Tag: Disney

Against All Odds

Yesterday….(Not the Beatles).

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to Disneyland!

Walt Disney said:

“I knew if this business was ever to get anywhere, if this business was ever to grow, it could never do it by having to answer to someone unsympathetic to it’s possibilities, by having to answer to someone with only one thought or interest, namely profits.  For my idea of how to make profits has differed greatly from those who generally control businesses such as ours.  I have a blind faith in the policy that quality, tempered with good judgement and showmanship, will win out against all odds”.

If Walt Disney could have envisioned how successful his business philosophy would ultimately become and how far it would take The Walt Disney Company, maybe he would have found a way to quit smoking.

Crazy, yes.  Impossible, no.

Walt Disney never used the word, “Impossible”!

Carpe diem,  jungle jeff  🙂

Florida Leadership Conference Link

Here’s a link to read the story from June’s Florida Leadership Conference.

The Walt Disney World Resort, President, Meg Crofton, spoke there and part of her standing-ovation speech is captured in this insightful article.

Here’s an excerpt:

Meg closed her remarks with a further challenge that elicited a standing ovation from the audience, “I have always believed that, before you can lead others, first you have to lead yourself…when great leadership, great brand and great culture intersect…dreams really do come true.”

Lead yourself.  Now there’s a common sense concept that could use a little more common practice, eh?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Where Was Obama?

Where was Obama the other night, Tuesday, I think it was?

He was in St Louis, and threw the traditional “first pitch”, to start the Major League All Star game.

Shouldn’t he have been at the White House?  Or meeting with important world figures.  Or working late into the night on a critical National issue?

Instead, he was at a baseball game.  A baseball game?  Seriously?  What the heck was that all about?

Here’s my theory.  What he did was critical to his role as our Nation’s Leader.

How?

It is important that we trust the President, right?

How does the White House team increase our trust in President Obama?

By design, the White House team knows that relationships are the key to trust.

By seeing President Obama as a “real person”, enjoying the same things many other Americans enjoy – Baseball, our National past time.

This makes me wonder how I could apply this to my work as a professional speaker.

Guess what, I’ve already got a few ideas.  Stay tuned.  And, um, oh yeah, carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Pre-Game in Corporate America?

Pre-Game in Corporate America?

To be sure, it’s much like the pre-game at last night’s Major League All-Star Game, which was held in St Louis.

I’m here, in St. Louis too.   In a few short hours, I’ll be delivering Customer Service programs for a client that, in tough economic times, has opted to not visit Central Florida’s convention mecca.

That’s actually a common trend in the world today. People aren’t traveling to you, so you must travel to them.

Before the game last night, we can only imagine that both teams were going over their game plan.  The game plan to achieve the desired results – win!

Same with corporate America.  Which reminds me, I need to get down to the locker room, pronto.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

The Wow Factor Works Like This

The wow factor.  Most have heard of it.  Many, even, have written about it.

Walt Disney perfected it, and made it “business as usual”, while others are still trying to comprehend how to do it consistently.

So how is it instilled in every employee of an organization?  That’s the vision isn’t it?  That all your employees, at every level, embrace the consistent, surprising and delighting, of all your customers.

And by the way, I’ve always said, “Consistency is the hallmark of Quality Service”.

Anyway, back to my original point.  I’m checking my gate number on the monitor and hear, “Over here”!

Michele, the TSA hostess, calls me over to the expert traveler line.  There is no line.  Sweet!  And I find myself smack on the receiving end of the wow factor – small, seemingly insignificant moments when an employee does something nice for a Customer.

I’ve never been invited through the expert traveller line.  She told me I could come back the next time I fly.

Thank you Michele.  See you next week.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂