UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

UCLA Anderson Presents: "Leaders On Leadership" -- Week One's Guest Is Walt Disney Company President and CEO Robert Iger

Continuing our celebration of 75 years of Business Beyond Usual, UCLA Anderson invites you to join Dean Judy Olian and Professor Peter Guber this summer as they spend rare moments with some of the most inspiring industry leaders of our time, in the first-ever UCLA Anderson summer podcast series, “Leaders on Leadership.”

In Week One of the podcast series Olian and Guber are joined by Walt Disney Company President and CEO Robert Iger. In the video, Iger recounts his past successes and failures; the tactics he learned and used throughout his career; and his thoughts on ways to encourage and nurture good leadership in a fiercely competitive global market.

 

 

 Follow this blog and the UCLA Anderson web page as we release a new segment of “Leaders on Leadership” every week this summer, with luminaries such as television and radio host Larry King; Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak; Kent Kresa, chairman emeritus Northrup Grumman Corporation; Lynda Resnick, co-chair, Roll International; UCLA Hospitals CEO David Feinberg, Pat Woertz, chairman and CEO, Archer Daniels Midland; Frank Cooper, SVP, chief consumer engagement officer, PepsiCo; and Paul Irving, ex-managing partner, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and 2010 Fellow (in residence) Harvard University's Advance Leadership Initiative.

For more on the Leaders on Leadership series, please click here. 

 

Gary Ryals ('08): Frontline Anderson Leader

Gary Ryals (EMBA '08) describes his role as the Lieutenant Commander of a West Coast Navy SEAL team thusly: 

"I'm the second in command," Ryals said. "The civilian equivalent would be a chief operating officer. I report to the commanding officer, and I'm responsible for ensuring day-to-day operations are carried out in alignment with his strategic vision and intent."

Ryals is currently stationed in Coronado, California, though he expects to be deployed overseas sometimes soon. His work to this point has seen him deployed to a variety of places so far, including South America, the Pacific Theater and the Middle East. Ryals most recently returned from Afghanistan, where he led 21 combat missions as the Commander of the SEAL Task Force for Southern Afghanistan, served on the Afghan Provincial Governor's Security Council, and earned a nomination for his second Bronze Star.

As part of UCLA Anderson's 75th Anniversary celebration, the school selected Ryals as one of its 100 Inspirational Alumni.

You can read more about Ryals here, including how he conducted his application interview with Anderson on a secure phone line from Iraq. 

Happy Birthday America!!!

UCLA Anderson wishes you a safe and happy Fourth of July. We hope your Independence Day celebration is Business Beyond Usual.