21 Leadership lessons from Jeff Bezos, Robert Iger and Whitney Johnson

ROBERT IGER, former Disney CEO – 9 leadership lessons

Robert (Bob) Iger is the foreman Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, one of the world’s largest and most admired media and entertainment companies.

Since becoming CEO in 2005, he oversaw the acquisitions of Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012) and 21st Century Fox (2019).

In 2016 Disney expanded its international footprint by opening its first theme park and resort in Mainland China, Shanghai Disney Resort.

He also took the company to the next level using technology by creating an ambitious direct-to-consumer strategy that features the company’s various streaming services, including Disney+, which debuts on November 12.

His book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons learned from 15 years as CEO of The Walt Disney Company launched on September 23.

Here are 9 leadership lessons that he shared in a LinkedIn article where he tells the story of the Lucasfilm acquisition and the making of the first Disney produced Star Wars film.

9 leadership lessons from Bob Iger:

1. Talk to your team members to make sure everyone is on the same page and fully understand the stakes;
2. Share the burden of what it means to be responsible with your team members;
3. Communicate to your team members that you are their partner and not just a CEO putting pressure on them to deliver results;
4. Be a resource and a collaborator, make them feel that they could call you at any moment to discuss any problem they might wrestling with;
5. Remind your team that you believe in them and that there are no better minds to run your company’s projects;
6. If you can’t make the deadline, it’s ok. Don’t rush to deliver your project on time even if this means taking a short-term hit to your bottom line. Sacrificing quality is never an option;
7. Decide wisely when it’s worth engaging in any public discourse and when it’s not;
8. When you run negotiations, let your partners know clearly about where you stand while allowing yourself to show empathy if the situation calls for it;
9. A successful deal is a deal where you build trust with your partners and suppliers.

You have to try to recognize that when the stakes of a project are very high, there’s not much to be gained from putting additional pressure on the people working on it.

Robert Iger

JEFF BEZOS, former Amazon CEO – 6 leadership lessons

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2021. He founded the eCommerce retailer 27 years ago in a garage when it “was only an idea” and people were asking him “What’s the internet?”.

Leveraging the power of the internet and thanks to his vision of what makes a successful company, today Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer of consumer products and a leader in the cloud computing segment.

According to Statista, in 2021, the online retail platform Amazon reported a net income of $33.36 billion, up 56% from a $21.3 billion net income in the previous year.

Leadership lessons from Jeff Bezos:

1. Move quickly to solidify and extend your current position
   In 1997, with big tech companies like Microsoft and AOL expressing interest in online commerce, Bezos saw a window of opportunity.“Our goal is to move quickly to solidify and extend our current position while we begin to pursue online commerce opportunities in other areas. We see substantial opportunity in the large markets we are targeting”, he writes in his 1997 shareholder letter. I remind you that, at the time, Amazon was still selling books.
2. Set out to delight your customers
   Jeff believes complaining customers are a company’s most valuable resource for growth. They reveal blind spots that employees or managers could not otherwise identify giving the business the opportunity to improve and develop. Amazon’s focus on customer obsession is one of its underlining factors for success.
3. Make bold investment decisions
   At the heart of Amazon’s investments is the customer. Every investment that Amazon makes is to further improve customer satisfaction and experience by developing systems, infrastructure and service.
4. Your employees must think like an owner
   Jeff acknowledged early on that hiring the right people was paramount if Amazon was to be successful and achieve its objectives. “Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success.”The retailer behemoth compensates its employees in Amazon stock than cash because becoming stockholders changes their mindset.
5. Embrace external trends
   Businesses that adapt to the latest technological trends and customer behaviour changes evolve and survive. Businesses that resist change, don’t survive. His advice to every company founder is to acknowledge powerful external trends like AI and machine learning and embrace them quickly.
6. Make high-quality decisions fast
   Large organizations like Amazon have many things going for them with one downside: they are slow at making decisions. Jeff didn’t allow this to happen to Amazon.He created a system of making high-quality decisions fast which relies entirely on the Day 1 mindset. Day 1 companies are startups, nimble and agile, bursting with vitality. Day 2 companies are already heading for the end. Amazon is a Day 1 company.

WHITNEY JOHNSON, CEO of Disruption Advisors – 6 leadership lessons

Whitney Johnson is a world-leading expert on developing high-growth teams and one of the leading business thinkers in the world as per Thinkers50.

With +20 years of research, consulting & coaching, Whitney Johnson helps leaders to acquire the necessary skills for leading teams with confidence and a strategic approach.

Leadership lessons from Whitney Johnson:

1.Take your business to the next level by putting the power of disruptive innovation to work.

“When you are driven by discovery, you take a step forward, gather feedback and adapt.”

2. Change your business strategy as often as necessary.

“70% of all successful new businesses end up with a strategy other than the one they initially pursued.”

3. Hire leaders whose higher goals align with the goals and objectives of your business.

“Before hiring anyone in your team, check to see if their why intersects with the why of the organization.”

4. Always be looking to develop the talent in your business. 

“If you develop talent, there is absolutely no condition in which your company actually loses.”

5. Employees are motivated by more than pay raises, bonuses and other extrinsic rewards.

“When we are no longer getting an emotional reward from our career, we may actually end up doing our job poorly.”

6. Encourage your employees to disrupt themselves.

“Make disruption safe. Make it routine. Make it a human resources strategy.”

We are thrilled to have Whitney Johnson on the stage at BRAND MINDS 2022, where she’ll deliver a speech about The best tactics for building an extraordinary team.

 

Prices go up in less than 6 days. Get your tickets today!

Prices go up on February 23rd, so don’t miss out on discovering a memorable business experience at BRAND MINDS 2022.

Join The Global Thinkers Business Summit and access the opportunity to:

• Experience a memorable business conference;
• Learn from world-famous business thinkers & bestselling authors;
• Enjoy valuable content that will reset your vision and mindset on both personal & professional growth;
• Network with an elite community of business professionals from top industries;
• Meet with international business celebrities;
• Take your marketing expertise to the next level with the MARKETING STRATEGY MASTERCLASS scheduled for the 2nd DAY of the event, on June 18th;
• Collect the BRAND MINDS attendance certificate;

The event organizer also provides translation into Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Russian and Turkish.

HR Managers choose BRAND MINDS as the best opportunity for corporate team buildings

At BRAND MINDS 2022, team members and team leaders learn about:

• Efficient frameworks to improve the overall performance and the team’s engagement;
• Innovative ideas for strategic leadership & business development;
• Top tactics to develop high-growth professionals;
• Strategic techniques to lead teams with confidence.

HR Managers looking to grow their teams and reward top talent with curated world-class business education have also the opportunity to access special group packages.

The world’s top business experts & bestselling authors are speaking at BRAND MINDS 2022

GABOR MATÉ: WHEN THE BODY SAYS NO: Mind/Body Unity and the Stress-Disease Connection
Dr Gabor Maté is a respected physician with more than 20 years of research & clinical experience, highly sought after for his expertise on the relationship between stress and illness.

At BRAND MINDS, Dr Gabor Maté will talk about:

1. Tactics to create a stress-free company culture where employees are creative and productive;
2. The 3 major stressors in day-to-day life;
3. Key strategies to recognize a stressful work environment and how to transform it.

GARY VAYNERCHUK: The ultimate strategies to build outstanding businesses
Gary’s business building expertise positions him as one of the leading global minds on what’s next in business culture and the digital ecosystem. He is today transferring his life-long knowledge through his keynotes and media content.

At BRAND MINDS, Gary Vaynerchuk will talk about:

1. How to scale up a company in today’s digital world;
2. Tactics to increase your business’ revenues by leveraging digital channels;
3. Actionable insights on how to amplify your company’s image.

JORDAN B. PETERSON: The 12 rules for a successful life
Jordan B. Peterson’s keynote provides professionals in every industry with actionable insights about leading themselves and others. His expertise helps people improve essential aspects of their life from work to personal development and career.

At BRAND MINDS, Jordan B. Peterson will talk about:

1. The Big 5 Personality traits;
2. How to improve your ability to deal with and understand those around you who have different personalities;
3. Valuable insights to guide you towards a more courageous, truthful and meaningful life.

WHITNEY JOHNSON: Leadership — the best tactics of building an extraordinary team
A world-leading expert on developing high-growth professionals, Whitney Johnson helps leaders acquire the necessary skills for leading teams with confidence and a strategic approach.

At BRAND MINDS, Whitney Johnson will talk about:

1. The 7 accelerants of personal disruption and growth;
2. Where is your team on the S Curve of Learning ™;
3. How to leverage disruption in your team’s favour.

DANIEL PINK: The new rules of selling & influence
Daniel Pink is one of the most renowned bestselling business authors of the last decade. His books on work and sales strategy have won multiple awards, have been translated into 41 languages, and have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

At BRAND MINDS, Daniel Pink will talk about:

• 5 ways to frame messages to increase clarity and lead to action;
• Why problem finding has become more important than problem-solving;
• 2 principles that can move your sales from transactions to conversions.

ANGELA OGUNTALA: Rethink your company for the future
Angela Oguntala is a strategy expert on futuristic innovation who is consulting companies on how to design their internal process for a thriving business future. She has led innovation projects and advised global organizations with billions in revenue.

At BRAND MINDS, Angela Oguntala will talk about:

1. How futuristic thinking impacts an organisation’s core values & practices;
2. Processes that will facilitate futuristic thinking and performant development flows;
3. How to nurture foresight mindsets & enhance your team’s capabilities.

JONAH BERGER: The secret science of viral ideas – Marketing Strategy Masterclass
Jonah Berger is a world-renowned expert on marketing strategy, persuasion and consumer behaviour.
As a consultant, Jonah helped hundreds of companies like Apple, Google, Nike, Facebook, Unilever and The Gates Foundation get their products, services, and ideas to catch on.

At BRAND MINDS, Jonah Berger will talk about:

• How to design messages, ads and information that people will share;
• 5 hidden factors that impede change and how by mitigating them, you can change anything;
• 6 basic principles driving all sorts of things to become popular.

BRAND MINDS is the most highly anticipated business experience of the year

BRAND MINDS is among the Top 5 largest business conferences in Europe and has a unique business edutainment experience.

More than 6000 participants from 50 countries and 300 companies are expected to attend BRAND MINDS 2022’s edition.

The event provides attendees with complex strategies for building and developing a successful company:

1. Tested business scale-up strategies;
2. Marketing virality & word-of-mouth tactics;
3. Company processes driving innovation;
4. Team growth frameworks;
5. Groundbreaking insights on reducing work-related stress;
6. Innovative sales tactics;
7. Actionable insights on career development;
8. Psychological approaches on how to lead successful teams.

GMs & CEOs, marketing managers, HR managers, branding experts, startup founders, business professionals and investors from all around the world join BRAND MINDS every year.

This year, your success story starts at BRAND MINDS!

Tickets are available on www.brandminds.com

Scale-up your business with BRAND MINDS 2022!

BRAND MINDS 2022 is the business summit that will help you scale up your business and boost your career.

Over 6000 world-changers from 50 countries across the world are expected on June 17 & 18, at Romexpo.

CEOs, General Managers, HR managers, Marketing Managers, Branding Experts, Startup Founders and Investors from global top organizations attend BRAND MINDS to develop their growth strategy and strengthen their leadership.

BRAND MINDS 2022 is a two-day event

On Day 1, eight of the world’s best business thinkers take the stage to share the ultimate insights on leadership, sales, entrepreneurship, personal growth and innovation.

On Day 2, Business and First class ticket holders participate in an outstanding MARKETING STRATEGY MASTERCLASS: The secret science of viral ideas.

Come to BRAND MINDS 2022 if you are looking to:

• SKYROCKET your marketing skills
• UNLOCK your team’s amazing potential
• Network with the BUSINESS ELITE
• Get WINNING strategies to boost your business
• UPGRADE your sales strategy
• Learn from the WORLD’S BEST BUSINESS EXPERTS

GET TICKETS

DAY 1 – JUNE 17th, 2022

JORDAN B PETERSON – Renowned Psychologist & Bestselling Author

Dr Jordan Peterson is an acclaimed expert on the understanding of personality. His work helps leaders gain psychological insights on leading teams whose members have different personalities.

Jordan Peterson will deliver a memorable speech about the 12 rules for a successful life

You will learn:

• The Big Five Personality traits;
• How to improve your ability to deal with and understand those around you who have different personalities;
• Valuable insights to guide you towards a more courageous, truthful and meaningful life.

Learn how to become the master of your life by following Jordan Peterson’s powerful rules for a meaningful life.

GARY VAYNERCHUK – CEO VaynerMedia, Investor & Entrepreneur

Described as one of the most forward thinkers in the business world, Gary’s expertise is anticipating patterns and understanding how these shifts influence markets and customers.

Gary Vaynerchuk‘s speech topic: The ultimate strategies to build outstanding businesses

You will learn:

• How to scale up a company in today’s digital world;
• Tactics to increase your business’ revenues by leveraging digital channels;
• Strategies on how to build efficient business partnerships;
• Actionable insights on how to amplify your company’s image.

Come to BRAND MINDS 2022 and learn how to crush it from the man himself!

DANIEL PINK – #1NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling Author & Sales Expert

Named one of the most influential management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, Daniel Pink writes and creates at the intersection of work, psychology, and society.

Drawing on +20 years of research, Daniel Pink is a game-changer in the art and science of selling & motivation.

Daniel Pink’s speech at BRAND MINDS 2022 is To sell is human: the new ABCs of moving others

You will learn:

• 5 ways to frame messages to increase clarity and lead to action;
• Why problem finding has become more important than problem-solving;
• Why questioning your abilities before a sales call is more effective than pumping yourself up;
• Why the most effective salespeople are not extroverts;
• 2 principles that can move your sales from transactions to conversions.

Attend BRAND MINDS 2022 and boost your company’s growth with the latest insights on sales!

WHITNEY JOHNSON – Team Performance Expert

Whitney Johnson is a world-leading expert on developing high-growth professionals. With +20 years of research, consulting & coaching, Whitney Johnson helps leaders to acquire the necessary skills for leading teams with confidence and a strategic approach.

At BRAND MINDS 2022, Whitney Johnson will share her insights on Leadership: The best tactics of building an extraordinary team.

You will learn:

• The 7 accelerants of personal disruption;
• Where is your team on the S Curve of Learning ™;
• How to leverage disruption in your team’s favour.

BRAND MINDS 2022 is where you learn how to improve your team’s engagement by applying Whitney Johnson’s outstanding leadership ideas & frameworks.

ANGELA OGUNTALA – Futurist & Innovation Expert

Angela Oguntala is a strategy expert on futuristic innovation who is consulting companies on how to design their internal process for a thriving business future.

She has rich expertise in sustainable transitions and experimental processes that catalyse innovation. She has led innovation projects and advised global organizations with billions in revenue, among which we mention: Microsoft, IKEA, Hermes, Philips and more others.

Angela Oguntala will deliver a speech focused on how to RETHINK YOUR COMPANY FOR THE FUTURE.

You will learn:

• How futuristic thinking impacts an organisation’s core values & practices;
• Processes that will facilitate futuristic thinking;
• How to nurture foresight mindsets & enhance your team’s capabilities.

Attend BRAND MINDS 2022 and discover Angela Oguntala’s innovation framework for professionals & companies transitioning towards a challenging future.

DAY 2 – JUNE 18th, 2022

JONAH BERGER – Consumer Behaviour Expert

Jonah Berger is a world-renowned expert on marketing and consumer behaviour, helping marketers persuade their customers. He helped hundreds of companies like Apple, Google, Nike, and The Gates Foundation get their products, services, and ideas to catch on.

On Day 2, he will give a 5-hour masterclass on marketing strategy where he reveals actionable techniques designed to help anyone influence their customers.

Attend BRAND MINDS 2022 and learn how to grow your brand with Jonah Berger’s revolutionary strategy of persuasion.

MARKETING STRATEGY MASTERCLASS
The secret science of viral ideas

You will learn:

• How to design messages, ads and information that people will share;
• 5 hidden factors that impede change and how by mitigating them, you can change anything;
• 6 basic principles driving all sorts of things to become popular.

Now is your time to reach for the stars.

Get tickets to BRAND MINDS 2022 to learn how to build a winning strategy for your business!

Win the BRAND MINDS BOX for DRIVEN WOMEN!

To celebrate International Women’s Day, BRAND MINDS is launching Win the BRAND MINDS Success Box for Driven Women!

The box contains 10 bestselling books by world-changing women authors to support the growth of the winner.

The campaign is not limited to women, men too are invited to join the campaign as the generous box makes for a great gift. Join the campaign.

The BRAND MINDS Success Box for Driven Women contains the following books:

1. Becoming by Michelle Obama
2. Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
3. Thrive by Arianna Huffington
4. Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne
5. Educated by Tara Westover
6. The anatomy of love by Helen Fisher
7. Grit by Angela Duckworth
8. The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
9. Quiet by Susan Cain
10. Build an A-team by Whitney Johnson

Every book in this list was carefully chosen to serve a specific goal: show the story of a driven woman. The winner will get to read ten powerful stories of ten ambitious women and what was like for them to find their way in life.

Becoming is the story of a woman who has steadily defied expectations. A driven woman, says Michelle Obama embraces her roots while finding her voice. She experiences triumphs and disappointments but doesn’t fight them. Instead she allows both experiences to shape her and teach her valuable lessons.

It’s a man’s world out there and women could be tempted to do business the same way men do and become part of the boys’ club to fit in and be successful. Brené Brown argues against it. Women shouldn’t embrace toxic myths such as vulnerability seen as a weakness. The renowned researcher found data that dispelled this myth. In truth, vulnerability is strength and when we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, says Brene in her book Daring Greatly, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.

What does being successful really mean? We used to measure success by two metrics: power and money. These two metrics are again signals of a testosterone-filled society where competition implies there is only one winner and he or she is expected to sacrifice anything on the way to the top, including health and family life. It’s a toxic approach to living a successful life which Arianna Huffington has come to realize the hard way. Thrive is Arianna’s story of how she turned her life around after suffering from exhaustion and lack of sleep.

Running a successful business has more to do with strategy than having the lowest price. Why do what everyone else is doing and become indistinguishable from the competition? Ambitious and driven women look for a way to stand out in the crowd and be different. That’s what co-author Renée Mauborgne advocates for in Blue Ocean Strategy: the pursuit of differentiation by creating and capturing uncontested market space.

We all know this: women tend to overanalyze, have a high level of self-criticism and set very high standards for themselves looking for perfection. More often than not a woman’s worst enemy is herself. Did you ever hear a man saying he’s not good enough in a situation or for a particular job? I generalize, of course, but men don’t usually overthink, they just go for it whether they’re prepared or not! That‘s what Mel Robbins recommends in her book, The 5 Second Rule: if you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it. The campaign’s winner will have the opportunity to read Mel’s book and transform her life, work, and confidence with everyday courage.

What do all driven women have in common? Passion and perseverance. Pioneering psychologist and researcher Angela Duckworth shows in her book that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called “grit.” Grit is a must-read book for any woman striving to succeed.

Having a thriving and fulfilling life means being successful in both your private and professional life. Successful professional life doesn’t compensate for unhappiness in your private life. It’s like walking with one shoe: eventually your shoeless foot is going to hurt. That’s why driven women should be driven when it comes to their relationships or family life also. Just like we can improve our professional life by learning from experts, mentors or other professionals, we can improve our private life by learning from experienced psychologists and human behaviour researchers. Helen Fisher’s The anatomy of love is a cutting-edge tour de force that traces human family life from its origins in Africa over 20 million years ago to the Internet dating sites and bedrooms of today. It’s a great book that helps us discover more about love, marriage, divorce and the future of sex.

We cannot choose our parents. As children, we have no say in how our parents parent us. Some children receive the level of nurturing and care they need to become successful adults. Others are not so lucky and spend their adulthood trying to erase the negative influence of an unhappy childhood. It’s an emotional process. In Educated, Tara Westover recounts overcoming a harrowing childhood. Read her book to discover what she had to do to protect her mental health and allow herself to become the best that she could be.

Here’s an interesting statistic regarding introverts: 56.8% of people around the world prefer Introversion. Given such a high percentage of introverted people worldwide, you would think that introverts also filled most leadership roles. You would be wrong. Culturally, we associate successful leadership with a high level of self-confidence. Extroverts express their opinions with great ease and give the impression that they know what they are doing. Thus, extroverts get noticed and get promoted faster than introverts. It’s an unconscious bias which makes the business world lean towards extroverted CEOs. In her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, author Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so.

What’s the secret to having an engaged and productive team? According to innovation & disruption theorist Whitney Johnson, author of Build an A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve, the secret is to develop a learning plan for all employees, no matter where they are on their personal learning curves. Your organization stays competitive in an unpredictable, rapidly changing business environment by designing people’s jobs around the skills they have today as well as the skills they’ll need tomorrow.

It’s a great list of 10 amazing bestsellers!

See here how you can join the campaign.