The Ride of a Lifetime Book Summary

My summary of The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger.

These are my favorite quotes from the book.

It is vital to create space in each day to let your thoughts wander beyond your immediate job responsibilities, to turn things over in your mind in a less pressured, more creative way than is possible once the daily triage kicks in.

Avoid getting into the business of manufacturing trombone oil. You may become the greatest trombone oil manufacturer in the world, but in the end, the world only consumes a few quarts of trombone oil a year.

Do what you need to do to make it better.

One person’s unwillingness to give a timely response can cause so much unnecessary strain and inefficiency.

I would much rather take big risks, and sometimes fail, than not take risks at all.

I do not want to be in the business of playing it safe, I want to be in the business of creating possibilities for greatness.

The need to be comfortable with failure is the most profound lesson he learned in his first year running primetime at ABC. If you want innovation, and you should always, you need to give permission to fail.

Anything that reminds you that you are not the center of the universe is a good thing.

Managing your own time, and respecting others’ time, is one of the most vital things to do as a manager.

The tone you set as a leader has an enormous effect on the people around you, no one wants to follow a pessimist.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of making the best possible decision.

A little respect goes a long way, and the absence of it is often very costly.

You have to approach your work and life with a sense of genuine humility.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://jsilva.blog/2019/11/07/ride-of-a-lifetime-summary/