What Leaders Tolerate Defines Culture
From Disney’s “Show Ready” standard to a bus garage wake-up call — why the next chapter starts with raising expectations.
Several weeks ago, my son moved out.
He’s 23. He graduated from college last fall. He’s engaged to be married later this year. He’s our youngest — which means we’re officially empty nesters.
As we packed, I noticed something.
He wasn’t taking everything.
When our daughter moved out, she cleared the room. When I left home years ago, I did the same.
Clean slate. Fresh start.
But my son was selective.
As we loaded his truck, I asked:
“Why not just take it all? It’s yours.”
He didn’t hesitate.
“I can only take what fits the vibe of our new apartment.”
“The vibe?”
“Our vibe is Boho. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t come.”
I didn’t know apartments had vibes. I wasn’t entirely sure what Boho meant. But I understood the principle.
As the room emptied, it began to resemble the abandoned houses I sometimes see in urban-explorer videos — furniture left behind, pieces of a past chapter frozen in place.
I said, “So your apartment is Boho. But your room’s vibe? It’s abandoned.”
From down the hallway, my wife chimed in:
“No, Babe. His apartment is Boho. His room is Hobo.”
We laughed.
But the moment stuck with me.
Because he was right.
Not everything belongs in the next chapter.
The Vibe of a Business
At The Walt Disney Company, we didn’t use the word vibe.
