Hey, Podcast Fans! Bob Chapek’s Doing an Interview Next Week!
Hey, Disney fans, would you like to learn more about the company’s CEO?
Yes, Bob Chapek received the promotion and job title of a lifetime when he replaced Bob Iger as the boss at Disney.
In the weeks that followed, Chapek faced unprecedented challenges while learning on the job.
A pandemic forced the new head of Disney to adapt and innovate. You may be surprised to learn that Chapek credits something else for his leadership skills.
Chapek fell in love with cross country track while a kid in Indiana, and he has maintained that passion throughout his life.
Recently, New York Times bestselling writer Don Yaeger relished an opportunity to interview Chapek about his upbringing and management style.
You can listen to the Corporate Competitor Podcast on Wednesday, April 21st and hear all the details about how a marketing director in the home video department evolved into the overall head of Disney.
Podcast Highlights
You may wonder what the podcast will cover. MickeyBlog received a sneak peek about topics. They include:
- “The pivotal role of storytelling in Disney’s successful effort to scale its brand from Anaheim to Shanghai
- The concept of “curiosity-to-vision” which Chapek uses to fuel Disney’s innovation pipeline
- Striking a “strategically consistent but tactically divergent” balance among creative and financial goal setting
- The role of recruitment in reinforcing company culture.”
Actual Podcast Quotes
We also received a list of some of the most tantalizing comments from Chapek during the interview. Here are a few selections:
“Competition is competition. Whether it’s individual competition, team competition, or corporate competition… I’m not the biggest fan of participation trophies.”
“When I was growing up, my family used to take vacations in Florida. I remember the first time I visited Disney World. It was a shock to go from the cold winters of the region, and then drive two and a half days and, all of a sudden, end up in this beautiful, utopian environment.”
“There probably could be no two more different environments than where I grew up and the idyllic Main Street of the Magic Kingdom.”
“For a lot of people, it was all about getting a job after high school in a metal shop, machine shop or wood shop and joining a union…To an extent, running for me was a symbol of wanting to persevere and do something bigger, starting with college.”
“As a cross country runner, you learn that for every mile you log at a meet, you’re logging 50 miles in training. So, preparation is everything.”
“To this day I overprepare for pretty much everything. I prepare for third derivative questions. In other words, say you prepare for a board meeting. There’s the first question, how’s XYZ doing in China? And then a follow up question, which goes one level deeper. And then a follow up question, which goes one level deeper, I call it the third derivative question. That’s the level that I’m only satisfied when I’m prepared to that extent.”
And there’s plenty more where those came from! Keep reading MickeyBlog for a review of the Chapek podcast interview. We’ll also post a link to podcast when it goes live!
Feature Image: Courtesy of Corporate Competitor Podcast