For Iger, the team is key: the new Disney chief built a management team that was ready for action

Chief Executive, The, March, 2006 by William J. Holstein

It takes a pretty confident CEO to engineer a deal that puts Steve Jobs on his board--where Jobs could emerge as chairman.

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But part of the reason Bob Iger may have felt so self-assured was the faith he had in his management team. Iger, as Disney's president and chief operating officer, had been working quietly for years to build a team that bore his imprint. When it became clear that the controversy-prone Michael Eisner would leave Disney, directors spoke with members of Iger's team to get a sense of his management style. "The support of the team that I helped build was essential to getting the top job," says Iger. "The board turned to that team for input about me."

So when he became CEO on Oct. 2, 2005, he didn't need to shuffle his team and suffer a period of drift. Managers were ready for one of the boldest actions Disney has taken in years, namely the purchase of Jobs' Pixar Animation Studios. "The senior management had already reported to me," Iger explains. "I spent five years helping to form that team. By the time I was made CEO, the team in place to run the company felt very much like my team."

After years of strife, James Citrin, of executive search firm Spencer Stuart, says that today he sees "the highest morale at Disney among the top management team in 10 years." Iger says his top team consists of about a dozen people, including heads of business units such as its broadcast properties, Walt Disney Studios, consumer products, parks and resorts, and an Internet group. They are joined by the general counsel, chief financial officer, human resources chief and executives in charge of communications, government relations and international affairs.

In terms of management, Iger's biggest move while still CEO-elect was a restructuring that greatly reduced the role of a powerful 15-year-old central strategic planning group, prompting the departure of its head, Peter E. Murphy. "That was a really important signal that Bob was going to be pushing accountability in the decision-making into the divisions, rather than everything going to corporate," says Citrin.

And even though "off-sites" may not be the flavor of the moment, Iger took his top 200 managers to Orlando for a meeting in November. "I really believe there's a value to socializing," says Iger. "Having people in one place getting to interact is a good thing, getting to know each other and making relationships across businesses." He also has launched an informal project to analyze the U.S. media landscape through the year 2015, an effort to unleash his management's creative and entrepreneurial spirits.

Back in Burbank, Iger also has established a new style. "We have pretty much an open door policy--people have the ability to walk in and chat with me any time they want and vice versa," Iger explains. "I make it a point to walk around offices and visit people in the middle of their day sometimes."

So even though Iger's changes have been modest, the whole tone at Disney seems to have changed. "Because of how diverse this company is or how large it is, it can't really be run by one person," the new boss says. "The buck stops here in many respects but in terms of the operations and directions, a team effort is required."

Iger says he doesn't see his job as managing each business unit, but rather managing the connections between them and tending to the brand name. "Even though they operate independently, a lot of these businesses are rooted in the Disney name and the Disney brand," he explains. "I have to spend time as the brand steward creating connectivity and shared values and brand definition, not only to protect the brand but to grow it. Any CEO of a large company has a challenge of creating a balance." All of which is a far cry from the tone that prevailed just a year ago.

--W.J.H.

RELATED ARTICLE: CEOS AT A GLANCE

57 The average age of CEOs included in the Standard & Poor's 100 largest companies is 57. That has decreased by two years over the past 25 years.

3 The CEOs of the largest 100 companies are on average three years older than the CEOs of the bottom fifth.

5 After holding steady since 2001 at four years, the median tenure for the top 100 CEOs increased slightly in 2005 to five years, but that is still a decrease from seven years in 1980.

39 percent of all S & P 500 CEOs have a Masters of Business Administration degree. That has increased from 37 percent to 39 percent over the past two years.

3 percent of S & P 500 CEOs received their undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin or Harvard. The two schools tied last year as well:

 Harvard    3% Wisconsin  3% Princeton  2% Stanford


    

    

    
    
  2% Texas      2% Yale       2% 

20 percent of the undergraduate degrees for S & P 500 CEOs were in engineering.

 Engineering


    

    

    
    
             20% Business Administration  15% Economics

    

    

    
    
    11% Liberal Arts              9% Accounting                7% 

Source: Spencer Stuart

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