Book Review of Joel Manby’s “Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders”
Over the course of my career, I’ve read hundreds of books on leadership. Their frameworks differ, their stories vary, and their applications range across industries. Yet, the best of them share a common thread: whether stated explicitly or not, they are rooted in timeless biblical principles. The most effective leadership is always grounded in how we treat others.
Joel Manby’s Love Works gets to the heart of that truth with clarity and courage. Manby, whose career spans General Motors, Saturn’s start – up, CEO roles at Saab USA and Herschend Family Entertainment – and later SeaWorld – offers more than leadership theory. He offers a leadership philosophy forged through success, public pressure, personal trial, and ultimately, reflection.
Manby’s journey began with success by every worldly measure. He helped build Saturn’s brand, led Saab USA to a 67% sales increase and a dramatic rise in J.D. Power rankings, and became the kind of executive many aspire to be. Yet the pace, pressure, and performance metrics came at a personal cost. It was only when he joined Herschend Family Entertainment – one of the largestfamily-owned theme park companies in America, known for Dollywood and Silver Dollar City – that his understanding of leadership changed fundamentally.
The Herschends taught him a simple but profound truth:
Leadership is about performance and love – not one at the expense of the other.
This is not love the emotion but love the behavior. And it is anchored in one of the most recognized passages in all of Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13.
Manby translates St. Paul’s words into seven practical leadership behaviors:
- Patient – Exercise self – control in difficult situations.
- Kind – Offer encouragement and enthusiasm generously.
- Trusting – Place confidence in others rather than micromanaging.
- Unselfish – Think of yourself less; focus on serving others.
- Truthful – Speak and define reality directly – with compassion.
- Forgiving – Release the grip of past wrongs.
- Dedicated – Stay committed to values, even when tested.
Far from “soft leadership,” these behaviors require discipline, courage, and maturity. For example, patience does not mean ignoring poor performance. It means responding with clarity, dignity, and calm. Kindness does not mean avoiding accountability; it means correcting in private and praising in public. Trust is not a naïve assumption; it is a conscious choice to develop others.
Manby offers practical tools throughout the book – how to define responsibility, how to communicate truth effectively, how to correct performance issues without diminishing a person’s dignity, how to foster trust in decision-making, and how to lead teams in ways that are both relationally strong and operationally excellent.
What I appreciate most about Love Works is that it does not shy away from complexity. Manby shares not only his successes but also the challenges he faced later at SeaWorld, particularly amid intense controversy following the Blackfish documentary. Even here, the principles held. They did not insulate him from difficulty – but they grounded him in integrity.
In an age marked by disengagement, cynicism, and a crisis of trust in leadership, Love Works is urgently relevant. It reminds us that:
- Culture is the lasting competitive advantage.
- People are not a means to performance – they are the source of it.
- And love – defined as action, not sentiment – never fails.
If you want to lead teams that flourish, families that stay strong, organizations people are proud to serve, and a life marked by purpose and satisfaction, this book is worth your time.
For those interested in going deeper, I interviewed Joel Manby on The Mentors Radio on July 20, 2020. The episode is available via podcast 24/7 at TheMentorsRadio.com. Search on “Manby.”
Love works. It always has. And it always will.
RELATED RESOURCES:
- Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders, by Joel Manby
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