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Vincent Villani
James Tubman
MGMT 433
April 29, 2015
The Transformational Leadership of Walt Disney
It is without doubt that Walt Disney can be considered a leader. To create a
company as successful as Disney, to innovate the world of entertainment, and to lead
a team of others the reach that point in a previously unexplored fashion would be
impossible without Walt’s leadership characteristics. However, it is what Disney did
and how he did it that constituted to his status as a transformational leader. In James
MacGregor Burns’ volume Transforming Leadership, he states, “transforming leaders
define public values that embrace the supreme and enduring principles of a people.
These values of the shaping ideas behind constitutions and laws and their
interpretation. They are the essence of declarations of independence, revolutionary
proclamations, momentous statements by leaders that go to the court meaning of
events, that define what is at stake… they are the inspiration and guide to people
who pursue and seek to shape change, and they are the standards by which the
realization of the highest intentions is measured.” (MacGregor Burns, 29) This
transformational leader creates a vision – an idea. This vision is a future position or
setting that the leaders believes he or she can carry the people to. While leading this
team, the leader is appealing to their values and desires. This is not a selfish vision –
this is a vision to benefit the public. Walt Disney had that vision and created it,
impacting the entertainment industry to a point where it would never be the same
again.
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Walt Disney said, “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful
place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” (James) Heavily
reliant on his business partners, team members, and cast, Disney was able to bring
his vision of a new form of joy and entertainment to life. He began so by using his
creativity to create the first cartoons in existence. In 1928, Walt Disney created the
prominent short cartoon sketch that would end up being the first ever film with
synchronized sound, Steamboat Willy. Walt designed the Mickey Mouse character,
which he then had artist Ub Iwerks create into an animation. “Ub designed Mickey’s
physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul.” (Loftus) With the success of this
cartoon production, Disney began producing more Technicolor sketches like Silly
Symphonies – being the first animation to win an Oscar. By putting his mind, heart,
and soul into his creations and concepts, he was able to create a motivating team to
back up his works. With the massive success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in
1938, Walt Disney was able to finally begin financially building his dream. Being the
first animated feature-length films in history, Disney received the recognition it
deserved. Walt moved to a series of live-action movies and animated films that
received Number 1 spots in box offices everywhere and various Academy Awards.
By 1955, Disneyland was open to the public – Walt’s vision of family and excitement
was a reality.
Walt’s famous aspects of his leadership were his beliefs. The values he
created were aligned with that of his team and of the people. He was a robust
worker, and would not spend time socializing. His ethic was work, work, work. “The
way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing,” said Walt. “Of all the things I've
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done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their
efforts at a certain goal.” Disney was also much more interested in pleasing the
people rather than reviewers. “We are not trying to entertain the critics. I'll take my
chances with the public. We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing
new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
(Leadership With You)
In the book, Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists, various
employers discuss the experiences of Disney. We can see Walt’s care and
perseverance with examples such as higher pay to his employees compared to other
studios, a professional relationship with coworkers, and immediate work
motivation. Some of his workers described how when Walt would leave the room,
work would be getting done instantly. They described how his relationship with
employees was very welcoming, but not close. Walt understood that he was to take
care of his people, but set an expert example. In an interview with Disney director
Ben Sharpsteen, he describes the organization’s impact from Walt. “Walt was only
one man. He was still the head of the business. He was still the prime mover of
production. He was still the spark plug. The whole movement of the organization
was Walt Disney personally. He had to build an organization, but it was his
judgment as to who was important in that organization, that exquisite organization
of talent of which he could pull the strings and make this man do this and that man
do that. He hated to give up on anybody because he hoped that they would come
through and be worthwhile.” (Peri) Walt was strong in his influence to Disney – so
strong that he was Disney.
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Another example of Walt’s unbreakable respect and leadership for his team
and people is the various strikes and departures of employees. In the earlier years of
Disney, some of his workers would quit in disbelief of the company’s future. While
creating some of the early Silly Symphonies skits, there were strikes. “That changed a
lot of things, because it was hard for him to realize that people could walk out,”
described animator Les Clark. “And yet, to some of those who did and who came
back, he gave very important jobs, because if they could fulfill a position or create,
why he didn’t hold a grudge. If he did, it was in a private place, and he didn’t let it
interfere with the business. It was [an emotion-wrenching experience] for him.”
Walt Disney held a meeting with his staff in a theater, discussing his thoughts on the
matter. “He called everyone together and gave pretty much a heart-to-heart talk. It
was very sincere, how he felt.” (Peri)
In order for Walt to appeal to the public as he did, he modeled many of his
works off of the atmospheres of the time period. “Walt noted that ‘every- thing was
done in a [spontaneous spirit of] community help.’ Years later, he included the
notion of human goodness deriving from communal activity in So Dear to My Heart
(1949), a theme that continued to his final study of small-town America, Those
Calloways (1965).” (Brode, 27) Walt would study the culture and setting of his areas
at the time and appeal to them in his cartoons.
Walt Disney has a vast amount of examples and behavioral traits that
showcase his ability to create a vision and get his followers to move towards it in a
sense of the betterment for everyone. Walt’s goals were to please the public, not
himself. We can absorb from Walt that creating an innovation requires the help and
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trust of your team as well as people. We can learn that by appealing to others’ values
and beliefs, you can create greatness. By understanding his motives and methods,
we can enhance our ability to become leaders who strive towards an unreached goal
as Walt did. “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing — that it was all
started by a mouse.”
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Works Cited
Brode, Douglas. "Little Boxes Made of Ticky-Tacky: Disney and the Culture of
Conformity." From Walt to Woodstock: How Disney Created the
Counterculture. Austin: U of Texas, 2004. 27-52. Print.
James, Jeff. "How to Inspire Your Team: Leadership Lessons from Walt Disney." INC.
INC Partner Insights, 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Loftus, Geoff. "The Keys Of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Leadership." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 22 May 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
MacGregor Burns, James. "The Power of Vision." Transforming Leadership. 1st ed.
NY: Grove, 2003. 27-29. Print.
Peri, Don. "Ben Sharpsteen; Les Clark." Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney
Artists. Jackson: U of Mississippi, 2008. 1-31-19-133. Print.
"Walt Disney Leadership." Leadership With You. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.