Perhaps like any family, The Hall of Presidents is received differently by members in our home. My younger children could care less. My older children like it depending on who is in office and is speaking. My wife usually takes a nap because she’s often doing all of the hard work getting us to the park in our family and is often exhausted. I on the other hand have a more nostalgic and patriotic view.
Not long after Walt Disney World opened, I purchased a copy of the Hall of Presidents album. Like many a Disney attraction, I was mesmerized by the details behind it. I loved the score, and even memorized all of Lincoln’s speech, if not the entire narrative.
The Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World. Photo by Brian Bennett.
It would be 1987 before I visited Walt Disney World for the first time and had the chance to see the show for myself. But more fascinating was during the time I was a cast member at Disney in the 1990s and had the opportunity to go on the stage and walk among these amazing figures. The detail is truly amazing, even unappreciated from the point of view of a typical audience member. Here are a few that stand out in my mind:
- The stage is very long but also very narrow. The distance between steps on the stage is very small. They are actually standing in a very compressed width of space, though it looks wider to the audience.
- Every president has a change of outfits, in case a figure becomes soiled from an oil leak or other problems. All costumes are placed on the body using velcro and are created sections so as to be easy to remove from an arm or waist line. That said, the design, textiles, tailoring, ad even the cobbling of shoes carefully matches the era the president came from.
- Underneath President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leg is a brace similar to the kind that he wore during that era.
- Newer presidents (or often their wives) may choose their wardrobe or contribute accessories of theirs, like a tie. They also have a say about how their hair is fashioned. Hair pieces use real hair (they are synthetic for cast members wearing hair pieces) and are very expensive. Getting the wardrobe and hair right can be very expensive propositions.
- Lincoln’s own face drew from his actual life mask taken while he was in office. As an animatronic, he is capable of over 47 different functions, including 15 hand motions and facial expressions. In recent years, the voice of Abraham Lincoln has been provided by Pete Renoudet. Among other projects, Pete is known to Disney enthusiasts as the voice of host, Henry the Bear in the Country Bear Jamboree, and the voice of Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which has long since departed from the Magic Kingdom.
But this isn’t an article on the Hall of Presidents, per se. It’s actually an article on leadership. To that end, imagine looking at all of the presidents of The United States. Select one president who stands out above all others as a great leader.
Lincoln would be a shoe-in. But many would be quick to name Washington, Adams, or Jefferson. Still others might name a contemporary figure like Reagan or Clinton.
How many of you named Millard Fillmore? Franklin Pierce? Andrew Johnson? Why didn’t you? Why didn’t those names come as quickly to your minds? Why do we not consider them equally as great?
The answer to that comes by understanding this diagram below:
What makes a great leader? What separates a leader from a manager? May I suggest the following:
A diagram mapping out the circles of control from Covey’s book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Diagram by MousePlanet.
This diagram describes the circle of influence and control we have, and as described in the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, in which he focuses on how we prioritize our time and what we pay attention to. For our purposes, we will look at it as a way of thinking about what separates managers and leaders.
The center circle represents that which we have control over. It’s simply that which we manage ourselves. From a managerial point of view, that could be anything from a frontline manager with a handful of employees reporting to you, up to something as big as being, well, the President of the United States. The size of that circle varies depends on what you are responsible for. The bigger your position, the bigger the circle.
The second circle represents what you have influence over. The larger the circle, the greater the influence. What are those conditions that create a greater circle? In my previous article, “At Disney, Who is a Leader?” (February 19, 2009), I spoke about some of those things.
Qualities of a leader
- Vision & persistence
- Creativity & innovation
- Courage & determination
- Care & concern for others
- Models by example
- Resourceful & practical
- Performs under pressure
There are other qualities, but these are just a few. When we exhibit traits like these, our circle of influence dramatically increases.
Finally, we should note that the final circle represents that which we have neither influence or control over.
Returning to the Hall of Presidents, what makes a great Commander-in-Chief, and what makes a forgettable one? Is it how big their circle of control is? Or is it how big their circle of influence is?
Though it has evolved slightly, by Constitutional law, every President of the United States has had a huge circle of control. Therefore, if the greatness of an individual was measured by how much control he had, they should all be incredibly great. But they’re not. Some stand out far above others while others are fairly forgettable.
Conversely, think about their influence. The great Presidents of the United States have emerged, not because they had a large circle of control, but because they created a large circle of influence. It isn’t control that creates a great person, but their influence. It’s when they do the things listed above.
Now let’s head over to the American Adventure. Whereas simply getting elected gets you a place in line over at the Hall of Presidents, this attraction instead, remembers great contributors to our heritage, whether or not they ever held a high office.
Yes there is Washington, and Jefferson, and the Roosevelts. But they’re not celebrated for holding an office. They’re celebrated for what they accomplished, and for their courage in doing so.
In this attraction there are many stories of individuals who never held great offices: John Muir, Charles Lindberg, Mark Twain. The American Adventure even celebrates great peoples: Pilgrims, pioneers, even protestors. Each has had enormous impact on our country, not because of their position, but because of their individual contribution and influence.
Speaking of protestor, Susan B. Anthony was not known for holding public office. She couldn’t even vote for it! In fact, she was arrested for doing so. Conversely, she is a great and courageous leader who fought for women’s rights.
Her longtime friend, Frederick Douglass started in even humbler circumstances. He not only couldn’t hold office or vote, he was born a slave. He spent his lifetime fighting for emancipation, and for the freedoms we all enjoy today.
His experience reminds me of a client trip I took to South Africa for the Pick ‘n Pay grocery chain when I was working at the Disney Institute. During our stay in Capetown, we took a day to enjoy ourselves by visiting Robben Island, home to Nelson Mandela from 1964 to 1982. My host that day was a women who—in what was otherwise a typical peaceful protest about the injustices—was arrested, and who did not see her 4-year-old son until he turned 18.
I stepped inside the prison cell where Nelson spent most of his life. Stretching my arms in each direction, I pretty much reached the width and length of that prison cell. For those many years, that was Nelson’s circle of control. That space is all he had control over. Yet in time, his influence was so much greater. He helped end South Africa’s legal racial separation of apartheid. He changed the course of Africa, and he has inspired the world.
What’s the message? It isn’t about being in charge. You may be a bigger manager, but you won’t be a better leader. You can worry all you want about having a larger staff, office space, or budget. But none of that will ever make you a greater leader.
You can be an important manager but not necessarily a leader. And you can be a great leader and not necessarily ever a manager.
If you want to be a great leader, focus on creating a larger circle of influence instead. And how do you do that? By being your best at the traits we described earlier. Whether that’s being courageous, or creative, or caring. It’s about doing the right things the right way.
So next time you’re at the Hall of Presidents or the American Adventure, ponder your own legacy, made possible those who have paved the way before, and made feasible by your own efforts to influence others around you.
And as always, keep leading the magic for others.
