CEO turnover is surging, even at high-performing companies. However, external hires nearly doubled in 2025, pushing internal promotions below 70% for the first time in eight years. Companies are increasingly looking outside for leaders.

Except, for Disney. 

Disney just named Josh D'Amaro as their next CEO. He's a 28-year Disney veteran who started in sales and marketing, then moved to finance (CFO of Consumer Products), then operations (VP of Resort & Transportation), then ran Disneyland, then ran Walt Disney World, then led all of Disney Experiences.

And now he’s getting the top job.

For those of us in leadership we obsess over the makings of great leaders. Especially in reflection. But maybe we should be asking: “what made them a great follower first?"

In this edition:

— James Kenna

Aligned Digital Sales Room

Look at D'Amaro. He didn't walk into Disney and announce he was destined for the top job. He spent a decade in mid-level roles. He ran transportation logistics. He learned how the parks actually operated. Not from a boardroom, but from the ground. He followed other leaders through recessions, park closures, a pandemic, and a billion-dollar flop (RIP Galactic Starcruiser).

He wasn't just waiting to lead during those 28 years. He was building the instincts that would make him ready when the moment came.

That's what separates D'Amaro from the "born leader" fantasy. Beowulf arrived fully formed. D'Amaro was forged.

And what choice do people have? If you crave leadership, heck, if you crave progression–there’s no other choice.

So what does it say that Disney hired a 28 year career man? Well, I think it says something about their hiring values. It sends a pretty clear message internally: “if you put in the time, and the work, we want you to thrive here.”

It also points to Leadership being earned. And that following is actually skill-building for that opportunity. Not points away from being considered. 

In our Leader Labs we talk about the idea that followership isn't something you graduate out of. It's a discipline that scales with your leadership."

Have you ever worked for a leader who never was an individual contributor? I have. And it’s an absolute nightmare.

It’s usually a pattern of micro-management, credit-taking, and a lack of delegation and listening. 

And it's no wonder, because you don’t realize how impactful those things are unless you’ve been on the receiving end. It’s, more often than not, a perspective shift that’s needed. Because if you’re a leader and guilty of those things, it’s not that you don’t want to do well. In fact, you really want to do well. But in order to succeed, you view your team as a means to your own success. Rather than a collective working towards a mutual goal.

That’s the difference a contributor -> leader understands. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Followership isn't passive. The best followers I've worked with, the ones who became the best leaders, did a few things consistently:

They executed fully before critiquing. They didn't half-commit to a strategy while mentally drafting their objections. They gave it a real shot, learned from it, and then offered perspective.

They absorbed a vision without needing to own it. Not every idea has to be theirs. They could pour effort into someone else's direction and find meaning in the execution, not just the credit.

They gave feedback upward without ego. They knew how to say "I think there's a better way" without making it about being right.

They learned how decisions look from below. And when they became leaders, they remembered what it felt like to be on the receiving end of unclear direction, shifting priorities, or being overlooked.

The market is telling companies to look outside for leaders. Fresh perspectives. Transformation DNA. Outsider energy.

And sometimes that's the right call.

But Disney looked at that trend and made a different bet: they chose the guy who spent 28 years learning every part of the operation from the inside. Who understood the culture because he'd been shaped by it. Who knew how to lead because he'd spent decades learning how to follow.

If you're early in your career, or managing someone who is: don't just endure the years before you lead. Use them. Learn what good direction feels like. Learn what bad direction costs. Build the instincts that only come from being on the other side.

The climb isn't the problem. It's climbing without learning what every rung teaches you.