Love Works.  Seven Timeless Principles For Effective Leaders by Joel Manby has a title that may turn off some people who believe the words Love and Work should never meet in the workplace.

Joel Manby put his money where his mouth is on CBS’s hit show, Undercover Boss.   He creating a sensation when he exposed his leadership philosophy to the world on TV.  Now, the author has convinced me that by treating Love as verb and not as a feeling, leaders can lead with character and develop a devoted team of followers.

It's A Verb Not A Feeling

Not Psychobabble

When I heard Joel was coming to my hometown of Tyler, Texas to speak on leadership, I was intrigued, but skeptical.  I was trained in leadership on the idea that character was foundational to leadership, not love!

When I opened the book, I thought I was going to get hit with a lot of feel good kumbaya stuff that might work in some non-profit environments but would be too soft for any truly competitive business.  I was wrong.

Not Academic Jargon

Then my skepticism rolled to the idea that the book probably used studies of the neurotransmitters in the brain to prove people felt better when they felt loved at work.   I mean the guy has a Harvard MBA so it probably was going to dry and full of brain pathology studies.  I was wrong again.

For Leaders, Love Is A Verb

The Seven Timeless Principles that Joel Manby lays out have nothing to do with how you feel as a leader.  But, they have everything to do with your actions as a leader.

I found myself nodding my head with each chapter.  The character based leadership principles I learned at West Point and the ones I preach when I speak on leadership are illustrated within the pages of each chapter.

  • Patient:  Have Self-Control in Difficult Situations
  • Kind:  Show Encouragement and Enthusiasm
  • Trusting:  Place Confidence in Someone
  • Unselfish:  Think Less of Yourself
  • Truthful:  Define Reality Corporately and Individually
  • Forgiving:  Release the Grip of the Grudge
  • Dedicated:  Stick to Your Values in All Circumstance

Whether I like or dislike a person does not matter.  As a leader I am called to love my people through my actions.  Feelings are not a factor.

The Character of A Leader

The author exposes his failures and his character for the reader to see.  He led both the Saturn and Saab divisions at GM before becoming the CEO of the largest family owned theme park corporation in America.

The principles he displays in his stories and the solutions he offers the reader gives us all the opportunity to become both better leaders and better people.

As Joel says in the book, “Character is the root of a leader’s success….”  He did a convincing job of showing me that using love as verb while leading is character in action.

The Bottom Line:

Joel Manby is coming to town to speak and I am going to be introducing him at the Leadership LIVE 2013 event on October 3rd.  It is a lunch program that is open to the public.  You can register at www.LeadershipTyler.org.

I hope to have the opportunity to interview Joel Manby and post that interview on this website in the near future.

If you are in the Tyler area, come join us.

Click here to see a clip of Joel Manby.

If you are one of the 4,000 people who read my blog’s monthly from all other parts of the world, I suggest you pick up this book.  You will be glad you did.

Question:

When have you pushed yourself to act in love even when you didn’t feel like it?