As a corporate human resources director, I really enjoyed reading this book. "Creating Magic", is a common sense approach to leadership that will help those in need to improve on the job, indeed in their personal lives too. The strategies and great WDW stories make this a very "usable" book that also happens to be a fun and insightful read.

"Creating magic" is the bounding of various stories that teach us a lesson about leadership and management. The stories drive home the point that leadership is not about the leader but rather the people that are being lead, molded and guided in their respective careers.

While I recommend this book in that it pursues leadership excellence. However, I cannot rate it 5 stars as Creating Magic does not contain any novel or new techniques. That is, the lessons of the book have already been digested by most of those in the managerial profession. If you are seeking an excellent reminder of these values then the book will meet your goal. If you are looking for the novel and new approaches to leadership, you will not find it here. I also suggest High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of Wingtips with Spurs

As a corporate human resources director, I really enjoyed reading this book. "In Creating Magic, is a common sense approach to leadership that will help those in need to improve on the job, indeed in their personal lives too. The strategies and great WDW stories make this a very "usable" book that also happens to be a fun and insightful read.

Creating magic is the bounding of various stories that teach us a lesson about leadership and management. The stories drive home the point that leadership is not about the leader but rather the people that are being lead, molded and guided in their respective careers.

While I recommend this book in that it pursues leadership excellence. However, I cannot rate it 5 stars as Creating Magic does not contain any novel or new techniques. That is, the lessons of the book have already been digested by most of those in the managerial profession. If you are seeking an excellent reminder of these values then the book will meet your goal. If you are looking for the novel and new approaches to leadership, you will not find it here.

Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of Wingtips with Spurs

Having studied Disney and its methods and motives for over 30 years I am always keen to learn more and read different insights and views.

Lee is a Disney legend. He has been at the top of the profession for many years and I found this book a wonderful read.

Its not a story, its a manual on how to lead with real examples. Its well written and easy to follow. You will be using it time and time again.

I am constantly trying to use this. his RAVE falls at my place of work as the people, well. But it has made me a better leader (I hope) which is the aim.

Thanks Lee.

Being an executive recruiter and a career consultant for over 32 years with many years of public speaking on the topic of "Your Future Marketability" I found that Lee's book was an incredibly inspiring book. "Customer service" is something that is dwindling away in our society. We have been a continuous visitor to Walt Disney World for almost 30 years. The service that they give is just as good today as it was back then when all they had was the Magic Kingdom. It is dedicated people like Lee who have made the name "Disney" what it is today.

I have already read the book twice and have referred to it in my presentations on interviewing techniques. Marketing yourself in an interview is just as important as marketing the Disney package. When an employer is made comfortable in their hiring decision then the decision is easy to hire the person. Whenever we decide on a destination for our vacations, Walt Disney World is a yearly event. We find ourselves needing to be "Pixie Dusted" at least once a year. We go to WDW because of the extraordinary service and it is people like Lee who have made this possible.

A definite "must read"

[...]

Boy do I wish I had this book years ago... but I've got it now!. Great, practical, inspirational and undeniable logic. It's a "how to" guide to leadership that spills over to everyday life. If you deal with other human beings on any level, I'd recommend you buy this book and absorb ever word. I couldn't put it down.

Creating the Magic is a nice light read. It seemed to me like there were more stories about Marriott in the book than I would have expected. I would have liked more stories about Disney World. I think more discussion of the unintended consequences of change would be helpful. Often times books like this champion change and overlook the unintended consequences of change. Creating Magic does give a little nod to the consequences of change when it recommends you be compassionate when you let someone know they are losing their job because you think you have a better way of doing things. On the other hand, implementing strategies like Fast Pass at Disney World are declared great successes without any discussion of the negative impact Fast Pass had on guest flow at the theme parks. Have you ever noticed Fast Pass has not been expanded and has even been rolled back? The author clearly improved many things at Disney World. However, I would have appreciated a more balanced evaluation of some of the strategies.

A clear and easy to understand read. Focuses heavily on lessons learned through a very successful business career. While Mr. Cockerell admits he didn't always choose the best courses of action early in his career, he learned from his decisions and evolved into an incredibly effective business leader. His insights and advice will help others skip the "trial and error" phase and perfect their business leadership expertise. Fantastic insight into the reasoning behind Disney's approach to customer service and cast member empowerment.

Loved it!! So much so I bought one for my store manager and my district manager now wants to get all the store managers a copy for the Holidays!!!

I predict that Lee Cockerell will be bigger than Blanchard and Covey combined. Lee is light-years past theory. He is straight-forward, no-nonsense, wise. Every great leader should read this book, or miss an incredible opportunity to see Disney from an executive mind-set, with tons of practical, how-to's for any leader, in any organization.

How do I know? I've thrived at Disney for 25 years, grown under Lee's vision, and currently share the "Business Behind the Magic" through the world-renowned Disney Institute.

Mr. Cockerell drives the lessons home that seem to have been forgotten in this age of technology and impersonal service: It's still all about people! His simple, common sense approach to leadership is inspiring and teaches us that if we focus on caring and professionalism then things will usually turn out right, not just for our own personal satisfaction, but for the entire well being of our organization and the consumer as well. Can be applied to any line of work!

I had the pleasure of attending a Time Management and Leadership workshop that Lee Cockerell held when I was a manager with Disney. His words from then still resonate with me today (some 10 years later).

This is a must read for people who want to follow a no-nonsense, value driven approach to leadership, in both their professional and personal lives.

Most of us judge ourselves based on our intentions. The people around us judge us based upon our behaviors. As leaders, we must make sure that our behaviors support our intentions. This is one of the many lessons I've learned from Walt Disney World, a legendary culture created and sustained under the exemplary leadership of Lee Cockerell, WDW's former Executive VP of Operations. In "Creating Magic," Lee Cockerell explains how to make that kind of loving, caring, respectful leadership a practical reality. Lee shows leaders in all walks of life how to operationalize a culture of caring in every sphere of influence. "Creating Magic" is the most inspiring and the most practical book on leadership I have ever read.

What a fantastic read. Lee takes you through his growing years and how he cultivated his great leadership skills. We can all relate to "creating Magic" because Lee talks about having so many different jobs while growing up and how it lead him to the success he now has. Lee is proof that hard work and dedication pays off in so many ways, personal and professional. Great job I highly recommend this book.

In telling his story, Lee also humbly tells the story of thousands of Disney Cast Members who believe in his vision. As one of those Cast Members I can assure you, if not for his leadership, there would have been far less Disney Magic. He led us through the most challenging time the Walt Disney Company and our nation has faced since WWII.

Read this book. You too will learn what it takes to create your own Magic.

Picture if you will, a small town boy, beginning life with strong family Midwestern values. After a brief stint in the service and a life of hard knocks, his creative energies eventually lead him to Orlando, and the success of an entertainment giant is his legacy. Now, what name comes to mind?

Well, it's probably not your first guess, but close. The individual in question is none other than Lee Cockerell, former Executive VP of operations at Walt Disney World, and current author of what is destined to become a bestseller, `Creating Magic - 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life At Disney'. The reasons for this probable success are twofold. First, it is an inside look at the inner workings of operations at the most well-loved resort destination in the world. Second, it provides an insight to the leadership strategies of one of the most exceptionally curious attributes of the Disney Corporation - that it is as much a philosophy as a Corporation.

The early 1980's were not particularly kind to the Disney Company. The loss of a creative direction a decade earlier was taking its toll, not only on the product, but also on the quality of leadership at all levels -- including the east coast World. Sucked into this void were none other than the leadership talents known of Judson Green, Al Weiss, and Lee Cockerell; it is Lee's creative leadership strategies over his decade-long theme park reign that are the subject of his new book. If you were a Cast Member (employee to all of you Disneophytes) interested in a leadership position at Walt Disney World during this period, you were sure to have a copy of Mr. Cockerells' `Leadership Strategies' CD's permanently inserted in your favorite player, set on `repeat forever'. Essentially these CD's were just recordings of his lectures given to WDW leaders and to interested corporations at the Disney Institute, and would become the basis for this new book.