Former Disney CEO talks about why he is leaving the company
Bob Iger is leaving Disney for good at the end of this month. In a recent interview, he stated that he felt himself becoming too dismissive of other people’s ideas and that it was time to hand over the reins to someone new.
Back in February 2020, Bob Iger, who had been running Disney since 2005, announced he would be leaving the media giant for good and gave up his role as CEO, being succeeded by Bob Chapek. But, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Iger stayed on as chairman to guide the company through the rough period. The plan was for him to stay until the end of 2021. Now, as the year draws to a close, Iger is set to relinquish his seat by the end of the month.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Iger opened up about some of his initial reasons for wanting to leave the company, saying he felt he stopped valuing other people’s opinions.
“Over time, I started listening less and maybe with a little less tolerance of other people’s opinions, maybe because of getting a little bit more overconfident in my own, which is sometimes what happens when you get built up,” said Iger.
The former CEO didn’t provide any specific examples of such decisions, but stated that he had started to invalidate the opinions of co-workers, only to realize that ‘times change’ and he was saying ‘no’ too often and too soon.
“I became a little bit more dismissive of other people’s opinions than I should have been,” said Iger. “That was an early sign that it was time. It wasn’t the reason I left, but it was a contributing factor.”
Over the 15 years that Iger has led Disney, it has grown into an international behemoth. Under his leadership, the company managed to acquire the likes of Pixar, Fox, and Lucasfilm, and has established itself as the reigning champion in the entertainment industry.
While there are those who love and those who hate Disney for whatever reasons, the overall impression of Iger as a CEO seems to be unanimously positive. His style of leadership was very focused and communicated a clear, common vision within the company. He realized that quality drove sales. Iger was also determined to put the most qualified people in the appropriate positions, give creators artistic freedom and choice of direction, as well as cut down on unnecessary bureaucracy within the company structure.
However, since Iger’s successor, Bob Chapek, stepped into the role of CEO, many fans and employees within Disney have started worrying that the company might start going in the wrong direction. Chapek has been at Disney since 1993, and has worked in several divisions over the years, including Home Entertainment, Products, and Parks & Resorts. However, over his career, he seems to have earned a reputation among consumers for prioritizing profits and drastically cutting costs, with little regard for quality.
Since assuming his role as CEO of Disney in 2020, Chapek has already introduced a number of changes within the company, and many feel it is a dismantling of everything Iger stood for. The reorganizations have reportedly resulted in creators losing direct control over projects, with directions now being set by business-suit executives. New layers of management have also been introduced into the company structure, with many freshly minted executives reportedly lacking experience in the fields they were put in charge of.
Moreover, the company has already faced several lawsuits since Chapek took over, one of the most prominent ones being the Scarlett Johansson debacle, when she was cut out of the streaming revenue for the ‘Black Widow’ standalone film.
It’s unclear how his management will impact Disney in the long run, but many have already come to the conclusion that Chapek is the worst thing to have happened to Disney. In fact, over 85,000 people have already signed a petition to have the new CEO fired.
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