Walt Disney

Mari Santana

BBM 201 Principles of Management

Professor Jennifer Bennett

The person I chose to write about is Walt Disney, who was the creator of Walt Disney Studios, Mickey Mouse, Disneyland and many more. Walt Disney was a determined individual who knew what he wanted and tried various strategies to acquire it. He believed that his imagination, creativity as well as his positive attitude would make his name known around the world. Although he was successful in creating films, he was not as successful in managing his studios. He lacked the management skills he needed to run his studios professionally. There was no order or organization to the staff at the studios and no one acted professionally with each other or with Disney. All who worked at the studios respected Walt as the boss. He did not portray many management skills but he knew how to talk to people to convince them to do what he wanted them to do.

In a small town in Chicago, Illinois, Elias and Flora Disney gave birth to Walt E. Disney on December 5, 1901. After moving a few times, the Disney’s finally settled in Kansas City, Missouri in 1911. It was at this time in young Walt’s life that he found out what it was like to work hard for little pay. Elias had a newspaper delivery business in which Walt helped deliver. Although Walt did not enjoy his job, he did feel that it helped build character in him.

In the early years of Walt Disney’s childhood, he was fun-loving, full of entertainment and always festive. He was the complete opposite of his father who was known to be a serious, bitter and angry man. His father’s cold manner created a negative atmosphere in the Disney household, leaving Walt with a desire to escape his reality. His escape was in the form of acting, playing pranks on his family and drawing.

Since Walt did not start school until he was seven years old, he was over a year older than his classmates. Because he was older than most students in his grade, he often felt out of...