This is one of 186 strategies and applications that will appear in Putting Your Small Business on Steroids — 186 Strategies to Increase Your ROI, by John Gifford and Matt Hall.
These days you’d be hard pressed to find a man, woman or child who hasn’t heard of Walt Disney. For many, Walt Disney, the man, is an American hero and an icon of our times. His name is synonymous with wholesome family entertainment and good old-fashioned American values.
Today the Walt Disney Company is a commercial juggernaut which employs over 100,000 people and generates annual revenues of approximately 35 billion. But its beginnings were much more humble. Starting with only $3,200 borrowed from an uncle and his parents, who mortgaged their house for the money, Walt Disney had a unique idea for a cartoon and ended up with a dramatically successful film studio. Always the visionary, from his studio successes he branched out to theme parks and resorts, hospitality, cruise lines, merchandise, licensing and media networks.
All of Walt Disney’s works, from his movies to his theme parks, seem to be infused with an almost magical quality. The real magic, however, was Walt’s ability to attract so many talented individuals and then persuade and motivate them to consistently produce at the peak of their ability.
Walt Disney was a tenacious businessman who was very driven. He was notorious for having a robust ego and for being a difficult man to work for. Yet he had thousands of fiercely loyal employees. He set standards that required those in his employ to stretch significantly, yet they were happy to stretch, because they wanted to be part of the world Walt was creating. He built a company with a vision they were passionate about. Something they felt proud to belong to. He even renamed specific positions and gave them titles to reinforce their pride, like the famous “imagineers.”
Wilfrid Jackson, an animator and director with Disney from 1929-1959, encapsulated Walt’s crucial ability in his summation of the way Disney worked, “When he would get an idea for a cartoon, he would picture it in his mind so thoroughly and so completely that when the thing came out, if some part of it wasn’t quite the way he thought it was going to be, then it had shortcomings for him.” Disney imagined what could be and brought along with him his fellow “imagineers.”
Sure, it’s easy to see why talented individuals would seek employment with The Walt Disney Company now. It’s a fortune 100 company. But long before the company was a household name, Walt Disney attracted the best of the best to help with his endeavors.
And any entrepreneur can follow the same principles employed by Disney to attract and keep top employees… the same techniques he used to get them to do their very best work. The secret has everything to do with passion. People, as a general rule, are not terribly enthusiastic about jobs. “Job” is not a word that conjures much passion. Nor is “employee.” People are, however, passionate about and want to feel that their work stands for something and makes a difference… that in some small way the world is a better place because of their contributions. Give them that chance and they’ll thrive, giving you their best work in return.
Use this principle to your advantage. Make your business about something. Let it stand firmly for or against a position. Infuse a powerful philosophy into the core of your business culture. Even the most mundane jobs can be re-defined to become more prestigious and important. Walt made brick-layers “castle builders.” The same concept can be used by virtually any business. Imagine what can be and share that vision and passion with your employees.
Make your business a place top level talent would want to be associated with and be a part of. And that has little to do with compensation. Some (not all) will even accept less pay to do work they feel passionate about.
This is one of 186 strategies and applications that will appear in Putting Your Small Business on Steroids — 186 Strategies to Increase Your ROI, by John Gifford and Matt Hall. If you would like to be notified when the book is available, please send an email with the Subject: Book Notification to johng@indysmallbiz.com.
Matt Hall
Merritt Hall Insurance
(317) 247-7737
mhall@merritthall.com
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