Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders [Hardcover]

Joel Manby (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2012

Before Joel Manby won the respect of America with his appearance on the CBS reality TV series Undercover Boss, he was a highly successful corporate executive. After the show aired, many of the 18 million viewers wrote to him about the profound impact of his servant leadership. In Love Works, Joel Manby introduces us to the power of agape love in the workplace. 

After years of leading thousands of men and women, Manby has proven that leading with love is effective, even in a business environment. Manby challenges leaders to allow integrity and faith to guide leadership decisions, outlining seven time-proven principles that break down the natural walls within corporate cultures, empowering managers and employees, disarming difficulties, and cultivating an atmosphere that builds long-term success. Manby also leverages the undeniable truth that love builds healthy relationships at home---why not use the same behavior to build healthy relationships at work?

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Leading with love is counterintuitive in today's business environment because it turns many so-called leadership principles upside-down. Yet the outpouring of support from people who had never even heard of HFE convinced me that while we might be doing something slightly crazy by leading with love, we were also doing something that people were hungry to be a part of.

About the Author

Joel Manby is president and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (HFE). Previously he has worked for GM, Saturn, and Saab. Joel and his wife, Marki, have four daughters and reside in suburban Atlanta. SPANISH BIO: Joel Manby es el Presidente y CEO de la Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (HFE). Ha trabajado anteriormente para la GM, Saturn y Saab. Joel y su esposa Marki tienen cuatro hijas y viven en un barrio residencial de Atlanta.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310335671
• ISBN-13: 978-0310335672
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Economic Conditions
  • #88 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Communications

More About the Author

Joel Manby is the CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, the largest family owned theme park corporation in the U.S. In 2010, Joel was featured in an episode of Undercover Boss, in which he demonstrated his unique approach to leadership: Leading with love instead of power.

Prior to riding roller coasters, Joel was driving cars. He spent 20 years in the auto industry, most recently as CEO of Saab USA.

With over 30 years in leadership, Joel has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. He now shares the lessons he has learned from his triumphs and failures in his new book, Love Works.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Book on Leadership May 5, 2012

By Trilennium Productions

Format:Hardcover

Though I have interviewed more than a thousand authors over a 20+ career in radio and television, I have never written an Amazon review for any of their books, even those that I loved. I am doing so for Joel Manby's because I believe it could quickly and fundamentally change the way many leaders and executives run their businesses and organizations and to great, good effect for owners, employers and customers. When Congressman John Campbell gave me the book with the comment that he had read it in a single day I was intrigued. It took me two days --I didn't have a cross country flight as John did-- but immediately knew this book was the best leadership book I had read in more than a decade, and certain to profoundly impact readers. My radio audience who heard my interview with Joel on May 4 bought the book in great numbers, and I know I will replay the interview so that a different part of the audience hears it --a very rare nod to the excellence of a book. So do yourself and your organization a huge favor and get Love Works for yourself and for your entire leadership team. Hugh Hewitt

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable and Relevant May 2, 2012

By D. Jacobsen

Format:Hardcover

Love Works is timely. In our economic climate, leaders can assume that they need to choose between profit and people. Joel Manby's thesis--backed up by decades of successful leadership--is different. A business run on timeless principles of love, like patience and kindness and truthfulness, can improve its bottom line and its relationships at the same time. Simply put, love actually works. This will be a refreshing read for anyone who feels that in order to succeed they must be a different person at work from who they truly want to be.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommend this read! May 16, 2012

By S. Johnson

Format:Hardcover

This book articulates an approach to leadership that is the exception rather than the norm in business today. Love Works is an entertaining, quick read with compelling life examples to reinforce a message that could and should change US business culture. We all know profit is key to business, but Mr. Manby contends profits are maximized by exhibiting patience, empowerment and giving in the workplace. Results are achieved by people who want to produce as part of a team as opposed to forcing employees to produce through negative enforcers. Implement the pricipals outlined in this book and you will have success in life, business and your passions. Strongly recommend.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Success in leadership May 23, 2012

By J Spiegel

Format:Hardcover

Joel Manby in practice and in this writing represents the best of humanity. In this book Joel provides insights into personal and organizational values that can lead to sustainable high performance by a committed, loyal family of employees. The "Seven Timeless Principles" and the practical application of them are a foundation for achieving leadership success in our organizations and personal lives. Who would not what to dedicate his or her scarce working hours to such a leader?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Leaders who want to be Effective at Leading May 23, 2012

By Dale Jones

Format:Hardcover

"As a global recruiter and advisor of Fortune 500 CEO's, I've read lots of books on leadership. I have found Love Works to be a remarkable narrative on how timeless principles can transform an organization. It's a game changer to move leaders beyond Love as a feeling to Love as an action which delivers sustainable business results. Here Love is a critical competence for effective leadership. It surprises many that Love Works actually works in the global marketplace of the 21st Century. The idea may appear to be simple and obvious at first blush but many leaders miss it and suffer greatly for it. Carpe Diem."

Dale E Jones
Vice Chairman
Heidrick & Struggles

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Leadership & Love DOES Work! May 18, 2012

By Mark Withrow

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Joel Manby really knows his subject.

His first job out of college was as a plant foreman at a GM truck plant in Pontiac, Michigan, where he was exposed to the toxic and adversarial relationship that existed between the UAW membership and the management. Fortunately, he later had the opportunity to serve under the legendary Skip LeFauve during the birth of the revolutionary Saturn automotive experiment, where he witnessed first-hand the transforming power of 'agape' love, trust, kindness, and true respect in the workplace. Joel was able to obtain a unique perpective of Saturn because he left Saturn "corporate" after the launch of the first car to run (and partially own) four Saturn retail outlets. He had already seen the effect of Skip LeFauve's strong belief in kindness and trust instilled in the corporate leaders, field organization, and UAW plant workers at Saturn's plant in Spring Hill, TN, who were enthused about their jobs. Such "soft" concepts were considered heresy in the hard-boiled world of automotive management. But after he moved to the dealership level where "the rubber hit the road", literally, he witnessed the same kindness and enthusiasm. The dealership owners believed in the mission and were kind and respectful to their sales and service team members who in turn treated the final customer well.

But did organization-wide love, trust, and kindness actually WORK?

Well, judge for yourself. Within only short four years after launch, the Saturn brand:
* was number two in overall retail sales in America.
* was number one in dealer satisfaction according to the main arbiter, J.D. Power and Associates.
* had the highest resale value (percent of sticker price) of ANY car in ANY class....
* had the highest customer-retention rate in the automobile industry, and
* had the highest sales per retailer of any brand in the industry.

But the statistic that meant the most to Joel - and that has the most to do with his contention that leading with love is the best way to run any organization - was that Saturn was number one in overall customer satisfaction. And not just for small cars, but for THE ENTIRE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY. This was remarkable for several reasons. First, Saturn's sales and delivery process out-scored high-priced luxury brands such as Infiniti, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz. In fact, Saturn surpassed the previous highest score J.D. Power had EVER RECORDED. Second, more than 90 percent of Saturn owners were "very satisfied" with the way their cars were sold and delivered, because the vast majority of American car buyers found the auto industry's usual "hard-sell" process highly distasteful. Saturn buyers began to demand the same treatment from other brands, and soon "Saturnizing" became a verb that other companies attempted, with varying degrees of success.

I highly recommend Love Works. I would also like to suggest two other business books that reinforce Joel's viewpoint on leadership: 1) Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends, and 2) Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow. I would also recommend Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, as further proof of the power that comes from being a heretical leader, as evidenced by the successful leadership of Joel Manby and the late Skip LeFauve, and their valiant battle against the entrenched status quo of GM mediocrity. Read more ›