It was an odd statement, and I heard it when working as a character lead at Epcot. We were in the breakroom behind the United Kingdom Showcase getting ready to go out on set when the character performer portraying Robin Hood told me she was not feeling well and might pass out during the performance.

I suggested she needed to go home. She replied that too many guests were out there waiting to see her character and she would not disappoint them.

The conversation continued as I asked, “But what if you have a problem on stage?”

“I’ll get through it.”

“What if you pass out?”

“If I pass out, do not take my head off.”

“Even if you’re dying?”

“Especially if I’m dying.”

“So, you would rather die than let a guest see Robin Hood without his head?”

“Yes.”

The performer did go out on set, gained strength throughout her performance, did not pass out, and, of course, did not “die” (The Robin Hood characters snapped at Disneyland above, photo courtesy Disney).

Was it a strange conversation? Absolutely. Unusual for a character performer? Not at all. The individuals who portray the Disney characters are some of the most dedicated, most professional, most resilient, most indefatigable performers I have ever met.

Imagine working in a fully encased suit for a half hour where your visibility is limited, you can’t talk, your hands can barely grip things, children chase and pull on your costume, teenagers try to feel you up, the outside temperature is 90+ degrees, and the temperature inside your costume is well over 100. Then imagine repeating that experience six or seven times a day, five or six days a week. That’s what character performers do and there are varied reasons they do it.

Fitness – Some like physical fitness. The combination of exercise, costume weight, and heat help character performer stay trim. Even the perspiration from wearing the costumes is, as one performer described it to me, “clean.” Much like being in a sauna, she explained, the heat cleansed her body, and she felt healthier after a day in costume.

Performance – Many character performers are entertainment professionals. Some are singers, dancers, actors, and/or mimes. Some have tried and failed to secure a face performance spot at Disney and are hoping for a future big break. Others just love the Disney characters.

Children – Some are especially enamored by kids and love connecting with them in this incredibly unique Disney way.

Anonymity – Some appreciate the duality of the experience; a star for several hours and a normal person the rest of the day. Several performers told me of situations where after work, while in a store or restaurant, they encountered a child they met during their character performance and felt the secret satisfaction of not being recognized.

Magic – Many, like that Robin Hood performer, connect personally, emotionally, and viscerally with the characters they portray. For them Disney is not a job. It’s a calling. They believe in and have personally experienced the Disney magic in their lives and want to deliver that magic to others.

And dedication to magic is the central point of this essay. Everything Disney does is built on an emotional, not a logical, connection established by Walt Disney: making people happy. And the people who work there, especially in the character performer ranks, go to incredible lengths to deliver that happiness. Creating magic is in their DNA.

But what about you? Your product or service is likely not as emotionally connective as Disney’s is. But any product or service can be emotionally driven.

Southwest Airlines is one example. Superficially, it appears that their product is transportation. But digging deeper, their real purpose is connecting people. They do that though flights that bring people together, and through their interactions with each other, and with their customers. That emotional focus is so important that it is corporate symbol: LUV.

Another example comes from my consulting work for a utility company. You might think that water, sewage, electrical cabling, and fiber optics aren’t emotional, but they are. Without the utility to keep the lights on, the toilets flushing, the drinking water clean, and the WIFI humming, the whole town would fall apart. Those utility workers are, in fact, hometown superheroes. Clarifying that emotional focus changed digging ditches from grunt work into a noble undertaking that serves others.

The secret isn’t a product or service. It is, rather, that intangible emotion that the product or service offers. Figure that out and you’ll develop some dedicated characters of your own. They may even keep their heads on.