Ep. 1 – Management Mastery with Lee Cockerell

Show Notes

Lee Cockerell, the former Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World Resorts, breaks down the importance of checklists, two books every entrepreneur must read, the R.A.V.E. system that he developed, and the necessity of waking up early if you want to become successful.

  1. The Importance of Checklists When Managing People
  2. Two Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read:
    1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
    2. The Effective Executive – Peter Drucker
  3. 3. The R.A.V.E. System
    1. Respect
    2. Appreciate
    3. Value
    4. Everyone
  4. The Necessity Waking Up Early
  5. The Importance of Getting Better Every Day
  6. How to Keep Your Employees and Teammates Engaged
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Audio Transcription

What testing for the center of the universe and the thrive 15.Com business management coaching world headquarters back to the conversation today, I unique opportunity of walt disney world resorts are the man who used to manage over 40,000 employees? Could you imagine what it would be like to manage? A number of employees with a break, is involved words, 44 0,, 0, 0, 0 40,000 employees that have such a massive, our responsibility and think about this. They had at disney world during the time that lee cockrell manage walt disney world resorts. It was the world’s number onetourist attraction drawing over 1 million guests per week. Could you imagine what it would be like to have a million customers a week, and so, during this interview with lee i, get to ask him about the importance of checklist. I talked to him at the two books that he believes every entrepreneur should read. He explains to me his system for inspiring his team in offering great customer service the necessity of waking up early the importance of getting better everyday and how to keep your employees and teammates engagedeverything at disney there’s if the bathrooms are cleaned a certain way. Hamburgers are made a certain way. French fries are cooked a certain way and it’s not a tribal knowledge. It’s not a verbal knowledge. It’s not something! It’s all written down and documented into a series of checklist. Talk to me about the importance of that. Why you can’t remember everything:if you want attention detail, you got a list all the details and that you have to do those who reject list, and they ever even proven that people use checklist are much more successful. Hospitals are lowering infection rates with checklist, wash your hands use. The alcohol rub rub down the room, they’re, actually reducing stays in hospital checklist highlights with checklist. Don’t have crashes, you can’t.

Can you imagine if we can’t find the checklist up here, but I’m sure we have to look at it most of it right and then you are talking to each other and they say what are those flaps up or down? So if you’re, a video ography crew, like these guys, give him a check list you’re a photographer check, pilot checklistdoes, disney, executive. Okay:here we go 7 habits of highly effective people by covey. Why is it looks so good I will in fact it’s my second favorite book now my books of a verb, but listen, listen if you would just learn to listen, better, listen to understand and I know, that’s pretty interesting,, listen to understand where I’m coming from before you’re going to tell me and it’s 7 principles about everyone should read that, though I love it came out, 89 I still got it. I, look at it all the time you recommended as a business management coaching professional. Reading the book, the effective executive, now I’ve heard about this book. Who’s won the famous. What were the price of the most famous management theorists introduced out there? Why should everyone who is executive or once being executive, read this book? Probably was it still haven’t changed a bit the advice he gave and one of the big pieces of advice I got out of it which I’ve applied. My whole career was you’re not going to be very effective, spinning short amount of time with your exactly of your people, and he said he recommended spend at least 4 hours with a group of people with no agenda and let him just things will come out that you can am at the first hour, not much. They get more comfortable with you tomorrow at third hour. They just as they see you’re, not overreacting, you’re, listening and taking notes 4th hour or with an individual works for you. They say if you’ll spend 4 hours of that individual have coffee in your office and talking, you will probably create a new business and not even realize you’ll get into it, not realize it and I started practicing that it was so true. Just calm down. Everybody could have a 15 minute maid in 20 minutes, 30 minutes I will say when you take your one of your kids wanted to time somewhere on a trip he went. Dead.

It’s going to be so much it’s going to be so much bigger. What time give me 16 hours business management coaching together and I think we probably walk away with a different relationship after this when you meet people like yourself, and you learn of the methodical processes that you do on a daily basis to become successful, and it’s not just an event, but it’s the process. I said it’s not magic makes it worse. Where you work now, this is a rave, the rave system, it where you had said in your book. This is because of the respect appreciate in value every one where the culture we’re republicans, democrats, conservatives, liberals, caucasian and african americans, asians, all different races, backgrounds, creed’s, kellogg’s, disney, everybody comes there and likes disney talk to me about ray the importance of red. If you don’t respect people and you’re at when you think about the respect appreciate in value, everyone I may not agree with some of the things you know. I shouldn’t discriminate against you because you believe one thing and I believe. So. If you told me, you’re, republican and I was a democrat i. Don’t I still have respect for your opinion and I think a lot of people over react and they they want to put people down. In fact, we have around the world. We have people that actually kill you. If you have a believe they don’t respect, they don’t appreciate. They don’t value the opinion christians in the middle east muslims in the united states jewish people around the world, gays and lesbians you go on and on and on and I mean I just asked everybody who has the right to judge other people.

You believe what you believe lot of what you believe. You were taught a lot of feelings, but your parents taught you the business management coaching environment, you ran or the church you go to or and I think people really generally I’ve learned that showing respect and appreciation value and everyone I grew up in oklahoma in the 40s 50s. You think I’ve ever heard anything inappropriate in my house, but other people, I guarantee or so and I did. One thing are some, never heard one of those comments on our house and guess what you don’t have to scream it to re-bond this body and I even help you, then he married a french girl and I had to quit time, french, jokes and guess what his children don’t either they get. It. Let me ask:is this the final little bonus thing here, because I thought this is a tough lesson. Everyone has to grasp all the things you talk about. The attitudes do list the planner the check list, the 7 habits of highly effective people, the effective executive, the rave all that can’t get done if you’re not working enough or awake early enough to make these things happen. For somebody who’s, a young entrepreneur, business owner out there is one to become successful. What time do you recommend said human might get up every day? I know if you get up early I get up 53655 5:30 when I was a dude, then get to the office 6:15, and to do that, you got take care of yourself. You got to go to bed, you got it could not drink too much. You got to not stay out. Half the night you got to have you got to take care of your health because, if you’re an entrepreneur or you’re an innie or parent, it takes a lot of energy and you got to take care of yourself and you got to really think about your responsibility to those people tomorrow morning. Are you going to be in your best shape? You know it’s kind of like a football player there. Are they ready game day? Take care of exercise, your emotional stability, your spiritual placement in your life I mean it’s a huge responsibility to be in charge of other people’s lives, really how much responsibility you think you have for five children or if you got a business 10 people now that’s how they pay their rent. That’s how they get paid, that’s how they pay for the kids, clothes. It’s either you got it, and so you so you would say, take it to the manager health. Take it to you as soon as your family and also i take it seriously to get up couple hours before your employees get there. So you’re organizing for food out of bed early, you want to get up when other people start saying.

Thank you you. You changed our lives and thank you for this job and and I think responsibility. That’s a lot of fun. But! It’s it’s a hard work! It’s hard work, just like you not being a parent cuz it hard work and you really are out there and I sent you a lot of people go out of business and blues park market share and customers cuz. They don’t make it. They don’t just keep pushing all the time better, better, better, better, better opening, earlier delivering being quick, been in touch been reliable, be incredible! Being friendly, all those basic son live from the store. Let me tell you:i can take a doctor’s office turn around in two weeks and I’m, not a doctor. I can take a gas station, make it ten times better. In a couple weeks, grooming lounge it’s,, like a haircut business for men, it’s in tulsa and there’s haircut, businesses that are charging $7 for haircut 79969 and lowering prices during a pricing more and here’s a guy that the average business management coaching cut is $30. When you come in to get a paraffin hand dip you get a hot towel treatment. You have this beautiful ambience, the music’s just right. He is a country club for hair charging 30 other people are beat themselves up on price and it disney. It didn’t seem like that. You guys ever gotten a pricing war with busch gardens or you didn’t mean fear, gray charge anything I pay $32 to my hair care for 20 years from the same lady who has coffee for me when I get there and then croissants at that she’ll work me in I can cancel an hour before into work be back in in the afternoon. She said when priscilla was sick. She said a lady over here to do her hair in bed. Well, that’s the magic in priscilla and I talked about. She was so sick. She says how good it felt to get her hair and lady use trash bags cuz. She didn’t get out of that. Lady figured out how to do it and gave her a neck massage, and he was like her best day during her lss getting your hair to washed when. You can’t get in the check. There is the magic who would tell her friends and come back right. Half my friends get their hair cut the same place now and summit don’t even have much hair, but you just love experience and tell people I walk in I’m important to take care of me. Where you been how you doing, everybody is important everybody, whether you’re clean the bathrooms, where they you’re the manager, whether you’re the ceo everybody’s important. Can you talk to me about on a practical level, how you did that it doesn’t I think we just really do value everyone and we treat everybody respectful. Am you know if you don’t think the guys who clean the bathroom are important? Just don’t clean it for a while wait till they don’t come to work you’ll find out in about 25 minutes.

Cook doesn’t show up today and you got 8000 lunches, you’ll, find out your manager, hot stuff. What you talked to your dad cuz. You won’t even know how to turn the business management coaching grill off and so and i. Think people don’t get the connections inc, because it’s a menial position is not a meal. This everything that disney has to work together and I will have to come together and you’ve got the money and the key really is to make sure everybody understands how important they are, and you got to tell him to make sure they know where they fit in, because the people clean the bathrooms disney get more questions than anybody else at disney they’re, the one of the highly trained people. What time they open? What time are the fireworks? What where’s the bathroom? Where should we eat? They get mens questions from smoking, a small business owner most people they do their own accounting. They do their own sales that you’re busy at 9 % of the businesses in the country. According every research, I’ve ever read says the least people are 10, employees are last, the average american business has 10 employees or less so you’re doing all those tasks. How do you recommend that we make everyone feel important on a daily basis? What would you do you mainly the boss, I guess, how is the owner of the business make everybody feeling employees? Let me tell you what I would touch each one of them in the morning before I started, even if it was only a couple minutes, I go around, so I can find good, say how’s, your son doing I was at soccer and last night have a good day. Let’s read text message schedule time for this to make sure that you check in with him and you’ll know about him.

Another husband’s mother just got diagnosed our fathers having a problem with colon cancer. How that go? Have that I mean this is simple stuff and especially for small teams teams. You know it. You’re probably spend more time together with your team. Then you do with your family wow, that’s lee cockrell on management. What is it? What would it feel like to manage 40,000 people? Could you imagine the stress? Could you imagine what it would feel like an you quit? You couldn’t survive unless you were a consistent about implementing a business management coaching regiment, aaa system. If you wish, you were consistent with your approach to your values and your philosophies of your principles. Less. You were consistent with the way you managed. Nobody could follow. You in my rhetorical question. I would ask for everybody. Listening today is:are you one clear about how to manage effectively into? Are you consistent with implementing or management systems, and if you need a little freshening up with your management systems I would encourage you to book your tickets for next in person, drive time show workshop. The next one is an april april of 2018. You can find out more information at thrive time show.Com and is always free to

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