The One Book I’m Giving This Holiday Season

I’m always inclined to think that the last book I read is the best one. But if I had to pick one book this year that influenced my thinking more than any other, it’s Robert Iger’s “Ride of a Lifetime.” I couldn’t put it down, which is why I’ll be giving copies to friends and colleagues this holiday season. Iger’s subtitle is “Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company,” and while most of us will never run a $155 billion business, the lessons he imparts are meaningful for any CEO—or any business leader who aspires to be.  

Keep things in perspective. One of the reasons why it’s great to read a book from a person who runs a company of the magnitude of Disney is that anytime your job seems overwhelming, you just need to think about Bob Iger.  When I feel like I’m up to my ears with marketing, operations, manufacturing, logistics, I say, well, this person runs Disney—and he manages to do it without losing his humanity and sense of fairness. I know that if I keep my focus on what’s important, I have more than enough capacity to manage all of my channels and then some. 

Stay out of the weeds. One difference between me and the majority of CEOs is that I founded my company, which means that I spent years involved in setting up every aspect of the business, from sales to operations to customer service. But at some point a founder CEO has to leave the founder identity behind. Iger’s book made me think about all the times I stuck my nose into things when I should have allowed my senior management team to handle it. As a CEO, it inspired me to stay focused on a few big things rather than needle everyone on the minor things. 

Management isn’t one size fits all. Like Iger, I run a company that employs both business-side people and creatives. His book helped me to understand there is a different way to manage creative people and different measures of success. Iger makes the smart observation that the folks who work on the creative side have more of a personal sensitivity to criticism—it’s not about the system, it’s about the work they’ve personally created. That requires a different management approach. The way I deal with the people who sell and deliver our products is different from the way I deal with the marketing and social media teams. 

Process is your friend. Ten years ago, Saatva was a scrappy startup. Although I was an industry veteran, I grew the business based largely on instinct and experience. I chafed at creating too much of what I feared was unnecessary process. But Iger makes clear that process doesn’t have to slow you down. If anything it’s the opposite: You can’t run a large company without processes, otherwise with each new product or initiative you’ll find yourself having to reinvent the wheel. 

Have a long-range plan. Although planning is always subject to change, you need to have a long-term plan and vision for your business. Iger inspired me to always be thinking at least three years down the road.  

Always be fair. Sometimes you need to read books not to learn things so much as to seek validation.  From my first business venture, I’ve tried to be fair—sometimes to a fault. It may take time for a person or project to realize its value. Even though you might have a couple of losses, in the end you win more than you lose when you’re fair. Iger puts it best, in the 10 principles of management that open his book: “Strong leadership embodies the fair and decent treatment of people.” In this season of goodwill, I couldn’t agree more. 

This article has been reposted on LinkedIn.