Love Works.

Joel Manby

Joel is CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE). He has brilliant career, graduated from Harvard Business School, starting up Saturn Corporation, promoted to CEO of Saab North America then took CEO position at GreenLight.com. So far so good.

But the timing was worst this time. The bubble burst on his first week of work. He rented an apartment in California leaving his family in Atlanta to work 24/7 in order to salvage his company. Under constant pressure and sense of hopelessness, he started to think the meaning of his life.

Then he got a call from Jack Herschend, chairman of the board of HFE offering CEO of his company where Joel learned seven principles for effective leaders.

Patient: have self-control in difficult situations.
Kind: show encouragement and enthusiasm. Everybody can be CEO = chief encouragement officer.
Trusting: listen carefully. It’s a sign of trust.
Unselfish: think of yourself less.
Truthful: define reality corporately and individually.
Forgiving: release the grip of the grudge.
Dedicated: stick to your values in all circumstances.

The harder he worked and the higher he was promoted, the worse life got. What was missing? It was love.