Disney (NYSE:DIS) Chairman and former CEO Bob Iger says he began thinking about stepping down as chief executive after feeling he was becoming too dismissive of other people’s opinions.
"Over time, I started listening less and maybe with a little less tolerance of other people’s opinions, maybe because of getting a little bit more overconfident in my own, which is sometimes what happens when you get built up," Iger told the media Wednesday.
The 70-year-old Iger is leaving Disney after running the company from 2005 to 2020. He stepped down last year as CEO, succeeded by Bob Chapek, but has stayed on as chairman through the coronavirus pandemic. He will officially give up his chairman role at the end of the year.
While Iger didn’t speak about specific decisions, he said he was increasingly invalidating points from co-workers because he’d "heard every argument before." But as he reflected on his answers, he realized "times change," and said he was saying "no" too quickly.
"I became a little bit more dismissive of other people’s opinions than I should have been," said Iger. "That was an early sign that it was time. It wasn’t the reason I left, but it was a contributing factor."
Iger acknowledged Chapek likely won’t make the same decisions he would have made as future problems arise.
"Bob [Chapek] is going to address them probably differently perhaps than I may have. But that’s neither good nor bad. Change isn’t necessarily bad."
DIS shares, meanwhile, dropped 10 cents a share to $150.95.
