So, a book review is not something I would typically post about on my blog, but this one is of course Disney related. Last week I read Bob Iger’s book, “The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company”. In fact, I read it in only 5 days.
Now I love biographies and I obviously love Disney, so when I saw this book was coming out, I immediately pre-ordered it. I can usually tell you how much I love a book by how I feel when I am done with it. With this book, I was extremely sad when I finished it, not from the content, but because it was done. I wanted to keep reading more and more. Simply put, I loved it.
The book starts with Mr. Iger reflecting on his worst week at the company. I remember these 3 events, but never realized how they were all intertwined and how it must have affected the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. The events were the Pulse Nightclub Shooting, the alligator attack and death of Lane Graves at the Grand Floridian Resort and the opening of Shanghai Disney. These events all happened with 4 days of each other. All I can say is after reading this opening I was in tears…and I was hooked. Any free moment I had, was spent reading this book.
Mr. Iger does point out that this book is not a memoir, but to explain what he has learned, he must share the stories of how he learned them. He gives a brief history of his family background and then starts with his first day at work at ABC. I found it fascinating how he got from where he started to be the CEO and all the lessons he learned along the way.
If you like Disney and have any interest in business, this book is a must read.