All You Need to Know About Leadership in One Drawing

Leave it to Disney to teach a lesson so simply

“Holy sh@$%$!”

It was early in the morning, and I had just started my online class when the “Aha” moment occurred.

…But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Would you consider working at Disney?

What about if the job was studying the inner workings at their parks and resorts?

Then taking what you observe and develop courses to teach executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals from all walks of life.

If that sounds interesting, you may want to check out the Disney Institute.

Say what you want about Disney, but the parks and resorts are recognized worldwide for customer service. If you have been to a Disney property in the last 50 years, their goal is to create a magical experience for everyone.

How they do it is the subject of the courses.

I researched the Disney Institue last year, and they were pricy, toward the upper end of in-person training. A friend had taken a class and her feedback convinced me to look at going to one of the courses.

I presented my case to the finance committee, my wife. She vetoed the expenditure, citing something about costing more than braces for the kids. So I hung my head low, signed up for a free class from Coursera, and forgot about Disney training.

Shortly after the COVID lockdown, I received an email from the institute. They were letting clients know they had begun offering online classes at a discount. The price was much more appealing now, and this time I was able to get approval from the committee. I signed up at once before the money was allocated elsewhere.

Being a Disney fan, I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at how several of my favorite areas in the parks and resorts are managed. It was an interesting and educational class, definitely not the worst course I’ve ever sat through. I’m looking at you, Mr. Stewart, and your Intro to Philosophy class.

Teaching a person to fish…er draw

The lesson I remember most — and the one that caused my outburst — was taught in true Disney fashion.

After watching a video on aligning and integrating values within Disney, there was an exercise to complete. The directions said in 60 seconds, draw Disney’s most iconic character, Mickey Mouse. Thinking there would be more instructions on the following screens, I clicked continue.

….And the timer started.

“What the Frack!” I quickly began to draw. Everyone knows what Mickey looks like, right?

How hard could it be to draw him? When the timer hit zero, this is what I had to show for my work.

Amazing likeness, wouldn’t you say?

You may be thinking the same thing I did. How could you have known what to draw with such limited direction and guidance? I felt angry and disappointed with the drawing. I knew I could do better, given the right opportunity.

Shaking off my dismal drawing, I moved to the next lesson — we had to do the same thing, with one difference.

We would follow along with a Disney animator while he taught us how to draw Mickey Mouse.

This is the result of the lesson:

As you can see, this drawing is much closer to how we picture Mickey.

Leadership simplified

The aha moment was the realization that Disney had summed up good and bad leadership in two simple drawing lessons.

They had taken the complex problem of managing people, broken it down, and explained it in an easily relatable way.

In the first lesson, the directions and expectations were vague. It could be interpreted hundreds of ways.

• How is the character standing?
• Do you want a full-body shot or just a profile?
• What actions is he doing, and what facial expression are they showing?
• Is he alone in the picture?

And the questions just kept coming.

Compare this to the second lesson where the animator spent time upfront and answered many of those questions.

By doing so he:

• Clearly defined the objectives upfront.
• Showed us a picture of what he would teach.
• Went through several pencil motions we would need to use.
• Took us step-by-step through the process of drawing Mickey.

He showed what success looked like for the lesson and provided an enjoyable experience. It is Disney, after all.

Draw on what we learned

(Sorry I couldn’t resist the pun.)

Many of us are in this situation every day. We work under less than ideal leadership, with limited guidance and direction, and are expected to produce high-quality work.

The drawing activity shows how leading is about clearly communicating to those people under your care. Good leadership can turn a mediocre artist, such as myself, into an aspiring animator. Like the drawing, it is a step-by-step process where you communicate your expectations to provide guidance.

If you have the opportunity to be a leader, remember the drawing.