Love And Profit

Love and Profit:  The Art of Caring Leadership
by James A. Autry, Avon Books, New York, 1991

This month, I had the opportunity to hear James Autry as the key note speaker at the Corporate Coach 2000 conference in Toronto.  I decided to reread his book when I got back home.  It was interesting to literally "hear" his voice as I read some of the poems in the book.  This is a very easy read but should be savoured.  I would recommend reading and reflecting on some of the poems when you have some quiet time.  This is particularly true of "What Personnel Handbooks Never Tells You" on page 117.

What impressed me the most was how relevant his perspective is today and poignant.  At first it comes across as simple down home and folksy.  But I remember a saying I heard once:  Wisdom is just a little bit extra of what this world calls common sense. I love what Autry has to say about policies.  "The problem is that policies have served for years as the easy way out for cowardly management.  Rather than confronting people who do to embrace the common vision and work toward it - in other words, the people who don't do the job as it should be done - management writes a policy." You'll find lots of gems like this.  

 Part IV brings in the concept of work and community which just wasn't being talked about by CEO's in the late 1980's.  In fact you'll find short vignettes on trust, truth, mixing religion, conflict, diversity and be sure to read the first one on special treatment. It sets the stage for the subsequent ideas.  Autry takes a simple understood "truth" and turns it on its ear.  He says that all of us should get "special treatment". Not favuoritism, but finding a way to accommodate each person's uniqueness.  The best part, not always did Autry's approach work and sometimes others did take advantage of him.  He concludes:  "Trust the majority of your employees to know that you are trying to do the right thing and that their time will come."

RFH (00/04)

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