With the top career coaches and executives just a phone call away, Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger has no shortage of the best professionals to call on for career advice. Yet, when he got the call about returning to the top job at the media behemoth it was his wife whom he says he turned to.
What’s more, the boomerang CEO admitted he wasn’t even particularly interested in returning to Disney until Willow Bay convinced him otherwise.
“I was not seeking to return to Disney at all,” the 72-year-old told the New York Times Dealbook Summit on Wednesday, despite knowing that the company was looking to replace its CEO and that former chair Susan Arnold wanted to speak to him.
But when Iger’s phone lit up with Arnold’s number, he says, Bay quickly reminded him what he “already knew”—that he had to return to his old gig.
“She said you ran the company for over 15 years, you were at the company for almost 50 years—you kind of owe it to the company,” he said. “If the board wants you back because they obviously don't feel they have an alternative, at least not at that moment, then you owe it to them to say yes.”
“I realized as I heard her words she was absolutely right,” he added.
And just like that Iger unretired and returned to Disney’s helm for the second time in November 2022.
Spouses make great career advisors
Many of us turn to loved ones for career advice—and people at the top of their game are no different.
Even the Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon has credited his wife with helping him snap out of a career funk and maintain a high level of professionalism when he almost tossed in the towel on one job.
“What being a professional actor means is you go and you do the 15-hour day and give it absolutely everything, even in what you know is going to be a losing effort,” Damon added. “And if you can do that with the best possible attitude then you’re a pro and she really helped me with that.”
Meanwhile, Carter Reum, the self-made millionaire behind the alcohol company Veev and the investment firm M13, previously told Fortune that he often picks the brains of his famous wife, Paris Hilton.
“I was extremely good at my job before I met her. But she makes me even better at my job,” he said. “When you think about investing in spaces, like the creator economy, I get to see the world through the eyes of arguably the one that created the whole creator game.”
“Finding that life partner who's going to be a teammate, who's going to make you the best version of yourself while you make them the best version of themselves is the most important decision all of us are going to make in our lifetime because if you make it well, it will significantly impact the rest of your life,” he added.
And he’s not wrong. Experts have echoed that your life partner is the biggest career choice you’ll ever make.
Ultimately, in those moments of career doubt, having one's own Willow Bay could make the difference between walking away from a huge job offer or not.
