**published in LinkedIn on 10/16/19**

Today is National Boss Day. In my 20+ year career, I have been fortunate to work with great bosses. Today, I honor three exceptional bosses from the very start of my career, during my time at Disney in the early 90s. Their leadership set the tone for my expectations of a good boss and ultimately became an example of how I wanted to lead. They were mentoring, advocating and being inclusive well before these terms became forefront in leadership.

Foster Hildreth - He motivated.

My first job out of college was as an Assistant to three executives in Disney Development Company [hotel and resort development]. Foster Hildreth was the most junior of the three executives and to me, the most relatable. He was a positive presence with a smile for everyone.

Foster left a lasting impression during a particularly challenging week. I was several months into the job and was being bombarded with what I considered to be endless grunt work. My last part-time job while still in college was helping run an international student program at a community college. I was affecting the lives and future of students around the world. Yet there I was, being the entitled recent graduate in my first full time job, “just” making documents and file labels. Such a waste of experience and formal education! I thought. Only Foster could gently pull me off my high horse.

Foster told me that great things come from great beginnings. 

"Whatever the task, and no matter how menial, small or insignificant you think it is, be the best at it. Own it and put your mark on it. If someone asks you to create filing labels, then make damn sure your labels are the best in the department." His advice seems simple and obvious in hindsight. But from my young and inexperienced standpoint, his ongoing interest in my professional growth made me feel valued. 

Foster had a genuine desire to see me succeed. He recognized my potential and helped me work through challenges. I felt seen, heard and supported. Feeling supported inspired me to get over my entitled self and turn things around. I worked to make Foster and my other bosses proud to have me on their team. And I created the best damn file labels they had ever seen!

Joe Blanchard - He informed.

In my second year, I transferred into Walt Disney Feature Animation as an Administrative Coordinator in the Production Technology department. Joe Blanchard was one of the managers. Although I didn’t report to him directly, my job required working with all leadership within Technology.

Several of the managers were newly promoted into their first leadership roles. So I sometimes looked to Joe, who had more management experience, for informal guidance. He was a straight shooter, never minced words and was reliable for honest and constructive feedback.

Joe was a big advocate, and represented my talent even when I wasn’t in the room. One day, without going into details, he told me that I would soon be asked to help coordinate a very big project. He supported the decision to involve me and gave me a big vote of confidence that I would be able to pull it off. But he said I would need help.

“Make sure you understand the full scope of the project and that you will have support if and when you need it,” he half-warned, half-advised me. Joe knew I liked to tackle things full steam ahead and worried I would not be set up for success if I used the same approach on the upcoming project.

When I was folded into the project, listening to the scope got me very excited and gave me crazy anxiety. I asked many questions and made sure to understand every aspect of the project. I raised the flag that the scope may require us to hire temp help, which we then got prior approval to do. Without Joe’s heads up, I would have barreled through and only later, while in the thick of it all and with little time to ramp up additional help, would I have realized that I was in over my head.

Working with Joe taught me to always look at the bigger picture and understand how best to set myself up for success. Joe’s wisdom continues to guide me professionally and personally.

Paul Yanover - He empowered.

I worked with Paul Yanover on The Walt Disney Company’s first presence in SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics conference in Orlando, Florida in 1994. This was the big project Joe gave me a heads up about. There were many moving parts to this effort including designing a two-story booth, organizing a party for thousands at Disney’s water park, designing tickets and disposable shorts for the water park and staffing the booth and recruiting suites. Paul and I were working with other divisions of Disney but for Feature Animation alone, there was an additional set of mini-projects.

Paul was early in his executive track but already an obvious force to be reckoned with. He was full of never ending ideas and his positive energy was contagious. He approached everything with an upbeat “how can we make it better!?” attitude that made you want to rise up to the challenge.

Paul empowered me to be a key player from the start. He included me in meetings, even when at times I would look at the room and wonder if I should be there. I remember one meeting Paul was unable to attend and he asked me to attend in his place. The meeting was in Disney’s Florida animation studio and would involve my traveling from the west coast. Attendees included the Senior Vice President of the Florida studio and a handful of other leaders. All of them were looking to me for guidance on how the Florida studio could have a presence in the conference.

For context, I was a Coordinator in my second year out of college. I had just been flown to another state, put up in a nice Disney resort with a view of fireworks from the balcony and the next day I was leading a meeting with the *head* of a studio and other key leaders. My... mind... was blown! But I played it cool and I played it well.

I knew the project inside and out because I was a true partner from the beginning. I met many other leaders and decision makers. My professional network supersized in the course of one project.

The experience and exposure was possible because Paul empowered me to shine.

The impact these bosses had at the start of my career went far beyond the walls of the offices we shared. They modeled the qualities I would look for in bosses from that point on, which led to positive experiences with other great leaders. And I have channeled their qualities as a leader myself.

Thank you Foster Hildreth, Joe Blanchard and Paul Yanover!

h5 to good bosses!

Thoughts or comments? Would love to hear from you here!