915 Everyone Is Important

“Remember: everyone is important.”Can you imagine being in charge of 40,000 employees? How about running operations at Disney World? Or traveling the world as a renowned public speaker AFTER you retire? Today’s guest on The School of Greatness has done all of these and he’s not stopping anytime soon. Lee Cockerell is a powerhouse of energy, wisdom, and service and it was my privilege to interview him on this episode. Lee has not only led thousands at companies like Disney, but he has written several books on the lessons he has learned and applied through the years as a stand out leader and manager. (Surprise fact: he dropped out of college because he says he wasn’t smart enough.)When taking advice about leadership, hiring the right people, and managing your time, take it from a person like Lee. If you enjoyed this episode, show notes and more at http://www.lewishowes.com/915 and follow at instagram.com/lewishowes Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is Five Minute Friday.

• 0:10Lewis Howes?

  For those who have not heard of Lee, he is the former executive vice president of operations for the Walt Disney World Resorts. And as a senior operating executive for 10 years, Lee led a team of 40,000 cast members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping entertainment village, and the ESPN Sports and Recreation Complex, in addition to many other things.

• 0:42Speaker 01

  Well, I think the most important one is strategy number one in the book. And the title of it is, remember, everyone is important. And I think this is not done well in American business. The guy cleaning the bathrooms, the guy in the parking lot, the housekeeper making up rooms. And this chapter really deals with making sure you're the kind of leader who shows respect to everyone. And here's how you do it. And we got about 10 or 12 techniques in there to show, send the message to your people that they are important. And if you can get that one right, your life works out pretty well. And then I think strategy three is make your people your brand. This is all about how to hire the right people.

• 1:23Speaker 01

  Don't make a mistake. Get the right people. Promote the right people. Strategy four is create magic through training. I mean, when you think about it, what do parents worry about their children? Safety and training, education. And that's one of the two. Strategy six is learn the truth. Telling leaders, you better get out there and learn the truth, or you won't be able to make good decisions if you don't know what's going on. And you got to have comfortable relationships with your people. So they'll tell you the truth, and they'll help you run the business. And so there's a lot. There's one on appreciation, recognition, and encouragement. And it's called burn the free fuel. We all don't do that enough. We have opportunities every day to thank people and appreciate them and we let it get by. And let me tell you, when you show appreciation, recognition, encouragement, people perform better.

• 2:08Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, so it's.

• 2:10Lewis Howes?

  What's, what's, what's something you, what's something you can do to facilitate that process of appreciation and acknowledgement?

• 2:17Speaker 01

  I think when you're thinking every morning, you ought to think about it when you get into work every day. Before you go in and turn your computer on, walk around your office and say hello to everyone and ask them how their mother's doing in the hospital. And how was the soccer game last night and tell them how much you appreciate the good job they're doing if they're just did a project for you. And I try to think, I, I got in the habit now that my goal, and I wasn't always this way. I was a terrorist in my early career, you know, I was, I didn't treat people very well. But I really came around over the years and understood that if you don't show respect to people and make them feel good about themselves and build their self-confidence and build their self-esteem, they're not going to give you a hundred and fifty percent. And we know that, you know, with your, with children, we always tell them how much we love them.

• 3:03Speaker 01

  Why? Because we want them to feel safe and appreciated and loved and, and now I tell my wife every day, I love her. That way she won't leave. But you just think about it every day, the chances you have to say something nice to somebody or to mention it to somebody or write a little text to somebody, tell them how much you appreciate them being on your team or it's just powerful. I mean, it's unbelievable. It turns people on. It's a very strong fuel that drives human performance. And it's way underused.

• 3:31Lewis Howes?

  Right. What would you say if you had to attribute one thing to your success, what would that be?

• 3:37Speaker 01

  Well, I don't have a college degree. I dropped out of college after two years because I was too dumb to get through college. So I was the most likely not to succeed, but my mother was married five times. I grew up on a farm. We were very poor. She started marrying better guys. So number four and five had money. And so I got to go to college, but I will tell you what made me. Successful in my life, I know what it was. It's, I have a very positive attitude. There's nothing you don't give me, I won't get done. I'll, I, I won't disappoint you. I'll get it done with a smile. You'll never see that look on my face. I will figure it out one way or another. I will finish it. Positive attitude and I'm organized. I'm disciplined. Every boss I had knew when they gave me something, it was done. They didn't have to follow up.

• 4:21Speaker 01

  Now, so I think, uh, having good reliability and keeping your promises and having a good attitude can really take you a long way in your life.

• 4:34Speaker 02

  Hey guys, if you enjoyed this inspirational clip from a past episode of the show, then you'll love the free book I'm giving away right now. It's called The Millionaire Morning. It includes some of my best tips for starting off your day with a millionaire mindset. Get your free copy at themillionairemorning.com and just pay shipping. Again, check it out right now. TheMillionaireMorning.com