Walter Elias Disney or Walt Disney is alive in our heart with his remarkable creation Mickey Mouse and thousands of other cartoons, which made our childhood most enjoyable ever. And his world-famous Disney World is the dream place for every person around the world regardless the age. But besides the creator of some fantastic cartoons and animations, he’s known as one of the best leaders who dared to bring his imagination into reality, which was considered as foul imagination at his time. But his leadership skills and qualities proved a man can go beyond everything if he chose to believe in himself.
Leadership Qualities of Walt Disney
Each leader chose to work in a certain way, and those are called his leadership qualities. Here’re some qualities of Walt Disney.
He always chased his dream: Walt Disney was passionate about his artworks. He wanted to be the greatest animator of all time. But he was constantly told that his ideas wouldn’t work; no one would waste their time watching some meaningless animation. He was even told that Mickey Mouse would be a failure as it’ll frighten people. But he believed himself and overcame all the obstacles, and we all know the result.
Risk-taker: Walt Disney had a high tolerance for risks. He was never tired of trying new things, opening new doors, and moving forward. He almost gambled his Disney venture. There’re times he and his fellow member didn’t know if they’re going to lose the company or not. Even opening Disneyland in 1995, is still considered as one of the biggest gambles in business history.
Constant Improvement: Walt Disney was always busy thinking about why something went wrong and how it can be improved. Before each show or while making animation, he always checked everything by himself if something is missing or not feeling good. After opening Disneyland, he used to check every ride and other operations regularly to make sure everything is okay and, if not, how to improve. He never left a project just because it didn’t seem right; he was determined to make that work.
He wasn’t afraid of failure: Like most of the leaders, Walt Disney had faced lots of failures and disappointment. But he believed that with every failure, he learned something new, and all those experiences had made him stronger than ever. His first studio didn’t make any profit, and there’s a moment in his career when he lost almost everything he had built. But that didn’t stop him.
Relationship oriented: A leader is loved and remembered when he becomes successful in forming a substantial impact on his fellow members. Walt Disney wasn’t different than that. He had a good relationship with his workers and always took care of their needs. He used to know each worker’s name and tried his best to make them committed to the work.
Leadership Style of Walt Disney
Each leader follows a different leadership style, which has different characteristics. Walt Disney is known for following Autocratic Leadership. Disney had a fiery mood and used to dismiss people when they’re trying to counter him. He also didn’t put much effort into resolving conflicts. His employees used to fear him and clear the space whenever he walked through somewhere. Although it can’t be said that he was unfair or didn’t care about his employees. But was dedicated toward his fellow members but tended to do things only in his way.
Leadership Traits of Walt Disney
Leadership traits are known as characteristics a leader is born with or has developed in him through years of practice. Here’re some leadership traits of Walt Disney.
Confidence: A leader has to be confident in these decisions. If the leader himself shows hesitation regarding something, it shakes the commitment of the whole workforce. Walt Disney was a confident leader. He never showed any reluctance after taking the final decision. Even if the decision turned into a gamble, he was always positive. He believed confidence leads to competence, and that’s what matters to reach a goal.
Curiosity: A leader with curiosity tries to move beyond the known. It makes a man move forward and explore to what extent his capabilities are. And that’s what we can found in Walt Disney’s characteristics. He was always trying to do new things. When he wanted to move from making an animation to an amusement park, people discouraged him. But his thirst for exploring didn’t make him stop.
Perseverance: Patience and perseverance are the things that Walt Disney is made of. He was fired from his job, got criticized by his family, including his life partner, faced many failures, struggled to manage investors, and received numerous rejections. But he kept trying. He motivated his teammate not to give up because he was never interested in giving up.
Other Leadership Traits and Characteristics of Walt Disney
- Integrity
- Humility
- Excellence
- Detail-oriented
- Passionate
- Charismatic
- Ethical
- Consistency
Leadership Skills of Walt Disney
Good communication: Although Walt Disney was an autocratic leader, he made sure everyone gets his messages clearly. He was always sharping his communication skills. And the most charismatic part of Disney’s communication was he expressed his words not only through a few sentences, but also through his eyes, voice, and expression, which worked like magic to his employees.
Creativity: Walt Disney had a rare skill in storytelling. The way he used to do that, no one has ever done it. His never-ending creative thoughts have made him to master this skill. Before every show, he used to perform all the characters in different voices and expressions, which was worth watching and highly motivating.
Convincing power: A leader must have a persuasive ability to sell his ideas, whether to employees, investors, or customers. And Walt Disney had an amazing power to make people convinced. He was always ready with his opening words that work like magic and instantly put people at ease so that people feel genuinely interested in listening to his ideas.
Bottom Line
Walt Disney was a man of many wonders. At that time, people didn’t know many things about leadership or innovative ways to direct people and achieve the goal. Leadership was only meant to order people back then. But Walt Disney was an exception on this matter. He was one of those autocratic leaders who proved that autocracy doesn’t only mean to use the power, you can make others believe in your words even though most of them were one-sided.
Related:
- Leadership Qualities – Style, Skills, and Traits of Howard Schultz
- Leadership Qualities – Style, Traits, and Skills of James Sinegal
References
- https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/learning-leadership-from-walt-disney-master-of-soft-skills/
- https://born2invest.com/articles/10-lessons-every-young-entrepreneur-learn-walt-disney/
- https://highroadinstitute.com/walt-disney-was-not-a-good-leader-until-he-became-one/
- https://briandoddonleadership.com/2019/03/30/9-leadership-skills-of-walt-disney/
- https://www.principlesofexecution.com/principles-of-execution/2013/07/walt-disney-5-qualities-of-a-leader.html
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