The Ride of a Lifetime Book Summary

The Ride of a Lifetime Book Summary Preview

“If you don’t innovate, you die”. Roone Arledge

Powerful words with an intense message: without innovation, you have nothing. These are the words Robert Iger lives by, and in The Ride of a Lifetime, he chronicles how innovation was the key to his many successes. Through his story from his humble beginnings at ABC’s Small Production Services Department to being offered the job of CEO at Disney and rebuilding the company, he demonstrates how innovation, risk-taking, quality leadership, and a few other things can lead to massive success. 

Curiosity is important, but fear can be too 

Iger credits the development of his curiosity to his father. His dad, a gifted graduate from Wharton business school who was later diagnosed with manic depression, was a complex figure. Though he was prone to intense self-doubt and dark moods, he also had many interests, which he passed on to his son. The shelves of his childhood home were lined with books by Faulkner and Hemingway, and his father engaged him in many political discussions. His father once told him he didn’t care what he was doing with his spare time, as long as it was productive. Along with a sense of curiosity, he also was afraid of living with the sense of failure which haunted his father. This is where much of his drive came from his fear. He didn’t want to have the feelings his father did, and that drove much of his success. 

You never know when you’ll get your lucky break

Iger landed a job working for ABC. His uncle Bob was hospitalized in the 1970’s. He shared his room with an executive from ABC. This low-level executive wanted to impress Bob, and successfully wowed him with grandiose tales of his work. Bob called him up later letting him know his 22-year-old nephew was looking for a job. The executive got him an interview at ABC Small Production Services department. The job was low level, but Iger worked hard. He was eventually hired to work for ABC Sports. This dramatic change meant expensive lunches, expensive clothes, and rubbing shoulders with famous people. Here he got another lesson about innovation from a pioneering sports journalist Roone Arledge, who told him, “The only way to survive in business is to stay one step ahead of the curve.”

Making the right decision at “inflection points” can make or break your career

In 1985, at 34 years old, Iger was made vice president of ABC Sports. That year, Capital Cities Communications bought ABC. They stripped lots of perks, but Iger wasn’t concerned about that, instead his concern was centered around an outsider being hired to head up the network. He was given the decision to leave his current job or to stay and eventually become the senior vice president of programming. He chose to stay. This decision influenced his future heavily, ending with him becoming the president of ABC’s entire entertainment division. The point of inflection was whether or not Iger was willing to continue working for ABC, or if he...

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