USC Aiken Students Learn Lessons from Leaders at Disney

Story Courtesy of Pacer Times

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AIKEN, SC (03/19/2018) Earlier this semester, University of South Carolina Aiken student leaders from various organizations across campus participated in the Disney Leadership Experience.

While there, participants learned lessons from Disney employees on how the company runs and how they can employ the stragegies to their organizations at USCA.

"I applied to the Disney Leadership program because there's a lot to learn from Disney," junior accounting major Cassidy Wynn said,

"One of the ideas I learned from the trip was that business is always changing. Another thing they stressed was to create a culture of innovation.

"For example, most of the employees rarely look at bullentin boards or flyers anymore, so Disney put up televisions in all of their employee break rooms and in places where employees usually are to update workers on what's going on. They taught us that businesses are constanly changing in order to maintain efficiency."

The students were also required to connect with a Disney cast member from another country and learn about their experiences with Disney and how they came to work at Disney.

While the fun and amazement of Disney and its culture was a huge part of the trip, learning ways to better their organizations was the ultimate goal of the trip, and according to the participants, that's just what they did.

"The most important thing I learned is the difference between backstage and onstage.

"Disney works very hard to keep the show going on in the park," Wynn said, "The backstage area is where workers travel around the park, take breaks, and where the parades are set up.All of that is very well hidden from the guests inside the parks. They explained that once you see the backstage area, it will alter your view of the magic that Disney creates.

"In businesses and organizations, it's very important to focus on what stays backstage and what should be seen onstage."