney

Company. As Chairman and CEO, Iger is the steward of the world’s largest media

company and some of the most respected and beloved brands around the globe.

Since acting as CEO of Disney, Iger has made Disney an industry leader through its

creative content offerings across new and multiple platforms. Prior to his current

role he began his career as a weatherman for a local television station. He joined

ABC in 1974 and gradually rose though its ranks. In 1989, Iger was named head of

ABC Entertainment and served as president of the ABC Network in 1993. Six years

later Disney named Iger president of Walt Disney International, and soon after in

2000 Iger was president and chief operating officer making him the company’s

number two executive chairman and CEO under Michael Eisner. “Under Iger’s

leadership: stock is up 38% over the last 12 months, valuable brands like Pixar,

Marvel and LucasFilm are now part of Disney fold, and the company is innovating on

all fronts with the new Disney Infinity video game and a magic bracelet idea coming

soon to Disney Parks that will make visits easier and more memorable.” (1)

There is no questioning that Bob Iger is an excellent leader. Through his long

line of success he has been able to adapt to change and motivate his team to move

forward. He does this by having strong Leader traits and behaviors. These are

important because without them he would be unable to have a productive

leadership style. He uses transformational leadership and continues to develop new

ventures for the Walt Disney Company. Iger has done this by establishing direction

and creating a vision, aligning people and communications goals, and finally

motivating and inspiring people to their full potential.

Leadership Style Analysis

Transformational Leadership is a style of leadership where the leader works

with employees to identify the need for a chance and create a guide to that vision

through inspiration. It serves to enhance and motivate moral job performance of

followers through connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self worth to the

project. Being a role model for followers in order to inspire them to raise their

interest in the project through challenging followers to take ownership for their

work. By doing this, it allows leaders to align followers with tasks that enhance their

performance for the greater good of the project.

Iger’s transformational leadership can been seen through making both himself and

his team advance to a higher level of motivation and success. Iger has constructed

Disney’s organization of leaders into a management team called the “C-suite”. The

members listed in the C-suite position at Disney consist of high-ranking officers of

both male and female employees. The goal of this design is to communicate what the

Walt Disney Company’s goal is by ensuring that Walt Disney’s, the founder, mission

is communicated to every single employee. The whole idea here is that the

organization, whatever needs accomplished, belongs to the entire group by working

together to accomplish objectives as a team. A formal organizational communication

style from the top-down provides the organization to continuously communicate

this vision. Leaders have set up their organization and teams in such a way that

employees see that management is listening turning any potential communication

weaknesses into opportunities to voice opinions or concerns. Iger has done an

excellent job of listening to employees by creating open channels of communication

within all divisions of the organization. This style of communication has allowed

Disney to continuously motivate and encourage their employees’ creativity through

autonomy.

The Walt Disney Company thrives on creative minds and innovative

thoughts. The use of a transformational style of leadership in the organization

started with Walt Disney himself. Iger has implemented “The Bass Handbook of

Leadership” that has four elements necessary to accomplish his transformational

leadership style. They are “individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation,

inspirational motivation, and idealized influence.” (2) Iger refers to individualized

consideration for employee’s as “The stars are the people we actually put on the

playing field that have created so much value for the company over the years.” (3)

Iger intellectually stimulates his followers by empowering them to challenge

themselves to chase their dreams. He has implemented a supportive learning

environment for his employees that allow them to take risks, which also helps them

learn from their mistakes. Through his three major investments in Pixar, Marvel,

and LucasFilms, he has provided inspirational motivation for his staff. Finally, an

idealized influence provides a strong model for ethical behavior by encouraging

pride, respect, and trust in his staff members in all departments of the organization.

Leader Traits

After a thorough analysis of reviewing Bob Iger’s Leadership style it is

important to understand his leadership traits and behaviors. Before you are able to

understand why he is able to productively use his leadership style it is important to

acknowledge his leadership traits. The five major leadership traits that he possesses

allow this to happen. Intelligence is positively related to leadership through a strong

verbal ability to communicate, and a perceptual ability to be able to deal with and

give meaning to sensory stimuli. Self-Confidence gives a leader belief that one can

make a difference. The Determination and desire to get the job done includes

initiative, persistence, and drive. The Integrity to be honest and trustworthy allows

you take responsibility for actions. Lastly, Sociability is the capability to seek out

pleasant social relationship by being friendly, outgoing, and courteous. As you can

see though his productive transformational leadership Iger possesses all five of

these major traits. His intelligence is shown through the ability to set a structured

top-down communication that motivates staff members and employees to share

thoughts and ideas. Having the belief that he can make a difference by investing in

three major companies relates to his self-confidence. By motivating employees to

take initiative and have an ambitious drive he thrives in determination to get the job

done. Empowering employees to try new ideas shows integrity to be honest and

take responsibility for ones actions and mistakes. And finally establishing a positive

and friendly work environment inquires a sense of sociability.

Leader Behaviors

The central purpose of these style approaches to leader behaviors is to

identify how leaders combine these two kinds of behaviors to influence employees

in their efforts to reach a goal. The two general kinds of behaviors leaders use are

task and relationship. Leaders who use task behaviors facilitate goal
accomplishments helping group members achieve their objects. Leaders who use

this behavior focus on getting the job accomplished rather than nurturing team

members. Leaders who use relationship behaviors help subordinates feel

comfortable with themselves, with each other, and with the situation in which they

find themselves. Instead of main focus being on accomplishing the task at hand

these leaders nurture employees caring more about their wellbeing. The way Iger

combines these behaviors best supports the Team Management style. He places

both a task and interpersonal relationship behavior that promotes a high degree of

participation and teamwork. By doing this he is able to motivate and inspire

employees to perform at a high level while having a sense of understanding of ones

wellbeing and self worth to the task.

Conclusion

In conclusion to this essay I support why Robert A. Iger Chairman and Chief

Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company is a perfect example of a leader. He

possesses both leadership traits and behaviors that allow his to be an effective

transformational leader. Through successfully implementing a structured and

organized management team Iger has been able to motivate and inspire his

employees to work to their full potential.

 Bibliography

1, Block, Alex Ben. "Disney CEO Bob Iger Shares His Approach to Leadership at UCLA Awards
Gala." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-ceo-bob-iger-shares-659053>.

2, Gates, Corey. "Leadership Analysis: The Walt Disney Company."Linkedin.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-analysis-walt-disney-company-r-cory-
gates-mba-candidate>.

3, "Robert A. Iger - The Walt Disney Company." The Walt Disney Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
Mar. 2016. <https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/leaders/robert-a-iger/>.

4, Pomerantz, Dorthory. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

<http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/01/23/five-lessons-in-success-from-
disneys-40-million-ceo/2/#2788cff64097>.