10 Principles

1. Optimism - people don’t like working with pessimists
2. Courage - fear of failure destroys creativity
3. Focus - communicate priorities clearly and often
4. Decidedness - balance diversity of opinion and need to make a decision
5. Curiosity - the path to innovation begins here
6. Fairness - empathy and accessibility is essential, remove all fear
7. Thoughtfulness - take the time to develop informed opinion
8. Authenticity - don’t fake anything
9. Relentless pursuit of perfection - refuse to accept mediocrity. “If you’re in the business of making things, be in the business of making things great”
10. Integrity - the way you do anything is the way you do everything

---

Part 1: Learning

Starting at the bottom

• Create space every day for your thoughts to wander beyond immediate responsibilities
• Relentless pursuit of perfection
  • Not “perfect at all costs” but refusal to accept mediocrity

Betting on talent

• Optimism has the power to shift perspective from catastrophe to a complex puzzle

Know what you don’t know (and trust what you do)

• A delicate balance between executive management and how you negotiate with creatives is key - it comes down to respect

“I didn’t want to be in the business of playing it safe, I wanted to be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness” - Bob Iger

• If you want innovation, ::you need to give permission to fail::

Chapter 6

• Optimism in a leader, especially in challenging times, is vital
• People need to feel confident in focusing on their tasks not defending their position

Chapter 7

• You have to convey your priorities clearly, and it impacts time energy and capital all around as
• No more than 3

Chapter 8

• Approaching toxic situations with respect can provide a very different perspective
• Don’t let your ego get in the way of doing the right thing

Chapter 10

• Always surround yourself with people that are good, not just good at their job
• When there is a lapse you must act immediately

Chapter 11

• In negotiation, you must state your goal and intentions up front and clearly, never say or give something up simply because someone wants to hear it

Chapter 12

• “If something doesn’t feel right to you, then it’s probably not right for you” - Tom Murphy
• Being present for your people as a leader is vital for morale
• When you innovate, everything needs to change not just how you make / deliver a product

Chapter 13

• A company’s integrity depends on the integrity of its people
• Nothing is more important than your company’s quality and integrity

Chapter 14

• The trick of leadership is to hold onto who you always were to a degree even while the world tries to inflate your title / power / ego

Chapter 15

• To tell great stories you need great talent
• Innovate or die, there can be no innovation if you operate out of fear of the new
• Create an environment in which people refuse to accept mediocrity - push back on “good enough”
• Take responsibility when things go wrong, learn from them
• Be decent to people and treat them fairly, create an environment where people know you’ll hear them out and second chances for honest mistakes will be given
• Excellence and fairness don’t need to be mutually exclusive - be aware of caring more about the product than the people
• True integrity is a secret weapon, trust your instincts and respect people
• Value ability more than experience and put people in roles that require more of them than they know they have in them
• Ask questions you know should be asked, learn quickly
• Managing creativity is an art and be mindful how much of themselves the artists has put in and how much is at stake for them
• Don’t start small or negatively, starting petty = seeming petty
• Creativity isn’t a science, be comfortable with failure
• Be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness
• Don’t let ambition get in the way of opportunity, do the job you have well and make yourself one of the people
• Don’t invest in small projects that will sap resources that don’t give much back (don’t sell trombone oil)
• When leadership has a disfunctional relationship, the rest of the company will suffer
• Be attentive, do the work, show up - people are watching you as a leader and will know
• It’s not about being indispensable it’s about preparing the people under you to step into your shoes
• A company’s reputation = actions of its people + quality of products, demand integrity from both
• Great is often the collection of very small things, but don’t over micromanage
• Be honest about the changes coming and don’t get overly attached
• Don’t communicate pessimism, it will take over and turn to paranoia and defensiveness and risk aversion
• Convert your priorities clearly and repeatedly, morale can be boosted just by taking guesswork out of their daily life
• Embrace change
• It’s about the future not the past, be optimistic even when your sense of your self is on the line
• You have to do the homework but you’ll never have 100% certainty, at the end of the day it comes down to one persons instinct
• As a leader, you embody the company and your values and integrity will be judged as if it’s the company
• There’s no short term gain that’s the worth the long term erosion of trust that occurs when you go back on the expectation you created early on
• Most deals are personal, be aware at what’s at stake for the other person
• It’s not good to have power for too long - your voice becomes too loud even to the leaders around you
• Hold on to your awareness of self