- Disney's new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, has worked his way up at the company for almost 30 years.
- Heir Jordan worked at Disney with D'Amaro and says he learned from and was inspired by him.
- D'Amaro led with common sense and calmness, was nice to people, and presented himself well.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heir Jordan, a former Walt Disney employee, serial entrepreneur, music executive, and founder of VALOR marketing agency based in Florida. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I worked at Disney for about 15 years — from 2008 to 2016 and again from 2018 to 2024.
I feel like I did pretty much everything. I started out as a sales intern doing corporate events on-site at Disney. Then I transferred into hospitality, global projects, and finally retail technology, where I worked on mobile merchandise checkout and mobile order tech.
In several of my roles, whether as an event project manager or during my time doing cast experience, I reported directly to Josh D'Amaro.
When I saw that he was chosen to be Disney's next CEO, it really hit home. Disney is a massive company, and to see him go from laser-focused on the operations of a theme park to becoming CEO is inspiring.
He's just one of those people who's nice to talk to, and it doesn't feel fake. I think a lot of his success comes down to who he is as a person. It just helps that he's also really good at business.
D'Amaro has a balanced, confident leadership style
He led with common sense and was never too big to take input from other people.
Even when I think about his transition between roles over the years, he seemed to be able to balance being aware of how his transition affected the people that worked for him while still reporting properly to shareholders and maintaining a public image.
He does it all while seeming cool, calm, and collected.
He's not afraid to be seen
There's no way you can be the CEO if you're afraid to be seen.
Josh always kept up appearances, smiled, and presented himself in a positive way. Some people think you can just show a business result or make a dollar amount, and that's going to get you the next promotion. That might be true, but it may not make you the CEO.
I remember when Josh would go through the theme parks with Bob Iger, and it was like a star walking by. People resonated with Josh differently because they felt like he knew what they went through on a daily basis.
Josh can walk around certain places in Disney, and employees aren't going to look at him as a suit. It's a different type of love that he gets.
He's disarming and respectful toward everyone
While Josh still has a serious deposition when he's talking about business, he's always kind and respectful. He acknowledges people, asks how it's going, and how your day has been. I think some of that comes from Disney culture — knowing people on a first-name basis and treating people for who they are.
It may seem simple, but some people act like they're on a timer, like they have 15 minutes to come in, give a speech, and go off to the next agenda item. Josh always took that little extra bit of time with people, for everyone to let their guard down.
If we knew Josh was coming by, we didn't fear him, but we wanted to meet his expectations. I think the thing I take from him is that if you're nice to people and you position yourself a certain way, they may match you there.
His dress style has always been clean-cut
Josh always presented well.
How he looks, talks, and presents himself now is exactly how he operated before being announced as Disney's new CEO. It's not like he was wearing a suit every day, but he was always clean-cut. It's a measure of consistency.
The thing I learned from him, here, is the importance of confidence and taking care of yourself.
Josh is the best person to give bad news
There are some people I wouldn't want to hear bad news from. If you're going to need to deliver bad news, send Josh to do it.
He's the type of person who could deliver bad news because he would know how to be empathetic and factual in everything he says.
He inspires me to pursue excellence
His journey motivates me to believe that if you do the work, make the right decisions, and people like you, you can go from managing a theme park to becoming the CEO of Disney.
He gives me a sense of motivation to pursue excellence and position myself well in my career.
I don't think he got to where he is by luck. Sure, he's an incredibly nice guy, but he's also strategic about the way he positions himself — whether that means going for the right roles, aligning himself with the right people, or dressing a certain way.
Some people may let their guard down, and maybe he never did, and that's what got him where he is.
Do you have a story to share about lessons you learned while working with a major CEO? Contact this reporter, Tess Martinelli, at [email protected].
