The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger, 2019

Rating: 5/5

When I picked up the book, I wondered what my expectations from it were. I was not very familiar with the Disney story so insights into it would help. I would have liked a candid discussion of various issues that Disney has faced over the years, those which were not in the public domain. Like any memoir, one would expect to get insights into the person behind the story. And finally, a book like this should carry some business lessons. The book satisfies these expectations well, though some more than others.

The book is divided into 2 parts: the first one leads to his ascension to the top job at Disney and the second talks about his leadership years. It is thoughtful in parts, provides leadership lessons in others and is downright exciting in some, especially around the run-up to the acquisitions of Pixar or the creation of the Black Panther movie, which many thought was a bad idea because of the lead superhero being black. There are even the poignant parts, especially his relationship with Steve Jobs.  Even as you get to know Iger the successful CEO well, he does occassionally provide insights into himself including his thoughts behind a possible run for the US President. Iger walks the fine line between being too humble about his achievements and glossing over his failures — “finding that balance between accepting credit and not making too much of the hype”, as he puts it. At one place, he talks about feeling guilty in front of his colleagues when attention and credit is directed towards him, and that is particularly endearing.

For readers looking to take away some leadership lessons, Iger provides his 10 lessons at the outset: optimism, courage, focus, decisiveness, curiosity, fairness, thoughtfulness, authenticity, perfection and integrity. And at the end, he also lists down in one place all the various business lessons strewn throughout the book.

There are a few aspects of his story that are missing though, for example, his initial rise from a lowly level at ABC (it's completely omitted for some reason) or the pressures of his job on his personal life — he covers the separation from his first wife in just a couple of lines. Iger does say, though, that this book is not a memoir and as the title suggests, it’s more about business lessons. I would disagree though — given the profile of the writer, that distinction will blur. The book is a fairly short one and a few more pages would have been more satisfying. Also, it's a pity that the book was written in 2019 — it misses out on the biggest challenge that Disney may have ever faced ... that of the corona virus!

Pros: Insights into the Disney story and into himself, useful leadership lessons

Cons: Some important aspects of his story have been omitted