The Disney Way

I really enjoyed the Disney way by bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson. Walt Disney is one of my biggest heroes, from his amazing creations of fantasy in his movies, to the childhood soft spot of disneyland, to his multi-billion dollar Disney empire. The Disney Way is a book inspired by Walt Disney's motto of Dream! Believe! Dare! Do! It is a great motto to carry through life  and a surefire phrase to live by so that your dreams will come true. No one can deny the success of the Disney brand, and Walt was just smart enough to manage all of his creations to the fullest extent. This book is filled with really useful information that can be conveyed to any company on how to create, network, and manage an empire. I found it interesting that the authors were not even disney affiliated but that they had used the techniques so successfully they wanted to share with  the world. Everything in the book is practical, common sense strategies to build a team and micromanage everything to the fullest. Looking at the Walt Disney Empire, it is tough to think that it all started with a mouse.

Camelia Laurio

A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

A Peacock in the land of Penguins, by BJ Gallagher Hateley and Warren H. Schmidt is a beautifully written,modern day corporate fable. It is a book on management, sure, but something more. It is about learning to work with all sorts of personalities and backgrounds, and drawing out true talent to make a beautiful product. A Peacock is that amazing person, the beautiful, creative, intelligent go getter that accomplishes what they want, and a penguin is, well, the guy that follows everyone else, is pretty average looking, and just tries to make it through the day. Every employer needs penguins, the kind who are focused and set in their ways and will get their job done, but a smart manager needs peacocks. This book really illustrates how everyone can become a peacock, and can use their creativity and talents in a way that is entirely unique. Everyone is different, and their are different birds to describe everyones style--an aggressive hawk, a powerful eagle, a vulture, the quiet swan. However, the beauty of a successful team is the culmination of everyones talents, of learning to accept, and appreciate differences, and not being afraid to show off how amazing you really are. With so much corporate pressure to be one way, to dress and talk and work according to rules, it is a refreshing perspective to know that diversity is mandatory for a team to truly become the best.