“My mother’s work ethic, her attitude, and the way she treated each and every customer as if they were her best friend were better lessons than could be found in all the text books in the world.”

There is an old Indian saying, “When legends die, dreams end. When dreams end, there is no more greatness.” Leaders like Walt Disney inspire their organizations to keep their legends and stories alive.

When values are deeply embedded within an organization, they seldom change.

Twenty years ago if you provided someone with horrible service, it may take weeks or even months for the word-of-mouth message to get out to 15-20 potential customers.

Social media can work to a CEO’s advantage. Someone with a great product in a small town in the middle of nowhere can compete in the world marketplace.

The role of any exceptional facilitator or consultant is to work themselves out of a job.

In today’s global economy, innovations and improvements to products and services are not only happening more rapidly than ever before in history, they are being communicated instantaneously. So, it’s “innovate or die”!

In the long run, it costs more to provide poor rather than good service.

People are over 20 times more likely to remember a story than a series of facts and figures. A good story touches our hearts.

If your values are not used as the constitution of your organization, or if they are compromised, they become just words on paper.

In the best organizations, love is the real “pixie dust.”

Organizational culture begins in HR. This means to hire for attitude and train for skill.

One of the reasons for The Walt Disney Company’s long- term success is really the first of Dr. Deming’s famous points, “create constancy of purpose.” In his professional career,

Knowledge is the understanding of what, how and why we need to do something. Skill is applying that knowledge in a practical situation.

The key is to make sure you are doing the “right things” before you worry about doing things “right”.

In 1962, Sam Walton changed the face of retailing with Wal-Mart. As we speak, Amazon is again changing the face of retail with on-line buying.

The best ideas can come from anyone within an organization. Leaders must remember that if they want employees to embrace a new organizational “Dream” or strategy, they need to include them and seek their ideas. Creativity is NOT just for the R&D department.