In 2004, what do we mean by Walt’s vision? Well, what were the qualities that defined his tenure? Creativity, an attentiveness to regular people and their concerns and interests, a cohesive understanding of the needs of children and their parents, the boldness to take risks, loyalty toward his primary constituency and an unwillingness to rest on his laurels… When you start to list the qualities that defined Walt’s vision, you sound like you are writing a job description for the new CEO.
Abigail Disney, daughter of Roy E Disney, recently joined the active writers on SaveDisney.com. Today she answers a reader’s question regarding what the Disney family is looking for in the next CEO. A great list above, but I think she left off the most important quality; one that has to be present to drive all the rest — a firm belief that ‘Quality will win out.’ Meaning that if you focus on producing the best quality show/product you can, people will come and see it and be willing to pay a premium to buy it. Without all the emphasis on quality, you can have all the other traits and still end up as Wal-Mart, a big faceless corporation.