The first Wednesday of each month, a Disney Institute Facilitator joins us to host a D’Think (#DThink) Chat, a Q&A-style Twitter conversation, on Disney’s approach to a topic making a major impact on the business landscape. In May, Nicole Lauria joined us to discuss customer loyalty. Click through the slideshow below for a recap of this month’s chat and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Don’t forget to join us next month on June 5 as a former Fortune 500 CEO, credited with taking his company to the top of the industry in workforce engagement, joins us to discuss employee selection, training, and engagement.

How do you define a leader?

At Disney, we recognize a leader as anyone who influences change. We expect Cast Members to act as leaders regardless of their role within the company. This commitment to the Disney model of leadership is grounded in four principles: envision the future, organize the operation, engage the team, and commit to the results.

Why do leaders fail to influence change?

Sometimes leaders attempt to be the person they think their employees expect them to be, as if they were an actor playing the role of a leader. Employees recognize these inconsistent behaviors and become less trusting and sometimes resentful.

What is authentic leadership?

Authentic leadership is a genuine approach to leadership. Authentic leaders are those whose actions are based on their core values. They are originals.

While Forbes Contributor, Kevin Kruse, recognizes that authentic leadership can be defined in a variety of ways, most would agree that:

1. Authentic leaders are self-aware. They’re not afraid to show their real selves to their followers. Their behavior doesn’t differ whether they are in public or in private; they don’t hide their mistakes out of fear of looking weak.
2. Authentic leaders are mission driven and focus on results. The goals of the organization come before their own self-interest.
3. Authentic leaders lead with their heart (in addition to their mind). They are direct, yet empathetic. They are not afraid to show vulnerabilities to connect with their followers.
4. Authentic leaders focus on the long-term. Short-term goals sometimes pale in comparison to the big picture. This type of leader takes the time and has the patience to nurture his followers, which usually pays dividends in the long haul.

Fortune has released the list for which it is best known, the Fortune 500. 2013’s rankings for the America’s most profitable companies saw Wal-Mart retake the top spot followed by a consortium of energy companies; Berkshire Hathaway rounded out the top five.

Some of the country’s most profitable companies are, not surprisingly, also some of the most admired in creativity and innovation. Nike, Apple, Amazon.com, Google, and Facebook are just a few organizations on the Fortune 500 list that regularly push their innovative limits to deliver modern marvels into the hands of consumers.

So what is it about these companies that allows them to sustain their competitive edge?

For starters, there is process behind their technique. That process can be, “a messy, exhausting process culled from myriad options and countless failures,” says Fast Company writer Austin Carr about Nike’s innovative process.

There is also an extreme attention to detail. Take for example, “The Button Test,” a game designed by YouTube designer Marc Hemeon which tests users’ ability to identify websites based on radio buttons’ shape and coloring. Marc’s design is a culmination of color, size, and style that builds the identity of a brand into a web page based on the tiniest on intricacies that affect the way a user will consume content.

Finally, do not underestimate the benefits of a cohesive culture: tangible benefits, such as talent retention, and less tangible benefits, like the sort of collaboration that comes from close-knit teams.

What are your thoughts on this year's Fortune 500? The most admired companies in innovation?