Friday, August 30, 2013

Leading a Legacy

Leading a Legacy

There was a special celebration at the 2013 D23 Expo, Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) is celebrating this 60th year of creating magic! This is the 4th of 5 panel discussions that were held at the D23 Expo. Each lasted about one hour and they featured many amazing Imagineers.

The 4th panel had two of the leaders of the Disney Creative force, Former WDI Executive, Marty Sklar and current WDI Chief Creative Executive, Bruce Vaughn.
These two talked about what it was like to “herd the wild cats” that are the Imagineers. They discussed how technology has changed Imagineering, BUT the basic creative process and passion for excellence has not changed. They shared how the size and scope of the company has changed.

Marty Sklar talked about Walt Disney’s personal involvement in Imagineering and what it was like to work with him as part of the team. He spoke of the encouragement Walt gave and the trust he had in his team.

It was said repeatedly in all of the panels that had Imagineers that worked directly with Walt Disney that he was the best Casting Director of all time. He would know you could do something when you did not even know it. He would see an ability that you never knew you had and put his trust in you.

Personally hearing how these two Disney luminaries direct, motivate and manage this living behemoth that is Disney Imagineering I found myself thinking how I could, if given the opportunity manage and supervise people differently than is the norm.

Here is the video of Leading a Legacy:



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