“The whole world is in the mode of we have to control everything, what we do, the money, the people, the situations.” Lee Cockerell
Our guest today is Lee Cockerell, the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort. One of Lee’s major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies, which was used to train and develop the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World. Lee has held various executive positions in the hospitality and entertainment business with Hilton Hotels for 8 years and the Marriott Corporation for 17 years before joining Disney in 1990 to open the Disneyland Paris project. He is now dedicating his time to public speaking, authoring a book on leadership, management, and service excellence titled, Creating Magic…10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney. which is now available in 13 languages, and his latest book, The Customer Rules…The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service.
Leadership is about learning, unlearning, and relearning what is out there, taking in what you were taught, and having the capacity and mindset to make up your own mind in any situation. Every situation is different, but how we handle it tells much about who we are and what we want to accomplish.
When dealing with people, understand that they come from different backgrounds, have different stress levels, and know how to balance them. Being professional is knowing what you are doing, learning how to better it, and how you carry yourself.
You can catch Lee on his socials:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecockerell/
https://www.facebook.com/createmagic/