The Fonz on Leadership Lessons He Learned From Happy Days

Great interview with surviving cast members of Happy Days, which was a number one TV show itself, as well as producing FIVE spinoffs. Worth reading the whole interview but one particular part stood out for me involving the producer Garry Marshall and star Henry Winkler.

WINKLER He [Marshall] was generous but also was structured. He took no bad behavior. One time, when he was announcing the guest cast, I said, “Garry, we have to hurry up because I’m flying to Arkansas.” He nodded, put down the microphone, grabbed me by my shirt, put me against the wall and said, “Don’t ever do that again, because they have every right to be recognized like you.” He kept us in line.

Talk about setting a tone! How often as leaders do we let little things slide or fail to apply values consistently? Holding aside the physicality of this encounter, which is very 70s and very Hollywood, it’s a reminder to me about building teams and supporting your people. And those lessons get handed down through generations.

It was a relationship, and an appreciation, that Winkler carried with him going forward

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Originally published at https://hunterwalk.com on February 4, 2024.