THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME

BY

ROBERT IGER

Four stars out of five stars

The author started his career as a low-level employee of ABC news, advancing to be President of ABC and the CEO of Walt Disney company after the merger of ABC and Disney.  He oversaw the expansion of Disney company to several continents.  The journey, as well as what he perceived to be the essential elements of a successful leader, are told in “The Ride of a Lifetime”.

The reader will learn the author’s encounters with several well-known figures, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Billionaire Rupert Murdoch, and Star War creator George Lucas.   Th Appendix, entitled “Lessons to lead by”, consists of 45 short paragraphs, each articulating an element which the author considers essential to be a successful leader.

Independent of the Appendix, this reviewer earmarked the following memorable sentences which are scattered throughout the text:

-            Innovate or die

-            Do what you need to do to be better

-            Life is an adventure.  If you don’t choose the adventurous path, you are not living.

-            I’ll rather take big risks and sometimes fail than not take risk at all.

-            The tone you set as a leader has an enormous effect on the people around you.  No

one wants to follow a pessimist

In conclusion, I welcome the addition of this book to my collection of books on leadership.

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