Team work

Last week Hollywood Studios had its infamous Star Wars weekend. The first weekend of many, it was incredibly hectic at my attraction. Everyone is stressed from the long work hours and the excessive people that pour in for the event. What amazed me was the way our team band together to get through this stressful period. During my shift I had to take a moment to realize how effortlessly everyone was working together. While this wasn't specifically attributed to any particular direction from management, it was the work of a dedicated group of people working together. We were a well oiled machine loading and unloading Guests onto shows and the time really went by quickly while everyone played their role in our show. It was a good feeling to see everyone take such an active role in the team, and a large team at that. But as I watched I could see everyone around me helping each other and getting into a groove together to make all the craziness and business seem so effortless. 

Challenge the Process

Something I have seen that is lacking through the organization is a lack of "making waves". If something needs to be changed or someone has an idea it's difficult to convey that information to upper management. Change seems to be a very slow process and few people want to initiate change because they don't believe it's something that happens. When changes do happen they aren't told to employees until it is publicized to the general public as well. 

Yesterday I was marveling at the new facade surrounding Hollywood Studios. For 15 years the iconic Socerers hat blocked the view from the entrance of Hollywood Studios to the Chinese Theatre. The vision for this park was to see down the street to this beautiful building. For the first one in my lifetime I was able to see this view. While I was standing looking up and this wonderful building I was approached by two managers. Neither worked in my area or even in my department but they asked me how I liked this view. We talked about how beautiful bringing the hat and walk down to reveal the Chinese Theatre in its new found glory. They told me how wonderful it was to see this view again because hey had worked for Disney long enough to see before the hat, during the hat, and now after the hat. After talking about how nice it was to see the park returned to what it was originally meant to be they asked me where I was working, how I liked my job and even what my plans were for my future with Disney. This is something I hadn't even considered at this point. What struck me from this conversation was the genuine interest these managers took in my opinion. They went out of their way to have a conversation with me and hear what opinion and thoughts. No one asked them to do this, they weren't my bosses, I may never even see them again. But I know these two women must be in a management position for a reason. They listened to me and they were truly interested. It has been the best encounter I have had with Disney management so far, it demonstrated the care these two managers clearly have for their company and for its employees. Needless to say, yesterday was a lovely day. 

I have my handprint in the hallway of Cast Members at the Great Movie Ride. And I have officially Earned My Ears!

Delegating

Delegating isn't something I usually think of when i think about leadership. But watching a lot of the leadership here, I realize how much delegating goes into leading a group of people. In a situation at work, particularly. The leaders are the ones who make decisions, make sure everyone is where they need to be and oversee the operations as a whole to ensure that everything is running smoothly. For this reason, it's imperative to have excellent delegating skills in order to lead a group effectively. If everyone at the Great Movie Ride were to just go anywhere with no direction, the entire ride would shut down. There must be someone organization each individual to ensure that every task gets completed and every job is accounted for. The same would go for a corporate situation, a CEO isn't able to do every job of the organization, they have to be able to delegate information and tasks down the line, so that everything is completed and everyone has a sense of direction.