Published by: Julia
Disney CEO, Bob Iger’s Business Strategy and Leadership Masterclass is a must for anyone who runs their own company. Having led a multi-billion dollar business he provides insights you will not find elsewhere.
How to quickly grow any business
Bob Igor has spent all of his working life in the media sector. He started at the bottom, running errands for American Broadcasting Company (ABC). But, very quickly rose through the ranks to become president and chief operating officer of Capital Cities/ABC.
When Disney bought them in 1996, he stayed on and became the CEO of the entire company, in 2005. During his time in charge, he has overseen the acquisition of several multi-billion dollar companies. Including Pixar, 21st Century Fox, and Marvel Entertainment. All of which have served to strengthen Disney’s brand and global reach.
There is no doubt, that people who are studying business, marketing or management will benefit greatly from taking this course. But, I also think that fans of Disney and its other brands will also be fascinated by what Bob Iger reveals. It is a great chance to get an inside view of what is a fantastic organization.
By the way, we recommend purchasing Masterclass for more than just one single course. The value comes when you take several. If you want to read our review of the whole platform, check out this Masterclass review article.
If you want to just find out what some of the best masterclasses are, this is the article for you.
Learn to manage your time effectively
Regardless of what you want to achieve in life, managing your time effectively is essential. Having used my $180 all-access masterclass pass to take over 30 classes I can tell you that time management is the one thing every single successful person has in common. All of the experts I have learned from regardless of whether they are actors, musicians, directors, writers or top cooks all manage their time carefully.
Most of them cover developing this skill in their masterclasses. But, Bob Iger’s advice on this subject is the best I have come across so far. His time management tips are so valuable that they alone are worth the cost of this masterclass.
Setting yourself up for success
I can tell you Bob gets up at an eye wateringly early time. But, he recognizes that not everyone will be able to do this. His advice to tailor your routine to suit your own body and life rhythms demonstrates this.
One thing is sure, virtually everyone can manage their time more effectively. Putting together a realistic routine is the first step. If you do it the way that Bob suggests you will incorporate time to nurture your personal relationships. You need to be balanced, to take care of yourself, your family and support network.
Get into the habit of evaluating your day
This is another unique piece of advice. Something I had not heard before. Most entrepreneurs evaluate their progress against fairly long-term goals. Bob drills down even further by tracking how successful each day is. After taking his masterclass I tried this. Even after just a week, I noticed a change in myself. I was far more conscious about how I was using my time. It also gave me a boost to realize that I was actually doing better than I thought. I was having more productive days than I had realised. This dovetailed nicely into the next section of his course.
How to set your business priorities
Bob explains that it is important not to try to focus on too many things at once. There is no harm in striving to achieve “the sky’s the limit” goals. In fact, you should have a no hold’s bar session to do exactly that. To dream, build enthusiasm and explore as many possibilities as you can, even those that seem to be completely out of your reach, at the moment.
But, after you have done that, you need to come back down to earth. Set your business three priorities. Bob explains the three he chose for Disney. As you will see, he held fast to them, which is why Disney is in the position it is today. Proof positive that this is advice that works.
Bob Iger’s acquisition case studies
- Pixar acquisition case study
- Marvel acquisition case study
- 21at Century Fox acquisition case study
As you will see, the reasons behind Bob acquiring each of these global brands were different. For example, acquiring Pixar enabled Disney to take their animation to the next level. To produce more and keep the momentum going and diversify what they made to appeal to whole new markets. Making them a far more inclusive media brand than they were before.
Whereas acquiring Marvel was more about expanding the brand. It was a great way to draw a whole new audience into the world of Disney.
Learn the art of negotiation
Negotian has to be ultimately two-way in terms of its benefits.
Bob Iger – Bussiness Strategy Masterclass
Bob’s approach to negotiation is certainly not the traditional one. He does not stretch things out. In this relatively short video, you will learn how he understands what the other party needs and quickly establishes what he wants too.
Bob believes in having a personal relationship with the other person and making sure that both parties walk away with something. He is not a believer in the winner takes all approach.
How to create brand value
There is no doubt that Disney has a strong brand. There are many factors that go into creating and maintaining the brand. Here are some of the points Bob discusses, in this section:
- The price value connection
- A brand that instantly creates a reaction
- Working out what your brand stands for
- Building an evergreen brand
- Getting the balance between legacy and innovation right
- Reverence vs respect
Brand is a very, very careful balance between legacy, or heritage, and innovation.
Bob Iger Masterclass.com
How to anticipate what consumers want
It is not enough to just provide what consumers want. You have to be looking ahead. In the case of Disney, many years ahead. Production times for their movies and animations are much shorter than they once were. But, most of them still take years to plan and make. So, Disney has to have its finger on the pulse and be able to foresee what tomorrow’s audiences are going to want from them.
This is a difficult skill to get right. But, when you do, it certainly pays dividends and this is the case for virtually any type of business you can name.
I had a preconceived idea about how you could anticipate what consumers want. As it turns out, I was wrong, very wrong. Bob’s approach is quite different from anything I had heard of before. But, it is clearly one that works, so don’t skip over this part of his masterclass.
When you have finished this video, you might want to skip ahead to the managing industry disruption section. There Bob quickly takes you through how Disney anticipated the media streaming trend and responded by launching ESPN+ and Disney+.
The importance of taking risks
Bob thinks that to be truly successful you have to be prepared to take risks. Again, not something a lot of people would expect to hear someone like him say.
Most of the time these risks will pay dividends. But, every now and again, things are not going to work out. Bob shares an example of when this happened to him. But, importantly, he explains why things went wrong and how he was able to apply what he learned from that situation to his future business dealings.
Bob Iger’s tenents for success
This section was the one I liked the most. In this video, Bob shares the tenents he lives by when conducting business. He covers:
- The role of humor
- Why being authentic matters
- How to remain curious
- How to operate with integrity
- Why you need to pursue perfection
- How to be decisive
- Being fair
- Owning your own mistakes
- The importance of honesty and candor
- How to project optimism
At this stage, a lot of what he says earlier in the course really clicks. You can see that Iger is very much a man of his word, someone who always follows through. An approach that provides stability for the people around him and enables everyone to pull together to achieve truly amazing things.
Bob Iger’s masterclass workbook
You really should make full use of Bob Iger’s workbook. It contains a summary of each lesson. But, whoever wrote it has added extra points too. So, reading it is really worthwhile. Plus, it is actually a pretty good guide to what is in the videos.
If you want to find something a few weeks down the line, the workbook provides you with a fairly easy way of doing it. You can use the find function and keywords to get to the right video. And, despite there being no video bookmarks, from finding where the point you are looking for is located in the text, it is possible to roughly guess where it is in the video.
Who is Bob Iger’s masterclass suitable for?
The Bob Iger Teaches Business Strategy and Leadership masterclass is yet another good course. It is not too long, yet, he packs an awful lot in.
Is teaching style is excellent, he gets to the point quickly, without coming across as rushed. But, he also anticipates the needs of his students. He rarely uses jargon and does not talk down to his audience. As a result, the sometimes complex concepts he is sharing are not actually difficult to follow.
I think his course would be ideal for the following types of people:
- Students of business
- Students who are studying media
- Business owners of all kinds
- Entrepreneurs
- Fans of Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars
- Anyone who is interested in the world of media