Travel and Leisure

In the summer of 2000, Joel Manby sat alone in his hotel room one night sulking in his depression. A week earlier, he had accepted a senior management role with an Internet company about to crumble under the dot-com collapse of the period. But what really troubled him was the grueling realization he was living an unauthentic life.

Since graduating from Harvard in 1985, Manby had progressed quite successfully from one executive position after another, with each successive role chipping away at his confidence. The demands of the corporate world had isolated him from his family and contradicted his values. He was no longer interested in the pursuit of meeting market expectations; instead, Manby yearned to build relationships and give back to the community.

An offer to lead the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation gave him that opportunity. He learned to lead with love, not as an emotion, but with the ability to accept, respect and improve the lives of employees.

Adopting the language of unconditional love from the ancient Greeks and the biblical prophecy of Corinthians, Manby relied on the following seven principles to lead his company:

Patient - Employee feedback is a daunting task, one that must be executed with tact and deliberation. Leaders must learn to deliver this feedback with their emotions in check. Criticism should be given in private, addressing the behavior and not the character. Praise should be specific and genuine to help motivate employees and raise their morale.

Kind - Managers can practice kindness through encouragement and enthusiasm. The goal is to make employees' lives better so they can extend this courtesy to customers.

Trusting - Allowing employees to lead helps build a healthy workforce. Managers trust employees by actively listening to them and respecting their decisions. Individuals feel valued and empowered.

Unselfish - Relinquishing control to employees empowers them. This demonstrates that managers make their interests a priority. The goal is to set individual pride aside to accommodate the collective whole by improving employee's lives at the personal and corporate levels.

Truthful - Organizations succeed when they face the complex realities of their operating environment. Decisions must be based on the difficult look at the direction the company is taking. A healthy internal debate helps managers stay on track and continuously align strategies with overall business goals. Dissent should be welcomed and used to lead a company to its intended destination.

Forgiving - What applies to our personal lives applies at the organizational level as well. Grudges hurt the individuals who harbor them, while forgiveness leads to better opportunities and healthier relationships. When possible, consider giving wrongdoers a second chance. It helps managers grow and sets a good example for employees.

Two key lessons are learned from Manby's principles. First, a critical distinction is repeatedly made between being nice and kind. Meaning that employees can be valued without sacrificing discipline, because wayward performance should never be ignored. It's bad for the company and worse for the individual. A manager's job is to set underperformers straight if they are to reach their fullest potential.

Second, that meaningful change is the byproduct of unconditional commitment to a worthy cause, whether it includes improving the quality of an employee's life or building a franchise that unites families through its services. Because results should not based on profit margins, but how you impact the lives of those who rely on you.